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Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was one of the biggest Brit musicals of the last decade, running for over three years at the massive Theatre Royal Drury Lane, a feat that no musical – not even Disney’s Frozen – has equalled since.
Adapted from Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley’s classic 1971 film – and with all yer favourite songs including ‘Pure Imagination’ present and correct – the 2013 musical was adapted for the stage by top Scottish playwright David Greig, with additional songs by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman.
With the Wonka film a recent hit and a whole new generation of children who’ve had no chance to see the Charlie musical, now seems like a fine time to bring it back, in a brand new production from Nikolai Foster. The artistic director of Leicester’s musicals powerhouse the Curve Theatre, he directed this summer’s revival of Kinky Boots, which ran at the huge London Coliseum, and it’s the same deal for next summer as the new Charlie and the Chocolate Factory debuts at the Coliseum in June, running until mid-September.
It’s obviously positioned as a summer holidays hit, running the breadth of them, but while there’s something for the kids there, there’s also something for older musicals fans in the form of twinkly-eyed charmer Michael Ball, who will be stepping into the role of capricious chocolate overlord Wonka. Although Ball is so titanically cuddly it can be hard to imagine him as the borderline sadistic Wonka, he didn’t get to be the best in the biz without being able to act – his chilling Sweeney Todd stalked the West End around the time this musical was last on stage.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is at the London Coliseum, Jun 4-Sep 18. Tickets go on sale September 29.
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