I got a golden ticket to see the new musical made from pure imagination, “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” It was a Wonka invention combining elements from the beloved Roald Dahl book, hit movies and modern musical theater. It was chock full of appetizing adventures and sweet sensations as the story came to life on the Broadway stage. Your eyes will feast on lavish costumes, you will dance along to your favorite old as well as new and noteworthy musical orchestrations and salivate at the edible enticements the children encounter. And most importantly, your imagination will be your guide.
As the curtain went up, I heard the familiar melody of “The Candy Man” and was delighted to see Willy Wonka gracing the stage to tell us he is searching for his successor. We soon after meet a young boy, Charlie Bucket, who lives with his mother and four bedridden grandparents in a mouse size house made of recycled trash (literally!). His mother works tirelessly and they still have barely enough money to spare for rotten cabbage to make dinner. Charlie, instead of feeling sorry for himself, uses his imagination, honesty and determination to stay strong and keeps a secret notebook with his creative, chocolate inventions. Charlie dreams of being a chocolatier and writes Mr. Wonka to let him know.
Serendipitously a chocolate shop opens across the street operated by none other than Mr. Wonka in disguise. And Charlie feeds him his daydreams and creations and magical marketing ideas. Thanks to Charlie inspiring Mr. Wonka, there is a wild goose chase for golden tickets to a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to tour the legendary chocolate factory. And then the gastronomic games begin.
We meet the cast of characters of golden ticket winners (via a song and dance in a mad musical introduction for each) who will soon enter Wonka’s world: Augustus Gloop, the gluttonous, sausage-loving boy king of Bavaria; Veruca Salt, the spoiled Russian ballerina who always gets what she wants; Violet Beauregarde, the bubble gum pop queen who is an Instagram sensation and Mike Teavee, an intellectual electronics addict but behavioral delinquent. These greedy and detestable kids are played by none other than grown-ups. But it works because no kid I know could truly be so vile!
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There’s one golden ticket left and guess who finds it? Charlie! A jubilant song and dance of “I’ve Got a Golden Ticket” led by Charlie and joined by Grandpa Joe (as he gets out of bed for the first time in nearly 20 years and naturally begins to dance), kicks off the joyous start to Charlie’s stroke of good luck.
The very next day Willy Wonka welcomes the ticket holders and their grown-ups into the factory but we know most of them won’t make it out. The second act begins as we (finally) enter the factory and their tour begins. It gets a little intense at times as each of the contestants forgets to obey the rules and gets caught up in delectable debauchery. We drift into the paradise of “Pure Imagination” and our eyes feast upon a miniature version of the edible land from the books and movies complete with a chocolate river and waterfall. Augustus Gloop is the first to succumb to the tasty temptations around him and take a dive into the chocolate river. This leads to our first encounter with the Oompa-Loompas who are a highlight of the show. The costumes and puppetry coupled with the clever and comical commentary and dance moves are show stopping.
Augustus’s downfall is followed by the Queen of Pop who fails to heed Wonka’s warnings and chews an everlasting gobstopper. Violet chews until she turns blue, eventually turning into a blueberry before our eyes and exploding right on stage. The most humorously horrific was “Verruca’s Nutcracker Sweet” where she wants one of Wonka’s squirrels, won’t take no for an answer, and dances to her death when the giant squirrels do their job and ID her as a bad nut…I’ll leave the rest for you to crack. Mike Teavee lives his dream by channel surfing on Wonka vision but pays a price. This leaves only the good and kind hearted Charlie who withstands temptation (and some torture) to redeem the grand prize—running the chocolate factory.
Families with older children will enjoy the sadistically sweet show complete with bittersweet characters you’ll love to hate, sweet new songs and delicious dances, and the race to the grand prize as the story takes the big Broadway stage. The best prize of all is seeing that dreams can come true. The show made us yearn for chocolate and reminds kids of all ages to use our imagination and always believe.
Get your golden tickets at charlieonbroadway.com!
Elle Belle is an adorable preschooler who lives in the Upper East Side of Manhattan with her magnificent mommy, dapper dad, and new baby sister. She can be reached at ellebellenyc@gmail.com.
