10th February 2023, Milton Keynes Theatre
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The show opens with Charlie Bucket (Noah Walton) looking through rubbish, seeing what he can salvage to return home. He lives at home with his grandparents and mum in a shack, on a diet of cabbage soup. The grandparents live in one bed and never leave it. He writes a letter to Willy Wonka with a couple of requests to improve the life of his family. The next morning the whole world is told of the news of the golden ticket competition.
The rest of the first act shows the 5 winners finding their tickets and being interviewed in their homes
Augustus Gloop (Robin Simoes Da Silva0finds his while doing his favourite activity, eating!. Veruca Salt (Kazmin Borrer) finds hers through her father changing his nut factory into a chocolate unwrapping factory.
Violet Beauregarde finds her during a break in her love of chewing gum.
Mike Teavee (Teddy Hinde) finds his ticket and gets annoyed by the reporters interrupting is TV viewing.
The last is Charlie who finds his through the luck of finding some money on the street and buying one bar of chocolate. He takes the ticket home, and the whole family are so excited for him. Grandpa Joe (Michael D'Cruze) is so overcome with excitement he asks to go with Charlie and for the first time in years, leaves his bed!
The end of the first act shows the reporters and the lucky winners waiting outside the factory gates and the eventual appearance of Willy Wonka himself (Gareth Snook).
The second half of the show is the tour of the factory and the "accidents" that happen to 4 of the golden ticket winners. I don't want to say much about these as the effects of the how they shown is amazing and needs to be seen without spoilers. The only thing i will say is the Oompa Loompa songs after each incident are so funny and brilliantly done!
During this performance (Friday 10th) Noah Walton was the Charlie and he was brilliant, he portrayed the emotional parts brilliant and the comedic parts with Grandpa Joe perfectly. Michael D'Cruze was perfect as Grandpa Joe. His stand out moment was when he finally gets out of the bed. Gareth Snook as Willy Wonka was a standout! He carries the madness of Willy Wonka brilliantly and his songs are some of the best! His duet with Noah in the glass lift was amazing and had one of the biggest applause!
The rest of the cast are just perfect, the actors portraying the other winners are brilliantly and you see that during the accidents in the factory tour.
The sets of the show are outstanding! The way the pile of garbage changes to a shop front is amazing. The house set is brilliantly done, with the elders bed positioned above the area where all the action happens between Charlie and his mother. The factory scenes are well done, with a good balance between physical sets and screen use. The entrance room of the factory, with the Chocolate River, is all done with screens but it's so good it doesn't matter.
Overall if you want a fun Chocolate themed time at the theatre this is the show for you! You will be humming the songs and laughing along the entire show!
The show runs at MK Theatre until the 5th March
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