Four Of Willy Wonka's Golden Ticket Winners Have Been Found

Four of the Golden Ticket winners and other members of the cast of the spectacular new musical Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory have been announced today. Roald Dahl's delicious tale will be playing only in Sydney at Sydney's Capitol Theatre from 5 January 2019.

Augustus Gloop, a greedy boy who enjoys eating, the first person to find a Golden Ticket, will be played by Jake Fehily, and his mother, Mrs Gloop, will be Octavia Barron Martin. Veruca Salt, an only child whose parents spoil her excessively and who finds the second Golden Ticket, will be played by Karina Russell and her father Mr Salt by Stephen Anderson. Jayme-Lee Hanekom will play the third person to find one of Willy Wonka's Golden Tickets, Violet Beauregard, a competitive and determined child who takes great pride in her record-breaking gum-chewing abilities, with Madison McKoy as Mr Beauregard. Harrison Riley will play Mike Teavee, the fourth Golden Ticket winner who is obsessed with TV and gadgets and is far less keen on people, with Jayde Westaby as his mother Mrs Teavee.

Also in the wonderfully talented cast are Johanna Allen, Sheridan Anderson, Hayden Baum, Kanen Breen, Bayley Edmends, Bronte Florian, Todd Goddard, Madison Green, David Hammond, Sasha Lian-Diniz, Aaron Lynch, Jordon Malone, Kassie Martin, Phoenix Mendoza, Adam Noviello, Danielle O'Malley, Jackson Reedman, Emma Russell, Taylor Scanlan and Thalia Smith.

Producers John Frost, Craig Donnell, Warner Bros Theatre Ventures, Langley Park Productions and Neal Street Productions are thrilled with their talented cast. "What a gloriously talented bunch of performers will make up our Australian cast," they said. "The world fell in love with Roald Dahl's bewitching tale when the book was released, then filmgoers adored the 1971 film with Gene Wilder. Now this fabulous cast will enchant audiences with the story once again on stage."

"This is such a wonderful story for generations to share," added John Frost. "Grandparents love taking their grandkids, and parents love sharing their favourite Willy Wonka film from their childhood with their children. We have an amazing cast to bring this story to life, and I can't wait to shortly reveal our Willy Wonka, the Bucket family and the four boys who will share the role of Charlie."

The Australian premiere has been secured for Sydney by the NSW Government's tourism and major events agency, Destination NSW, and will be a major drawcard for visitors to the State.

NSW Minister for Tourism and Major Events Adam Marshall said, "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a highlight on our major events calendar for 2019, with more than 76,000 overnight visitors anticipated to travel to Sydney to see the production, generating an estimated $37 million in visitor spend."

"Securing Charlie and the Chocolate Factory further cements Sydney as the home of musical theatre and we look forward to welcoming the talented cast to our Harbour City to take on these fun and imaginative roles."

Step inside a world of pure imagination. Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is the perfect recipe for a delectable treat: songs from the original film including "Pure Imagination", "The Candy Man" and "I've Got a Golden Ticket", alongside a toe-tapping and ear-tickling new score from the songwriters of Hairspray.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is perhaps Roald Dahl's best-known story and has proved to be one of the most enduring children's books of all time. The story of Charlie Bucket, the five Golden Tickets, the Oompa-Loompas and the amazing Willy Wonka has become firmly embedded in our culture since it was first published in 1964. Conservative estimates suggest the original book has sold over 20 million copies worldwide; it is now available in 60 languages.

Roald Dahl began working on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in 1961, but its origins can be traced all the way back to Roald's own childhood. In his autobiography, Boy, he tells us how, while at school in England, he and his fellow Repton students were engaged as 'taste testers' for a chocolate company - something that seems to have started him thinking about chocolate factories and inventing rooms long before Mr Wonka was on the scene. But when he came to write Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the story went through several drafts until the story as we now know it was released in 1964.

Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory features direction by three-time Tony Award winner Jack O'Brien, music by Grammy, Emmy and Tony Award winner Marc Shaiman, lyrics by Grammy and Tony Award winners Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman, a book by Artistic Director of Edinburgh's Royal Lyceum theatre David Greig, choreography by Tony Award nominee and Emmy Award winner Joshua Bergasse, and includes additional songs by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley from the 1971 Warner Bros motion picture. Scenic and costume design is by five-time Tony Award nominee Mark Thompson, lighting design by four-time Tony Award nominee Japhy Weideman, sound design by Andrew Keister, projection design by Jeff Sugg, puppet and illusion design by Obie and Drama Desk Award winner Basil Twist, and music supervision by Nicholas Skilbeck.

Now it's Australia's chance to experience the wonders of Wonka like never before - get ready for the Oompa-Loompas, incredible inventions, the great glass elevator and more, more, more at this everlasting showstopper!

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