‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’: The Musical choc-full of delight

A wondrous world of frivolity and delight, the musical production is every bit as magical as the movie, if not even more so – seeing it on screen is one thing, experiencing it live on stage, quite another. 

Sticking closely to the plot of the original book, this spectacular stage show follows the hit West End and Broadway productions to combine the memorable songs from the original 1970s motion picture (“The Candy Man” and “Pure Imagination”) with all-new numbers from the multi-award-winning songwriters of Hairspray.

For those of you unfamiliar with the show (how!?), it tells the tale of young Charlie Bucket and the mysterious confectionary wizard, Willy Wonka. When Charlie wins a golden ticket to the weird and wonderful Wonka Chocolate Factory, it’s the chance of a lifetime to feast on all the sweets he’s ever dreamed of. But beyond the gates astonishment awaits, as down the sugary corridors and amongst the incredible and edible delights, the five lucky winners discover that not everything is as sweet as it seems.

Whilst the movies provided plenty of inspiration, this production definitely puts its own spin on the enduring Roal Dahl classic. “You can’t take too much from the movies – Gene Wilder was extraordinary, I’m one of his biggest fans – but because this is a musical theatre adaptation, it’s a different set of skills involved,” explains Gareth Snook, who plays the iconic Willy Wonka.  

Was it intimidating taking on such a beloved character? In a word, yes. “It was daunting because I didn’t realise fully how comic this character is and how the entire world knows him. Even if people haven’t seen the movies or read the book, they think they know him. But you know, I had to put a lot of Gareth Snook into this role – it’s the only way of doing it.”

“I was determined never to shy away from him. I didn’t want to make him too beige and soften his edges too much because that’s not Willy Wonka. You know, he’s unpredictable. He’s a plain speaker – a bit like me. I think you have to invest a lot of yourself into a role, but I want to keep Wonka vibrant, and multifaceted.”

Marisha Morgan and Robin Simões Da Silva – who play Violet Beauregarde and Augustus Gloop respectively – tell me much the same thing. “People expect us to be a certain way because of our characters, but at the same time, our director, James Brining, allowed us to play around with it a lot during our rehearsal process. So I feel like we’ve added our own spin on things,” says Morgan. “I think we’ve found a good balance between playing the characters people know and love and also bringing a fresh new take on things,” agrees Da Silva. 

One of the largest productions on tour in the UK, it requires 12 45-foot trailers to move the massive amount of scenery and technical equipment and takes a crew of 40 three whole days to build the set… suffice to say, taking the show on the road involves a lot of work. And though being on tour is fun, it can also be quite taxing too. “I think the fact that we’ve kind of all got each other and a lot of us have grown very close helps,” Da Silva says.

Getting enough rest and establishing a good routine are also paramount, especially for Snook who says his whole day is about making sure he’s “match-fit”. Unfortunately, there isn’t a whole lot of chocolate involved behind the scenes and his pre-show ritual centres on “lots of honey and lemon and lots of steaming.” “It’s important to make sure I’m in a healthy frame of mind and that my spirit is free, because to play Wonka, you need to be ready to have some fun. At the end of the day, it is a job – you do it eight times a week and sometimes it’s hard – but I always try and make sure that just before my entrance on stage, I go, ‘Right. Here we go.’”

A family show with something for everyone – from seven years of age right up to parents and grandparents – the show is choc-full of fantastical treats to dazzle your senses… including one very angry squirrel!

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory The Musical opens at the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre on December 5 2023 and runs until January 7 2024. Tickets start at €26.50 and can be bought through Ticketmaster. 

Photography by Johan Persson.