Currently previewing while they iron out the kinks, the new musical production of Charlie & The Chocolate Factory at the Theatre Royal on Drury Lane officially opens on 25 June.
This familiar story of a poor young boy who discovers one of the rare Golden Tickets that allows him to visit Willy Wonka’s weird and wonderful factory stars Douglas Hodge as the odd inventor with Nigel Planer coming onboard as Grandpa Joe and Billy Boyle as Grandpa George.
In a departure from the precedent set by the 1970s movie/musical, this version features a completely new score penned by Marc Shaiman and Scott Whittman (Hairspray/Catch Me If You Can) and is being directed by Hollywood A-Lister Sam Mendes, who most recently directed Kevin Spacey in Richard III at the Old Vic. In another change, this time around the Oompa Loompas aren’t ‘height-challenged’ either…
With set and costume design by Mark Thompson (responsible for Mammia Mia and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat amongst others) and choreography by Peter Darling (Billy Elliott and Matilda The Musical are amongst his credits) I’m sure that Charlie & The Chocolate Factory will be jaw-dropping from start to finish – here’s hoping that the songs can match up with the visual spectacle!
You can see the preview trailer below, which gives you a taster about what to expect – tickets are on sale now and you can check out the Facebook and Twitter feeds to see what people are saying about the previews.
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