Review: Orpheus Musical Theatre's CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY

Orpheus Musical Theatre opened its 2024-2025 season with family-friendly Charlie and the Charlie Factory. Based on the beloved story by Roald Dahl, the musical tells the story of what happens when Wonka-obsessed Charlie Bucket (Sam Castro) wins one of five golden tickets to go on a behind-the-scenes tour of the Wonka chocolate factory, led by none other than the reclusive Willy Wonka (Matthew Michael Lorz) himself. Charlie’s Grandpa Joe (Laurence Stassen) is a former Wonka employee who, after being bedridden for four decades, summons up enough strength to accompany his grandson on the adventure, as Charlie’s exhausted mother (Allison Helmer) cannot afford to give up her work shifts to go with him herself.

The remainder of the first act introduces the audience to the other four golden ticket holders, who appear to personify one or more of the seven deadly sins: envy, gluttony, greed, lust, pride, sloth, and wrath.

• Augustus Gloop (Karsten Skeries) [Gluttony] is a jovial, overweight child known as the “Bavarian Beefcake”, who is accompanied by his oblivious mama (Julie Heath). 

• Veruca Salt (Tegan Stassen) [Greed/Lust] is portrayed in the musical as a greedy Russian ballet dancer, whose demands know no bounds (“Daddy, buy me North Korea!”) and whose admittedly spineless father (Cody Zulinski) panders to her every wish. 

• Violet Beauregarde, the “Queen of Pop” (Hazel Stanfield), [Pride] is a boastful social media celebrity. Her claim to fame? Chewing the same piece of gum continuously for three months. Her father (Pablo Castro) is her promoter, trying to catapult his daughter to superstardom. 

• Mike Teavee (Carson Cameron) [Sloth/Wrath] is lazy, bad-tempered, and sometimes violent; he sits in front of the computer playing video games all day. His exasperated mother (Kelly Fuoco) cannot control her son, and she abuses alcohol and prescription medication to get through each day. 

• Even our hero is not immune, exhibiting Envy at the beginning of the story. Wanting nothing more than to win a golden ticket, young Charlie becomes more and more despondent as each ticket is claimed until he finds the final one. The difference between Charlie and the others is that Charlie's envy is for one particular thing, rather than being an entire character flaw.

In the second half of the show, each child and their appointed guardian enter the factory where Wonka shows them its inner workings. This is where things start to go horribly wrong for Augustus, Veruca, Violet, and Mike. The Oompa Loompas appear after each incident, explaining how each child's behaviour caused their downfall. Eventually only Charlie - the most virtuous of the children - remains. Charlie is then deemed to be the “winner” by Wonka and given a gift that will change his life.

The show’s music is written by Marc Shaiman of Hairspray fame; in fact, the musical shares many similarities with that show, with its vibrant colour palette, upbeat songs, and a sympathetic main character who is vastly different from their counterparts. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, like Dahl’s book, hammers home the idea that “sinful” behaviour will be punished, and the virtuous will be rewarded. In the book, the children emerge from the factory unharmed, after learning their lessons the hard way. This idea of possible repentance and redemption is lost in the musical, as the children are assumed dead.

The lighting (Bill McLaughlin) of the stage curtain in regal Wonka purple was a nice detail. On opening night, there were some faulty mics, resulting in gaps in the sound and making it harder to follow lyrics. The set design (Tony Walker) was surprisingly bare, with heavy reliance placed on a large screen background rather than the use of physical props. Some of the backgrounds worked well, but others added little value to the overall scene. It felt like there were some missed opportunities; the naughty children’s exits would have been more impactful with a more elaborate set design. The elevator prop and the lighting during “Pure Imagination” was a welcome change, but the outer space projection on repeat throughout the song could have been improved. A Wonka bar being pulled from a television screen worked extremely well, but a similar trick a little later in the show went awry when the timing of the effect was noticeably out of sync.

Performances were mixed, with the most standout performances coming from Tegan Stassen, Stanfield, Cameron, and Lorz, with the latter at his best when he assumes a more menacing demeanour. The ensemble cast of Oompa Loompas were energetic and enthusiastic, but their roles were not well defined, and the costumes were confusing.

The show’s ingredients result in a musical that is sweet and will appeal to younger audience members, but lacks the depth of flavour needed to satisfy connoisseurs.  The show is recommended to for families, but be warned that younger children may find certain scenes frightening.

Orpheus’ production of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is on stage at Meridian Theatres @Centrepointe through November 24th. Click here for more information or click the link below to buy tickets.

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