The California Premiere of Nick Dear's adaptation of Frankenstein features a heartbreaking performance by Michael Manuel as a creature born innocent but ugly, taught to hate and rebel against humanity. Manuel carries the production on his hulking shoulders, which becomes crippling due to a confounding script and unusually lifeless direction from Los Angeles star director Michael Michetti.
If you're like me, Dear Readers, you grew up with that indelible classic film, a?oeWilly Wonka and the Chocolate Factorya?? starring the amazing Gene Wilder (and hopefully not that abomination with Johnny Depp). Or maybe you found yourself getting lost in the pages of the Roald Dahl novel, a?oeCharlie and the Chocolate Factorya??. Whichever it is you probably found yourself longing for an Everlasting Gobstopper, or wanting to meet an Oompa Loompa, or terrified of that nightmare infused boat ride in the original film. Whichever version you preferred, rest assured there's something for everyone in the current musical incarnation, bearing the same name as the novel, currently on tour and at the Paramount Theatre. There are a few sound issues, and they've taken a few liberties with the characters to punch it up to modern day, but the whimsy and yearning for a?oePure Imaginationa?? is still quite present.
It's a marvelous production of a so-so musical.
Charlie Bucket has been found and he has a Golden Ticket! Producers John Frost, Craig Donnell, Warner Bros Theatre Ventures, Langley Park Productions and Neal Street Productions today announced the five boys who will play the role of Charlie in the Melbourne season of the Helpmann Award nominated spectacular new musical Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Roald Dahl's delicious tale will begin at Melbourne's Her Majesty's Theatre on 9 August following an outstanding six-month season at Sydney's Capitol Theatre.
BWW Review: CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY gets raves from Eight-year-old, first time Gammage attendee. Just into her Summer break between second and third grade, Adalyn 'Addy' Cable raved about the National Tour of CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY currently playing at Tempe's Gammage Auditorium. She urges people to see it and after the show had these comments to share:
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 spectacular new musical Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is coming to Brisbane in March next year, playing at the Lyric Theatre, QPAC, following a hugely successful season in Sydney and the much-anticipated season at Her Majesty's Theatre, Melbourne from August. Tickets for the Brisbane season will go on sale in July but waitlist now to be the first in line to purchase tickets at CharlieTheMusical.com.au
The West Milford Players presents the Mel Brooks Musical 'Young Frankenstein.'
Wheelock Family Theatre at Boston University announces its 2019-2020 Season including Roald Dahl's musical Willy Wonka (October 25-November 24, 2019), Little Women: The Broadway Musical (January 31-February 23, 2020), The Little Prince (April 8-May 24, 2020), and Bud, Not Buddy (April 28-May 24 2020). Subscription packages are now on sale. Visit www.wheelockfamilytheatre.org to view savings options and benefits. Single tickets for the 2019-2020 Season will go on sale September 3, 2019.
It's all about the words, words, words for director Vivienne Benesch as she prepares to make her Folger Theatre debut with a new 1930s-styled production of Love's Labor's Lost.
Sarasota Opera is pleased to announce the lineup for the 2019 season of "HD at the Opera House" and "Classic Movies at the Opera House." The "HD at the Opera House" series will open on Sunday, May 19th and run through October 6th.
Helpmann Award-winning musical theatre star Elise McCann will bring the splendiferous world of Roald Dahl to Queensland Performing Art Centre (QPAC) in Dahlesque, daddling to the Playhouse on 30 May.
In the smash hit musical 'The Producers,' veteran producer Max Bialystock explains to his accountant/new producing partner Leo Bloom the step by step instructions of producing a Broadway show. He advised to find the worst play ever written, hire the worst actors in town, find the worst director in town, and finally open on Broadway. Luckily, the Argyle Theatre in Babylon Village did just the opposite. They chose one of the best musicals ever written by Mel Brooks as their season closer, gathered a troop of top notch professionals to perform it, and chose Broadway veteran Evan Pappas, the best in the business, to direct it.
The spectacular new musical Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is coming to Melbourne in August this year, playing at Her Majesty's Theatre, following a hugely successful season in Sydney. Tickets will go on sale to the general public on Friday 15 March at 1pm.
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.
It is always exciting when a beloved story from one's childhood receives new life on the stage. It is especially thrilling when it's a piece with such sweet potential as Roald Dahl's classic tale, CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY. With the original book, the classic Gene Wilder film (and other film adaptations) and recent London and Broadway musical productions setting the stage, this fun new musical will take the Bushnell stage in Hartford, CT from February 19 - 24. Playing Augustus Gloop, one of the nasty children who finds a golden ticket to tour Willy Wonka's chocolate factory, will be Matt Wood, who sat down with me to talk about this entertaining, family-friendly show.
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.
