Benjamin Howes News

For the 2019 holiday season Redhouse Arts Center has brought an entertaining and new musical production of A Syracuse Christmas Carol to their stage under the direction of Hunter Foster. The musical is of course inspired by the classic Holiday story of Scrooge and it incorporates everything and anything related to the city of Syracuse and the surrounding areas. It is a delight for those born and raised in Syracuse as all those familiar people, products, and locations pop up throughout the show. The production charms if you are from or have ever lived in the Syracuse area.

Redhouse Arts Center continues its commitment to fresh, innovative work with a musical written especially for Central New York, A Syracuse Christmas Carol. This musical treat infused with Syracuse flavor by LJ Fecho and Michael O'Flaherty is a family- friendly take on the Dickens' classic that is sure to put you in a festive mood this holiday season. The a?oeLove Boat's' Fred Grandy returns to the Redhouse Stage to star as Ebenezer Scrooge along with Artistic Director Hunter Foster, who will once again direct, following his recent successful Redhouse Directorial debut of RENT in September. The show is choreographed by veteran Lisa Shriver, who worked with Foster on a similar show they created for The Goodspeed Opera House in Connecticut. With hummable Christmas tunes and a Broadway style score, you can be the first to experience this memorable show which runs from December 12th thru 22nd. 

The chocolate factory is coming to a city near you! The tour for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory has made stops in Cincinnati, Toronto, Boston and more!

As the first familiar notes of 'The Candy Man' wafts across the audience in Carol Morsani Hall, I feel a strong sense of nostalgia. I grew up watching Charlie and the Chocolate Factory on television and am curious how a show with so many special effects could translate to the stage.

This week, [title of show] celebrates eleven years since this original musical became part of it all on Broadway! In honor of the occasion, we're looking back at the show's opening night featuring Hunter Bell, Jeff Bowen, Heidi Blickenstaff, and Susan Blackwell! Check out the video to see why the show is definitely more than nine people's favorite thing!

Join the 'world of pure imagination' as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory plays at the Orpheum Theatre Nov. 5-10, 2019.

Despite its general pleasant nature, many cute moments, and a plethora of genuine talent on stage, this stage musical adaptation of CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY---Roald Dahl's beloved 1964 children's novel about a sweet, affable kid who wins a meet-and-greet (and more!) with an eccentric Candy Man named Willy Wonka--- comes off less magical and whimsical than one would hope it would be considering its source material. Is this national tour production---now continuing performances at Segerstrom Center for the Arts through June 9---joyful enough for kids and kids-at-heart to enjoy? Sure. But, overall, something about it feels just slightly under-baked, as if all the additional necessary ingredients that would have made this musical extraordinary didn't quite make it into the mix.

The producers and Segerstrom Center for the Arts are pleased to announce casting for the national tour of Roald Dahl's CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY, which will play Segerstrom Hall May 28 - June 9, 2019. As previously announced, Broadway veteran Noah Weisberg (South Pacific, Enron, Elf, Legally Blonde) will star as the extraordinary chocolate maker, Willy Wonka, with Henry Boshart (age 10), Collin Jeffery (age 11) and Rueby Wood (age 11), alternating in the title role of Charlie Bucket.

A-D-D-D-D-F#-A were the first notes of the show last night as the Actors Fund brought back the beloved fan favorite and critically acclaimed musical [title of show] in a reunion concert at The Broadhurst Theatre. This one-night only reunion starred original cast members Hunter Bell, Susan Blackwell, Heidi Blickenstaff and Jeff Bowen along with musical director Larry Pressgrove. All proceeds will benefit The Actors Fund.

It was a week full of candy and sweets for me personally. First my work life was full of a sugar high with the grand opening of Candytopia at Mall of America - shameless plug but it's incredible so you should go check it out - and then it was the opening night of a new musical. The adaptation of Roald Dahl's story Charlie and the Chocolate Factory has arrived in Minneapolis and will be here for nearly two weeks.

Sometimes a show completely defies expectations. And in the case of CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY, that's a good thing. I settled into my seat at the Durham Performing Arts Center Tuesday night and drew forth my pen, my weapon choice, completely prepared to obliterate this production. Then the music started. Cue the ensemble. "Who can take a sunrise, sprinkle it with dew…" Suddenly there I was, smiling, strangely finding comfort in the familiar, when I heard a sound that would completely disarm me. A nine-year-old kid behind me named Blake laughed, an infectious sort of laugh that served as a bit of a wake-up call that this show wasn't calculated for me. This show, this moment, and this performance belonged to him and every other dewy-eyed kid in the audience.

As a massive Roald Dahl fan, this reviewer secretly hopes his entire catalog will wind up as Broadway shows someday. For now, we have Matilda The Musical (London 2010, Broadway 2013) and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (London 2013, Broadway 2017). The stage version of the 1964 novel that has had two film adaptations does a very good job of marrying the original text with many of the beloved songs from the 1971 film. It also doesn't shy away from the fact that Willy Wonka invites five children into his place of business, and four of them may end up dead or disfigured by the end of the day. The script has some updates for the time period, but in this age of helicopter parenting and raising your kids practically encased in bubble wrap, it's kind of nice see this show lean into the darker aspects of the story, which are the hallmarks of Roald Dahl's writing.

The Boston premiere of the US National Tour of Roald Dahl's CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY opened at the Boston Opera House this week, just a year after the Broadway production closed. The core of the Broadway creative team brings in a 36-member cast, including the beguiling candy man Willy Wonka and the Oompa Loompas, his odd little troupe of orange-haired factory workers.

The tour opened last month in Buffalo, NY to rave reviews and set a new record as the highest grossing and attended tour launch in Shea's history. Just finishing its third week in Chicago, the tour continues to delight audiences. Get a look at the tour below!

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is gearing up to take the show on the road! Watch the cast perform three numbers from the upcoming tour!

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is gearing up to take the show on the road! Hear what the cast and creatives have to say about what makes this musical so delicious!

Complete casting has been announced for the national tour of Roald Dahl's CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY which will launch this September.

After a more realistic, but less interesting, live-action film, Pittsburgh CLO returns to the original- and cartoons in general- for inspiration.

Pittsburgh CLO will fill the Benedum Center with magic and wonder fit for all ages with Disney's BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, starring Broadway's Jessica Grove and James Snyder. See photos from the production below!