A golden ticket to a factory of wonders
For many viewers, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the musical currently running at The Theatre at Solaire, could easily enter the realm of nostalgia due to its previous iterations on film, particularly the 1971 Gene Wilder starrer that made the songs Pure Imagination and Candy Man pop culture standards.
Thankfully, this new touring production is reconceived for a new generation, six decades after the release of the 1964 Roald Dahl children’s novel on which it is based, and following its Broadway premiere in 2017 and West End run, which received two Olivier Awards. It’s quite a visual spectacle of the latest special effects technology combined with inventive stagecraft that dazzled both children and adults on the evening we watched.
At the same time, the book by David Greig grounds the whimsical narrative in emotional complexity and remains faithful to Dahl’s dark wit. Signature songs by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley from the film are retained in a score updated with the new music of Marc Shaiman, who also co-wrote lyrics with Scott Wittman for songs that vibrantly bridge traditional Broadway with different genres from Bavarian folk to funk-pop, jazz, and rock. Including original direction by four-time Tony winner Jack O’Brien and choreography by Joshua Bergasse, the touring creative and production team is headed by director Matt Lenz.
The heartwarming story is one that Filipino audiences will easily buy into, with the importance of family at its heart: The Buckets, despite their impoverished circumstances, stand behind Charlie (Oliver Wong, alternating with Cohen Toukatly), with his passion for chocolate and dream to win a golden ticket to tour the Willy Wonka Chocolate Factory. The golden ticket could very well be likened to the lotto that could reverse one’s fortunes overnight. Amusing tributes to Filipino family customs and even the singing of a few lines of an OPM song from a jukebox musical add local flavor.
Wong is absolutely endearing, embodying the innocence and spunk that make you root for him till the end. His vocal dexterity serves him well in A Letter from Charlie Bucket and soars confidently in the exuberant Willy Wonka! Willy Wonka! The 10-year-old actor has an easy rapport with his Grandpa Joe (Michael Biren), whose infectious optimism sets Charlie on the right path, and with Wonka, essayed by Michael Dalke as a mysterious and quietly charismatic eccentric running a chocolate store undercover before he opens his factory to the winners. The signature songs that the musical is known for are given their judicious moments with his commanding vocals.
We didn’t immediately recognize Karylle as Charlie’s mother, Mrs. Bucket, because she played the role so authentically, bringing maternal warmth as she supports Charlie in following his dreams while making sure there is food on the table for their household. Her vocal prowess is most evident as she renders the ballad If Your Father Were Here with utmost poignancy. As the only Filipino actor in the ensemble, she certainly held her own beside the Broadway professionals in the ensemble.
If Charlie is all kindness and gratitude, the other four golden ticket winners are the brattiest ever, representing all the sins of excess: the gluttony of Augustus Gloop (Sam Nackman, confidently handling the slapstick), the entitlement of Veruca Salt (Allison Gann, a convincing ballerina diva with the superciliousness to match), the obsessive competitiveness of Violet Beauregarde (Giselle Amarisa Watts, capturing the social-media-fiend update with flair) and the screen addiction and arrogance of Mike Teavee (DJ Plunkett, with strong comic instincts portraying today’s tech-obsessed child). Together with their parents, who are as guilty for being enablers, they tour the chocolate factory’s different rooms, which are the highlights of this production, bringing you to different worlds that are simply magical.
It’s amazing how set designer Mark Thompson, together with Christine Peters, integrates moving scenery, projection mapping, and hologauze 3D technology with physical scenery for a seamless fantasy world where the factory constantly transforms. The lighting design of Rory Beaton complements the projections in shifting moods, with different color palettes distinguishing environments. Thompson’s costume designs support the fairy tale illusions and capture Dahl’s whimsical eccentricity while defining every character, from the spoiled children’s idiosyncratic traits to Willy Wonka’s combination of mystery, elegance, and playfulness.
You’re really like a child again discovering something new each time. There are even magic tricks specially designed by renowned Las Vegas illusion designer Tim Clothier. But while there is breathtaking spectacle, the experience is still intimate and affecting as you join Charlie on his journey of “making something out of nothing,” the antithesis of the entitlement and excess of the spoiled brats who get their comeuppance in the end. Despite all the razzle-dazzle, it’s still a morality tale in true Dahl fashion, where imagination, kindness, curiosity, and generosity are deemed more valuable than wealth and selfish ambition.
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Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, presented by Broadway International Group, Broadway Asia Group and AMA Group of Companies in association with GMG Productions, runs at The Theatre at Solaire until July 26.
