CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY THE MUSICAL Set for London Palladium, June 2013; Mendes, Greig, Shaiman, Wittman & More on Team

Warner Bros. Theatre Ventures, Neal Street Productions and Kevin McCormick today announced that their production of Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory will open at the London Palladium in June 2013 after a preview period. The new stage musical will be directed by Sam Mendes, with a book by David Greig and new songs from Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman.

Set and costume design will be by Mark Thompson with choreography by Peter Darling. Other members of the creative team include: Doug Besterman (orchestrations); Nicholas Skilbeck (Music Director); Paul Pyant (Lighting Designer); Paul Arditti (Sound Designer) and Jon Driscoll (Video and Projection Designer).

The mysterious Willy Wonka is opening his Chocolate Factory for just one day, and for Charlie Bucket it promises to be a mouth-watering chance to feast his eyes on sweets beyond his wildest imagination. Academy Award®-winning film and theatre director Sam Mendes will bring Roald Dahl's much-loved classic to life in this world premiere stage production.

Tickets will go on sale to the public in October 2012.

Written by Roald Dahl, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was first published in 1964 in the US and in the UK in 1967. The book has been adapted into two major motion pictures: Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory in 1971 and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in 2005.

Sam Mendes' work directing theatre and film spans 25 years. In 1992, he founded the Donmar Warehouse. Among his many lauded productions are Glengarry Glen Ross, Cabaret, The Blue Room, The Front Page, Uncle Vanya and Twelfth Night. Several of the productions transferred to Broadway where he had a huge success with Cabaret (which won four Tony Awards® including Best Musical), Gypsy, The Blue Room and the world premiere of David Hare's The Vertical Hour. More recently he was involved in a joint venture between The Old Vic and BAM in New York, The Bridge Project, for which he directed several acclaimed productions including The Tempest, The Cherry Orchard, A Winter's Tale and Richard III starring Kevin Spacey. American Beauty in 1999 was his first film, it won five Academy Awards® including Best Director and Best Picture, and six BAFTAs. Since then, he has directed four further films; Road To Perdition, Jarhead, Revolutionary Road and Away We Go – which garnered 10 Academy Award® nominations between them. His enormous contribution to cinema and theatre saw him awarded a CBE in 2000 and A Director's Guild Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005. He has been directing the 23rd James Bond film, Skyfall, which will be released in October 2012.

David Greig's award-winning work includes The Strange Undoing Of Prudencia Hart (Tron Theatre, National Theatre of Scotland), Midsummer (Traverse Theatre and Soho Theatre/Tricycle Theatre, UK and international tour), Dunsinane (RSC at Hampstead Theatre and National Theatre of Scotland tour), Damascus (Traverse Theatre, Scotland and the Tricycle Theatre) and Miniskirts Of Kabul (Tricycle Theatre) Brewers Fayre (Traverse Theatre), Outlying Islands (Traverse Theatre and Royal Court, Upstairs), The American Pilot (RSC, Soho & MTC). Adaptations include The Creditors (Donmar Warehouse and BAM, NYC), The Bacchae (Edinburgh International Festival and Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith), Tintin In Tibet (Barbican, Playhouse Theatre, London and National Tour), When The Bulbul Stopped Singing (Traverse Theatre, Caligula (Donmar Warehouse) and Peter Pan (NTS, Traverse/ Barbican). David's work for children and young people includes The Monster In The Hall (TAG Theatre Co. Glasgow/Traverse Theatre), Yellow Moon (TAG Theatre Co. Glasgow/Traverse Theatre and tour), Gobbo (National Theatre of Scotland, Highlands tour), Dr Korczcak's Example (TAG Theatre Co. Glasgow, Citizen's Theatre and BAC, London). David is currently under commission to The Almeida Theatre and The National Theatre of Scotland. He is working with Film Four on a screen adaptation of his stage play Midsummer. Other films include: Vinyan and A Complicated Kindness.

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