WILLY WONKA JR. Brings Its 'Pure Imagination' To KIDSTAGE

Village Theatre KIDSTAGE Ensemble produces Roald Dahl's Willy Wonka, Jr., running on select dates, February 14-21, 2009 at the Everett Performing Arts Center.

Come on a fantasy ride to a world of pure imagination. Roald Dahl's timeless story of the world-famous candy man and his quest to find an heir comes to life in this stage adaptation of Charlie and The Chocolate Factory. Songs by Leslie Bricusse (Jekyll & Hyde, Doctor Dolittle) and Anthony Newley from the classic family film Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory, including "The Candy Man" and "Pure Imagination" are included in this memorable score. Willy Wonka is a scrumdidilyumptious show guaranteed to delight everyone's sweet tooth.

This particular KIDSTAGE production of Willy Wonka, Jr. will celebrate elements of the original Roald Dahl novel, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The musical tells the story through the character Charlie's eyes, and the audience will experience this through projections of crayon drawings. "As Charlie imagines what working in the factory must be like, from his Grandpa Joe's description, the audience will see his crayon drawings of those daydreams projected on the stage. All the drawings are being created by the ensemble throughout the rehearsal process," Loni Kappus, KIDSTAGE program manager explains.

Another fascinating and original element of this KIDSTAGE production is the vision for the Oompa Loompas. "Our Oompa Loompas harken back to some of Roald Dahl's original descriptions. They are from previously undiscovered Loompaland, which Willy Wonka traveled to, and are represented by all ages of students in the cast. Most productions of this script would probably only use the youngest cast members as Oompa Loompas, but since they are an entirely different culture, it only makes sense that we would see as much age and size diversity within the Oompa Loompas as we would with the rest of the characters," Kappus comments.

KIDSTAGE is a constantly evolving program, and so has become its Teen Access Program (TAP). TAP is a program that allows participating students to work alongside theatre professionals in areas such as performance, production, and teaching for theatre. Kappus comments, "We have really expanded our TAP program with this production. With three students working with the stage manager, two with the choreographer, and one each with the costume designer, props designers, and lighting designer, these teen students are learning technical theatre skills, mentored by professionals, and we're thrilled with the progress we're seeing."

KIDSTAGE Ensemble's production of Roald Dahl's Willy Wonka, Jr. features 51 fourth to eighth grade students from communities such as Everett, Marysville, Snohomish, Mukilteo with a selection of students from areas such as Granite Falls, Monroe, and Sultan. 

 

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