CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY Previews — Page 12

wonderfulwizard11 said: "The idea of Wonka meeting up with Charlie outside of the factory is somehow worse than the shoehorned backstory the Burton remake gave to the character.

By the sound of it, it seems like the creative team has completely missed the mark on what made both the book and the Wilder film work."

In the London version -directed by Mendes - and since it's closed, I guess it's no longer a spoiler - Wonka does interact with Charlie several times in Act One. Only, we don't know that it's Wonka. It's more of a "mysterious man" from Into the Woods.

Now I'm curious to read the book. I mean, why would they feel like Wonka needed to meet Charlie beforehand? Why not have all the kids give a montage type song where they all get their tickets. And then enter the factory. And Act 1 could end with charlie and his dad leaving the tour/doing their own thing?

ggersten said: "wonderfulwizard11 said: "The idea of Wonka meeting up with Charlie outside of the factory is somehow worse than the shoehorned backstory the Burton remake gave to the character.

By the sound of it, it seems like the creative team has completely missed the mark on what made both the book and the Wilder film work."

In the London version -directed by Mendes - and since it's closed, I guess it's no longer a spoiler - Wonka does interact with Charlie several times in Act One. Only, we don't know that it's Wonka. It's more of a "mysterious man" from Into the Woods."

RippedMan said: "Now I'm curious to read the book. I mean, why would they feel like Wonka needed to meet Charlie beforehand? Why not have all the kids give a montage type song where they all get their tickets. And then enter the factory. And Act 1 could end with charlie and his dad leaving the tour/doing their own thing? "

Who knows their reasoning? I mean I can come up with a few ideas yet all of them are still dumb. On one hand, since it takes so long to introduce Wonka AS Wonka in the show, it gives the actor playing him more time on stage. A second thing would be that they want to build a better relationship between the two of them so that when Wonka ultimately picks Charlie it seems more justified. But....... yeah both of those are still dumb reasons because if they CUT all of the Wonka and Charlie meeting before the factory stuff, it might also fix BOTH of those issues AND SOME!

It would get them into the factory earlier in the show, getting Wonka on stage sooner, and still give them the time to development a bond while IN the factory.

Act 1 should be ending on the WOW factor of seeing a super imaginative and amazing candy room for the first time. (If you have gotten this far into the topic, you know from reports that they don't HAVE that in this show but I'm staying it's what SHOULD be there). End act one with Augustus falling into the river and the bit of chaos in the moments after that but leave his fate until after the intermission. Open it on the Oompa loompas singing his "goodbye song." You get the factory before the end of act 1, you are ending it on moment that people are be going into the show anticipating, and you can still save the oompa loompas for the opening of act 2 to give the audience something else to anticipate.

I mean I thought that getting to the factory sooner would be an OBVIOUS change to make after so many people complained about waiting until act 2 to see it in the West End production. Of all the reviews I read from people that saw it, that was the ONE consistent complaint that the majority of them had. It seems like it should have been a no brainier here.

After reading some posts about Mendes and his involvement or lack thereof, I'm reminded of several projects I've worked where where a big name is attached as an exec-producer but has literally zero involvement - financial or otherwise. They stand to make money if it succeeds but don't lose anything if it fails. Sometimes they lend their name as a simple courtesy. Trump is currently the exec producer on Apprentice but has zero involvement. He's only licensed his name or has another arrangement with Burnett.

I'm also wondering if there's some copyright issues with Mendes' original London version. Perhaps a large chunk of what he created had to be scrapped because he refused to let O'Brien take credit for his ideas despite having his name attached as an EP. It could be an ego thing. It happens often.

I have no involvement with this show nor do I have friends involved. I'm only offering this as a suggestion as to why this is as awful as everyone says it is.

I think this is going to be one of the biggest creative failures on Broadway. They had beautiful and fun material handed to them on a silver platter. How the hell is it even possible to screw this show up perfectly?!

RW3 said: "So they couldn't just put Borle in a wig instead of making him shave his head?



Just to clarify, Borle didn't shave his head. His baldness is courtesy of a wig, and when he drops the disguise and becomes Wonka again his natural hair is back.

To give another example of how misguided this production is, let me describe the top of the show. The curtain goes up to reveal a little clock tower type structure. Borle walks out from behind it in top hat and waistcoat, but with his back to the audience. He then simply turns around and we see he is brushing his teeth. (It's completely bizarre star non-entrance; surely there are other ways give Wonka's first appearance more oomph.)

But, back to the teeth brushing...In between each brush and spit Wonka tries on different accents to decide what person he will be today. The first time we hear him speak it is in a thick, "redneck" type accent. At first I thought, good god, could this be the most misguided character choice in history to make Wonka a hillbilly? The audience was obviously confused too and the line was met with crickets. Then he tried on the next accent- the audience caught on to the joke set up- but that doesn't mean they laughed much this time either. He finally settles on his own voice and then sings Candy Man on an essentially empty stage.

I understand the impulse to let Borle do all this voices (well certainly not at the top of the show, but maybe later while on the factory tour) because this is the sort of zany, over the top shtick at which he so excels. The bit just isn't nearly funny enough to A) kick off the show or B) be our introduction to the beloved character. The larger dramaturgical issue is the question: for whom is Wonka trying on personas? He's a complete hermit, speaking (I presume) only to the Oompa Loompas and there's no need to be anyone but himself.

WhizzerMarvin said: "RW3 said: "So they couldn't just put Borle in a wig instead of making him shave his head?



Just to clarify, Borle didn't shave his head. His baldness is courtesy of a wig, and when he drops the disguise and becomes Wonka again his natural hair is back.

"

I think he did shave his head... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtY4wz3o3u4

Updated On: 3/30/17 at 07:50 AM

RW3 said: "WhizzerMarvin said: "RW3 said: "So they couldn't just put Borle in a wig instead of making him shave his head?



Just to clarify, Borle didn't shave his head. His baldness is courtesy of a wig, and when he drops the disguise and becomes Wonka again his natural hair is back.

To give another example of how misguided this production is, let me describe the top of the show. The curtain goes up to reveal a little clock tower type structure. Borle walks out from behind it in top hat and waistcoat, but with his back to the audience. He then simply turns around and we see he is brushing his teeth. (It's completely bizarre star non-entrance; surely there are other ways give Wonka's first appearance more oomph.)

But, back to the teeth brushing...In between each brush and spit Wonka tries on different accents to decide what person he will be today. The first time we hear him speak it is in a thick, "redneck" type accent. At first I thought, good god, could this be the most misguided character choice in history to make Wonka a hillbilly? The audience was obviously confused too and the line was met with crickets. Then he tried on the next accent- the audience caught on to the joke set up- but that doesn't mean they laughed much this time either. He finally settles on his own voice and then sings Candy Man on an essentially empty stage.

I understand the impulse to let Borle do all this voices (well certainly not at the top of the show, but maybe later while on the factory tour) because this is the sort of zany, over the top shtick at which he so excels. The bit just isn't nearly funny enough to A) kick off the show or B) be our introduction to the beloved character. The larger dramaturgical issue is the question: for whom is Wonka trying on personas? He's a complete hermit, speaking (I presume) only to the Oompa Loompas and there's no need to be anyone but himself.

Whizzer, it is almost 7am my time and the fact that he isn't actually bald has just rocked my morning. What in the actual hell.





"

He did actually shave his head

He did actually shave his head

Thanks for the correction, though I think he's still wearing a wig when undercover as he has long, wispy strands of hair coming out along the back and sides of his skull. Kind of like a thinned out Ben Franklin look. His Wonka wig looks remarkably like his normal hair!

newintown said: "It may be a good time to note that the director of this piece is about to turn 78 years old and has been suffering health issues for quite some time. With a book writer with no musical theatre exxperience, and a songwriting team with only one successful score to their names - these facts may have something to do with the production's flaws.



"

I think Jack is a great director. I don't think it has much to do with his heath. I think it's just a crap book and a crap score, and I think that is clear because many people thought it was also crap in London, even if it had better scenery

Updated On: 3/30/17 at 08:45 AM

These reports are downright shocking. I will say this much, despite their mixed reception so far, AMELIE and GROUNDHOG DAY are probably looking like freaking masterpieces right about now.

Scarywarhol said: "Surely everyone involved in this realized that the Chocolate Room had to be absolutely spectacular. Like, surely it is understood that everyone potentially driving a core audience for this show wants to see that. What the hell.

"

I disagree with most of the comments that say that this is a high school production, but the chocolate room is so underwhelming, as is the way Agustus falls into the river. I get that everything is minimalistic, but when the chocolate room came out as a amall set piece rather than turning the entire stage into this magical place, I was really bummed.