Patty3
Featured Actor Joined: 2/24/07
#1Charlie First Listen
Posted: 5/30/17 at 9:13pm
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory First Listen.
http://people.com/music/charlie-and-the-chocolate-factory-broadway-cast-recording-first-listen/
Born in a Ditch
Understudy Joined: 6/1/10
#2Charlie First Listen
Posted: 5/30/17 at 9:54pm
The score actually sounds quite tuneful and smart on the recording further proving that the staging/set/concept ruined material with a lot of potential.
Patty3
Featured Actor Joined: 2/24/07
#4Charlie First Listen
Posted: 5/30/17 at 10:50pm
Born in a Ditch said: "The score actually sounds quite tuneful and smart on the recording further proving that the staging/set/concept ruined material with a lot of potential.
"
I agree. I saw this over the weekend. I saw the show twice in London. IMO the weakest links are the sets and putting Wonka in too early in the first act. I was excited to see what Borle would do with Wonka but I prefer the Douglas Hodge take on the character in London. Building the suspense of meeting Wonka towards the end of Act 1 was a better choice. I think I missed this aspect of the London show more than the sets.
Cfried
Broadway Star Joined: 9/15/16
#5Charlie First Listen
Posted: 5/30/17 at 10:53pm
"I agree. I saw this over the weekend. I saw the show twice in London. IMO the weakest links are the sets and putting Wonka in too early in the first act. I was excited to see what Borle would do with Wonka but I prefer the Douglas Hodge take on the character in London. Building the suspense of meeting Wonka towards the end of Act 1 was a better choice. I think I missed this aspect of the London show more than the sets."
Completely agree. I have to say, this score is fun! Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman's music is always so colorful. They were a great team for this project.
#6Charlie First Listen
Posted: 5/30/17 at 11:48pm
Truth be told, I preferred the London recording much more, but some of the songs, namely the letter from Charlie, was actually pretty charming.
#7Charlie First Listen
Posted: 5/30/17 at 11:52pm
I like that they included more songs from the movie and I feel like Douglas Hodges' voice, while perhaps not as technically pristine as Borle's, has more character. Shame about the missing finale.
#8Charlie First Listen
Posted: 5/31/17 at 8:47am
CATSNYrevival said: "They didn't record the finale? Seriously?"
"The View From Here" is the finale for the broadway production.
"There’s nothing quite like the power and the passion of Broadway music. "
Oak2
Leading Actor Joined: 8/11/16
#9Charlie First Listen
Posted: 5/31/17 at 10:15am
Wait, why doesn't Violet have a "goodbye" song like the other kids? The "Wonka met Oompa" song feels like a weird shift when the Violet song should be in that position. I recall the London production had a song for Violet's demise - why did they cut it and replace it with an Oompa-Loompa backstory song instead of just a new demise song? If you're going to cut one of the demise songs you might as well cut all of them.
#10Charlie First Listen
Posted: 5/31/17 at 10:43am
bwayphreak234 said: "CATSNYrevival said: "They didn't record the finale? Seriously?"
"The View From Here" is the finale for the broadway production.
"
Did they cut Charlie's "Strike That, Reverse It" reprise or are you just going by the songs listed in the playbill?
#11Charlie First Listen
Posted: 5/31/17 at 11:12am
Just finished! Very sweet and mostly enjoyable. Christian is fantastic. I had the biggest smile during Jackie in What Can Possibly Go Wrong? My favorite Charlie is the one who sang Willy Wonka! Fantastic story-telling he did there.
The ones that I don't like are When Willy Met Oompa (which I honestly find terrible) and the fat kid's good-bye song (which I find disturbing.) If Your Father Was Here means a lot to me because of what's going on in my life, but some of the lyrics are silly (If Cabbage was a Watch? What does that even mean?) Also, the very fact that they gave away Willy Wonka's goals and plans in "Candy Man" is so ridiculous. No sense of surprise anymore. It's like Darth Vader saying to the beginning of SW that he's Luke and Leia's father. And in fact:
Click Here To Toggle Spoiler Content
If Willy knows all along that he is going to give his factory to Charlie, what is even the point of the other kids, who he lets his literal-human-killing workers kill, and the golden tickets?
#12Charlie First Listen
Posted: 5/31/17 at 11:21am
CATSNYrevival said: "bwayphreak234 said: "CATSNYrevival said: "They didn't record the finale? Seriously?"
"The View From Here" is the finale for the broadway production.
"
Did they cut Charlie's "Strike That, Reverse It" reprise or are you just going by the songs listed in the playbill?"
They cut everything (including the "Strike That, Reverse It Reprise) after "The View From Here". It's my understanding that the cuts were made in previews and the show now ends in the elevator with "The View From Here".
"There’s nothing quite like the power and the passion of Broadway music. "
#13Charlie First Listen
Posted: 5/31/17 at 11:34am
bwayphreak234 said: "They cut everything (including the "Strike That, Reverse It Reprise) after "The View From Here". It's my understanding that the cuts were made in previews and the show now ends in the elevator with "The View From Here".
