Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

A delightful production awaits you at Camden Civic Centre with Camden Musical Society's latest production which is, pun fully intended: sweet.

While the social media world is still reeling and mining memes from the recent Wonka disaster in Glasgow (google "Wonka Tour Epic Fail"), along comes this production to wipe away that nightmare and restore our faith in the arts. And chocolate. 

The stage musical discards the lesser-known songs from the movie but keeps the big ones. Added to those are some tuneful toe-tappers from the team that wrote the songs for Hairspray. 

Another change from movie to stage is that the children's roles were re-written to be performed by young adults/older teens (the one exception is Charlie Bucket, who is still meant to be played by a child). In having adults play children the show's adaptors felt it would let them write more challenging material for the characters, that children hadn't yet developed the capacity to handle. 

I make a point of this because there was talk in the foyer and beforehand about why young children weren't cast to play young children.

Be that as it may, some young-ish children were still cast and they were all just brilliant.  

Charlie Watson, as gluttonous Augustus Gloop, ison the thin side. However, he didn't need the extra padding on his costume: he made you feel he was overweight just by his body language alone. And his facial expressions and comedic timing throughout were killer. Chloe McGraw as spoilt brat Veruca Salt did such a great job being a narcissist princess that even the most pacifist of parents would turn to extreme forms of discipline. Yet when she danced her ballet in the nut-sorting room she was so graceful and beautiful that you felt a bit sorry for her fate.

Charley Langford's sassy belt-voicing take on Violet Beauregarde is a stunner. Her "The Queen of Pop" was a showstopper. And the way she executes her execution as a massive blueberry is something you just have to see.   

Dylan Keighran as angst-filled screen addict Mike Teavee has probably the most physically demanding role in the show, and he does it perfectly. His physicality and agility is nowhere more spectacular than when he goes through the invisible maze in Act 2. His sly asides and interplay with the other cast are also a fun addition.

But young Eddison Collyer certainly proved why he was cast Charlie Bucket. Collyer came across as sincere and likeable, with no off-putting saccharine "show kid" personality. And he could more than hold his own playing across the more experienced adults. His voice is strong, lyrical, and pure, with well controlled phrasing, and he has some tricky stuff to sing that he makes seem easy. His Act 1 'Letter' soliloquy is a stand out. And he's only in Year 7! Kudos also to his father John, playing Charlie's Grandpa George, for some well-timed quips.

I am reliably informed that the counterpart actors for Charlie (Xavier Bakoss) and Augustus (Mason Doherty) are just as good. 

As the mysterious Willy Wonka, Peter Gollop is well cast and brings charm and caring to this role. Gene Wilder and Johnny Depp played Wonka in the movies with some danger and creepiness. Gollop makes Wonka more benign, and with a less cynical sense of humour. I empathised with Wonka more here than in the film. He totally owns and sells Wonka's big signature tune, "Pure Imagination".    

The cast of seasoned performers playing the parents and carers are spot on, and their relationship with their children is totally believable. The children should be lucky they can learn from pro-level talent like Craig Davidson, Fleur Anderson, Cameron Anderson, Peter Gollop, and Hayleigh Burman in this cast. Inge Marais gave a beautiful and heartfelt performance as Charlie's mum, especially in her song, "If Your Father Were Here".  

A highlight for me was the Ensemble. From playing multiple roles in Act 1 as reporters and onlookers to the oompa loompas and killer squirrels in Act 2, they totally charmed me, and were convincing in the multiple roles they played. It's a good thing the principals were so brilliant because this Ensemble could have easily upstaged them. 

Although Act 1 seemed to be affected by opening night nerves, with everyone being a bit tentative, they found their confidence by Act 2. Everyone was a delight to watch, and I admired how focused and in character the cast remained. There were times when the cast had to just stand to the side and watch something else happening centre stage (usually a child getting their just desserts). At no time during those bits did anyone break character or lose focus. 
A big shout out to SM Jess Czender and her crew for making the show flow and go. And Paula Bonnacorso's costumes are bright and sensational, each suited to the character.

Act 1 was also marred by some tech gremlins: the band was often so loud I couldn't hear the singers. This was slightly improved in Act 2.