Review: CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY At The Studio Theatre

Who can take a rainbow, and wrap it in a sigh? If you don’t know that answer, you need to head to The Studio Theatre, 320 W 7th St, in Little Rock, and find out, however their production of CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY is close to selling out for the remainder of the run which is now through Sunday, Dec. 17, and rightfully so, because this musical is theatrical magic at its best! 

Based on the famous novel by Roald Dahl, with Music by Marc Shaiman, Book by David Greig, Lyrics by Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman, and Directed by the fabulous Dakota Mansfield, this tasty musical follows Charlie (Austin Bernard) as he tries to attain a golden ticket for the chance to go inside the mysterious chocolate factory and meet the eccentric Willy Wonka (Tyler Mann). Once he finally secures his ticket with the encouragement of his family (Cameron Filli, Kinsey Potts, Zach Baker, Susan Thomey), he and his Grandpa Joe (Byron Taylor) are joined by four other lucky winners-Varuca Salt (Erin Bagley) with her father (Paul Bowling), Mike Teavee (Mark Kennedy) and his mother (Rita Woodward), Augustus Gloop (Ben Perry) with his mother (Jamie Partain), and Violet Beauregarde (Natalie Williams) with her father (Kenneth Gaddie). One by one the contestants get disqualified for not following the rules, and Charlie is the winner. What does he win? If you don’t know, go to the musical to find out, however it is nearly sold out, so get them online as soon as possible.  

I love this cast. Seriously! They cracked me up. I was, of course, familiar with the story already, so I was able to fully enjoy seeing what the actors brought to their roles, and they really embraced the over-the-top qualities of their characters. Bernard was precious as Charlie and was actually the only kid in the five main kid roles and held his own like a pro. I love how well he responded to Mann’s Wonka....and speaking of.... I have some major starry heart eyes for Tyler Mann at the moment. He is absolutely perfect as Willy Wonka. This is my favorite role of his thus far. He has that mischievous grin, fantastic facial expressions, smooth singing, and overall charismatic showmanship that commands the stage and has you smiling through the whole show. So good *sigh* The comedic award goes to Perry as Augustus Gloop. I laughed so hard that I had tears! Perry and Partain’s little dance and interactions were so great and so much fun! It made me wish he wasn’t eliminated so soon into the show.  

The other parent/child matchups were great as well. Williams and Gaddie made a great power couple and I loved how Violet started ballooning out-the costumes were amazing (Tig Kashala). Bowling was awesome as the haughty rich guy catering to Bagley’s spoiled Varuca Salt. Kennedy reflected an electronically obsessed teen easily, and I may have seen myself a little too much in Woodard’s character.  

Before the show began, Justin Pike, Artistic Director of the Studio Theatre addressed the crowd. 

“This is actually a really special show for the studio. We are part of Music Theater International pilot program, which means that we get to do first run musicals, and we are one of only four theaters in the entire country that got this particular show licensed for the holiday season. It’s very exciting to see what we can possibly bring to Little Rock--things that people can't see anywhere else for now. So, we're very excited about that.” Pike went on the say, “This show closes on the 17th of December and then four days later, we have a second Christmas show opening in this space. That show is called Who’s Holiday. It's a one-woman show. It is an hour and 15 minutes told all in Doctor Seuss rhyme. It's done by a wonderful actress named Georgeann Burbank, and that show is for adults only. Don't bring kids to it. Trust me. Some of y'all know, I can hear y’all giggling. Don’t bring kids to it, but those tickets are on sale.”   

Going to the Studio is always a great time. Bartender extraordinaire James Linker makes this yummy Snozzberry drink. In fact, it was so good, my cousin bought two of them. As a special fundraiser, they have Charlie themed chocolate boxes from Little Rock Chocolatier Kelly Wassell. They are so pretty and even more delectable than they look.  

To grab your tickets and to check out what’s coming up, visit their website at https://www.studiotheatrelr.com. 

Production/Creative Crew: Scenic & lighting Design-Justin A. Pike; Stage Manager-Sidney Kelly; Asst. Stage Manager-Jordan Hancock; Sound Engineer-Mark Garrett; Production Photos-Erica Gregory; Trailer Videography-Belle Overstreet; Executive Director-Kayla J. Jenkins; Props-Courtney Speyer, John Hatton, Rosalyn Williams; Construction-Alan Malcolm, Paul Bowling, Dakota Mansfield, Zack Baker; Music Director-Dr. Maggie Garrett; Choreography-Rosalyn Williams; Sound Engineer-Mark Garrett; Crew-Abby Woodward, Belle Overstreet. 

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