Michael Ball to Play the Candy Man in Willy Wonka Musical?

By: Oct. 12, 2009
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Whatsonstage.com is reporting that Michael Ball may be in talks to star in Sam Mendes' Neal Street Productions' stage adaptation of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

The musical will be penned by Scottish playwright David Greig, with music and lyrics by Hairspray's Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman. Reports are projecting a West End opening in mid-2011.

Michael Ball is an Olivier Award winning actor, singer, and radio and TV presenter who is best known for the song "Love Changes Everything" and musical theatre roles such as Marius in Les Misérables, Alex in Aspects of Love, Caractacus Potts in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Edna Turnblad in Hairspray for which he won the 2008 Laurence Olivier Award for best actor in a musical. Previous Willy Wonkas include Gene Wilder and Johnny Depp, who played the candy man in the 1971 and 2005 film versions, respectively.  Like the films, the musical is inspired by Roald Dahl's 1964 children's book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

For more information, visit whatsonstage.com.

 



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