Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to open in Brisbane next March
Above: Paul Slade Smith (Willy Wonka) and cast of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Photo by Brian Geach.
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 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
Producers John Frost, Craig Donnell, Warner Bros Theatre Ventures, Langley Park Productions and Neal Street Productions are bringing Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to Brisbane.
“Sydney audiences have fallen under the spell of this exciting musical production, and the show is selling fast in Melbourne as well. We’re sure Brisbane audiences will be enchanted with this glorious production,” they said.
“This is such a wonderful story for generations to share,” added John Frost. “Parents love sharing their favourite Willy Wonka film from their childhood with the whole family, and grandparents love taking their grandkids. We have an amazing cast to bring this story to life.”
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory includes songs from the original film - Pure Imagination, The Candy Man and I’ve Got a Golden Ticket, alongside a new score from the songwriters of Hairspray.
The story of Charlie Bucket, the five Golden Tickets, the Oompa-Loompas and Willy Wonka has become firmly embedded in our culture since it was first published in 1964. Conservative estimates suggest the original book has sold over 20 million copies worldwide; it is now available in 61 languages.
Roald Dahl began working on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in 1961, but its origins can be traced all the way back to Dahl’s own childhood. In his autobiography, Boy, he tells us how, while at school in England, he and his fellow Repton students were engaged as 'taste testers' for a chocolate company - something that seems to have started him thinking about chocolate factories and inventing rooms long before Mr Wonka was on the scene. But when he came to write Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the story went through several drafts until the story as we now know it was released in 1964.
Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory features direction by three-time Tony Award winner Jack O’Brien, music by Grammy, Emmy and Tony Award winner Marc Shaiman, lyrics by Grammy and Tony Award winners Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman, a book by Artistic Director of Edinburgh’s Royal Lyceum theatre David Greig, choreography by Tony Award nominee and Emmy Award winner Joshua Bergasse, and includes additional songs by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley from the 1971 Warner Bros motion picture. Scenic and costume design is by five-time Tony Award nominee Mark Thompson, lighting design by four-time Tony Award nominee Japhy Weideman, sound design by Andrew Keister, projection design by Jeff Sugg, puppet and illusion design by Obie and Drama Desk Award winner Basil Twist, and music supervision by Nicholas Skilbeck.
More information and wait list: CharlieTheMusical.com.au