If you want to view paradise, simply look around and view it.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you have probably read the Roald Dahl story of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, or at least watched one of the two films based on the book (team Gene Wilder over here!). It tells the story of Charlie Bucket, who comes from a poor family and never dreams of winning one of the five golden tickets to enter Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory – until it happens. We then get to go on a magical journey as Charlie and the other four golden ticket winners (and their parents) get to see the wonderous and sometimes scary, workings of Wonka’s factory.
If you are used to the book or either film, then make sure you go into the musical with an open mind. Bar two songs from the 1971 film (The Candyman and Pure Imagination), the musical is more of a mash-up between the three with elements drawn from each. The Oompa Loompas were not the fun orange and green men, but more like robots and knowing how dark Dahl’s imagination could be – probably more like how imagined them being.
The casting for the show was spot on. The role of Charlie is shared between four children, two boys and two girls and we were lucky enough to have Harmony Raine Riley as our Charlie. She embodied the role, and you really were rooting for her all of the way through. Michael D’Cruze was the perfect Grandpa Joe, and he got some of the best jokes from the show. Leonie Spilsbury was a very loving Mrs Bucket and how she went from Mrs Bucket to Mrs Teavee so quickly without it being obvious was truly a spectacle! It was so lovely to see the Bucket family using British Sign Language when they spoke to each other, it was a shame it was just in the family scenes that we saw it and had no explanation why it was used. But it would be good to see more shows having more accessibility in them, without people having to book certain performances.
The standout cast member, however, has to be Gareth Snook. An absolute Musical Theatre legend and it is clear to see why. Flamboyant when it was needed, serious at moments and he just commanded the stage, and you couldn’t take your eyes off him. Pure Imagination is one of my all-time favourite songs and if I’d heard Snook’s version outside of the show, I might not have gotten a ticket, but seeing it in the context, it worked so well and had everyone smiling and cheering at the end. The number was definitely helped along by the special effects, that made the whole thing feel extra-magical.
Simon Wainwright and Chris Fisher seemed to work so well together to create the video designs and illusions throughout the show. They really captured the Roald Dahl magic, that you remember when you first read one of his books and seemed to bring it to life. I couldn’t have imagined the show without this magic and don’t think it would have worked as well without the element of awe and wonder that the illusions and video provided.
Make sure you get your golden ticket to this fabulous show!
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is at the Liverpool Empire until 26th November. Tickets are available from https://www.atgtickets.com/shows/charlie-and-the-chocolate-factory-the-musical/liverpool-empire/
Reviewer: Jenn McKean
Reviewed: 9th November 2023
North West End UK Rating: