#1
Posted: 9/2/26 at 9:10pm
Updated On: 9/3/26 at 09:10 PM
Michael Ball to lead CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY at London Coliseum
#2
Posted: 9/2/26 at 9:59pm
Wittman's also attached why doesn't he get to be in the title? Either way, I can smell the stench coming off this already. They've got two good scores and one of them is a TV show.
#3
Posted: 9/2/26 at 10:42pm
Ke3 said: "Wittman's also attached why doesn't he get to be in the title? Either way, I can smell the stench coming off this already. They've got two good scores and one of them is a TV show."
This isn't a new score, it's a revival of the musical that premiered in London in 2013.
#4
Posted: 9/2/26 at 11:46pm
And still one of the worst shows I’ve ever seen
Well I didn't want to get into it, but he's a Satanist.
Every full moon he sacrifices 4 puppies to the Dark Lord and smears their blood on his paino.
This should help you understand the score for Wicked a little bit more.
Tazber's: Reply to
Is Stephen Schwartz a Practicing Christian
#5
Posted: 9/3/26 at 7:41am
Unfortunately for everyone, this is not a ‘new musical adaptation’.
I am big. It’s the REVIVALS that got small.
#6
Posted: 9/3/26 at 9:25am
GiantsInTheSky2 said: "Unfortunately for everyone, this is not a ‘new musical adaptation’."
I changed the headline for clarifications sake.
To give myself a little credit, it was 3 in the morning when I saw that article and I was in the middle of my work shift. so my reading comprehension wasn't the best
#7
Posted: 9/3/26 at 1:18pm
I think Michael Ball will make a terrific Wonka. Shaiman and Wittman have written a few new songs since the Broadway production that have been incorporated into the various tours so it likely won’t be the same as the Broadway incarnation. I think the Broadway production itself was so poorly conceived and designed that it might have been difficult for people to evaluate the actual material.
#8
Posted: 9/3/26 at 5:46pm
I mean, it kinda sucked on the West End, too, so it's not like the material was great to begin with.
#9
Posted: 9/3/26 at 7:16pm
I was not really following the show but, per Wikipedia, it seems there have been at least five variations of it between London, Broadway, the US and UK tours, and the MTI licensed version. It’s kind of wild that something that would have seemed to be an obvious adaptation win has never been able to nail it.
"...everyone finally shut up, and the audience could enjoy the beginning of the Anatevka Pogram in peace."
#10
Posted: 9/3/26 at 7:42pm
It's just impossible for it to live up to expectations of any kind, let alone carve out its own niche. The Shaiman/Wittman score has about a fifth of the effortless magic of Bricusse/Newley's, the structure means the first act is a tedious and mostly Wonka-free slog, and the countless revisions have never been able to settle on a consistent tone. There are parts I love but on the whole it's a constipated mess.
#11
Posted: 9/3/26 at 8:22pm
#12
Posted: 9/3/26 at 9:31pm
The Shaiman/Wittman/Grieg "Charlie" is, as the kids say, "'Matilda: The Musical' at home."
#13
Posted: 9/4/26 at 12:14am
The opening should get us to the factory. Then flashbacks to fill out the backstories.
#14
Posted: 9/4/26 at 5:22am
For anyone who wants the dates rather than the discourse, the Coliseum has now put its own listing up: 4 June to 18 September 2027, billed as a single summer season rather than an open run.
On sale is 29 September 2026 - priority at 10am, general sale at 4pm the same day - and it is selling through the Coliseum's own box office rather than an agency.
Also on the page: Leslie Travers on set, Katrina Lindsey on costumes, and Foster directing in the same house he did Kinky Boots in. The billing lists the Shaiman/Wittman score alongside Pure Imagination from the 1971 film, so it looks like the interpolation is staying.
On sale is 29 September 2026 - priority at 10am, general sale at 4pm the same day - and it is selling through the Coliseum's own box office rather than an agency.
Also on the page: Leslie Travers on set, Katrina Lindsey on costumes, and Foster directing in the same house he did Kinky Boots in. The billing lists the Shaiman/Wittman score alongside Pure Imagination from the 1971 film, so it looks like the interpolation is staying.
musical.today — tour dates, venues and who is actually selling.
#15
Posted: 9/4/26 at 10:22am
musicaltoday said: " Foster directing in the same house he did Kinky Boots in."
Its a transfer (Just like Kinky Boots) from Leicester Curve Theatre, where it's playing this winter:
https://www.curveonline.co.uk/news/full-casting-announced-and-run-extended-for-charlie-and-the-chocolate-factory/
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