"
Thanks for the update. I had no idea! Is there even any dialogue? It just ends with the song? It sounds so anticlimactic on the album. How strange.
#14Charlie First Listen
Posted: 5/31/17 at 11:36am
Wow - that was awful.
Some of the songs can be catchy, but everything just seems empty. Borle and Hoffman are the only two who discern any personality. The only two songs I can say I actually enjoyed were "It Must Be Believed To Be Seen" and "The View From Here".
"Oh look at the time, three more intelligent plays just closed and THE ADDAMS FAMILY made another million dollars" -Jackie Hoffman, Broadway.com Audience Awards
Larkinfon
Swing Joined: 11/4/16
#15Charlie First Listen
Posted: 5/31/17 at 10:28pm
bwayphreak234 said: "CATSNYrevival said: "bwayphreak234 said: "CATSNYrevival said: "They didn't record the finale? Seriously?"
"The View From Here" is the finale for the broadway production.
"
Did they cut Charlie's "Strike That, Reverse It" reprise or are you just going by the songs listed in the playbill?"
They cut everything (including the "Strike That, Reverse It Reprise) after "The View From Here". It's my understanding that the cuts were made in previews and the show now ends in the elevator with "The View From Here".
"
I saw the show. "View From Here" is indeed the finale of the show. There is a brief scene afterwards, but that is the finale number. The bow music does finish with a quick reprise of "Candy Man", but like many shows, they didn't record it.
BroadwayBeebe
Featured Actor Joined: 2/10/16
#16Charlie First Listen
Posted: 5/31/17 at 10:37pm
The final line is him saying "My name is Charlie Bucket and I make chocolate" and then he walks into the factory as the curtain comes in. Such a disappointment since I love the London ending with Wonka disappearing outside the gates. And every time I listen to "When Willy met Oompa" I can't help but laugh at what I remember that number to be. I miss Juicy. Still moments in this score truly have beauty, but I can't help but think of the production as a whole.
Ziva56
Swing Joined: 11/14/14
#17Charlie First Listen
Posted: 5/31/17 at 10:47pm
I think 'If Your Father Was Here' is alright but isn't as strong as "If Your Mother Was Here.' I miss the relationship between the parents. I also feel the movie songs are unnecessary. I loved 'Dontcha Pinch Me Charlie' the songs they needed to replace are unfortunately some of the ones they kept.
#18Charlie First Listen
Posted: 6/1/17 at 12:08am
Wow, this is PAINFUL. "Vidiots" sounds like something that should be covered in NOT SINCE CARRIE.
Clyde15
Leading Actor Joined: 5/9/15
#19Charlie First Listen
Posted: 6/1/17 at 12:23am
Wow this score is unbearable. The only good songs Imo are the originals from the movie and It Must Be Believed to Be Seen. That song should be such a big climatic moment when Willy Wonka appears for the first time, so its sad to see that Wonka appears earlier in the show. It still does not make sense to me why they would do that? to give Borle more to do maybe? But in the end when they recast the part down the road it still doesn't make sense to me. It is a shame that no one can seem to get this show right. It should be an easy movie-to-musical adaption.
#20Charlie First Listen
Posted: 6/1/17 at 12:39am
There is a full length adaptation of Willy Wonka that used all of the songs from the movie with new songs by Leslie Briccuse but I think that was conceived specifically for amature lisencing and not a commercial venture. From what I remember the Dahl estate was initially resistant to include the songs from the original movie for this production? Someone correct me if I'm wrong. Then they gave in and allowed "Pure Imagination" and now three more songs for Broadway. It's been tried three different ways now and they haven't seemed to be able to get it right. Maybe it isn't so easy.
IHeartNY2
Stand-by Joined: 4/14/17
#22Charlie First Listen
Posted: 6/1/17 at 12:46am
bwayphreak234 said: "...
They cut everything (including the "Strike That, Reverse It Reprise) after "The View From Here". It's my understanding that the cuts were made in previews and the show now ends in the elevator with "The View From Here".
"
(Emphasis added.) If I had ever had any intention of seeing this show, the phrase "the show now ends in the elevator" would have stopped me. LOL
#23Charlie First Listen
Posted: 6/2/17 at 1:17pm
Haven't seen the Broadway version but does Violet not have a song in Act Two anymore? In the UK version she sang "Juicy!" while turning into a blueberry. I'm guessing this has all changed...
"It's not where you start, it's where you finish!"
#24Charlie First Listen
Posted: 6/2/17 at 1:27pm
She "pops" at the end of "When Willy Met Oompa."
Updated On: 6/2/17 at 01:27 PM
MrsSallyAdams
Broadway Star Joined: 11/12/13
#25Charlie First Listen
Posted: 6/2/17 at 4:04pm
I'm sad to lose the songs for Violet. "Double Bubble Duchess" and "Juicy" were highlights of the London recording.
I like the new song for Jackie Hoffman: "What Can Possibly Go Wrong." The grown voices of the "children" are very distracting. Charlie sounds as rude as the "bad kids" in "Willy Wonka! Willy Wonka!" but at least he has a personality.
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