Extra shows before Sydney season ends

FINAL TICKETS GO ON SALE IN SYDNEY

FOR ROALD DAHL CLASSIC 'CHARLIE

AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY'

NEXT STOP - HER MAJESTY'S THEATRE, MELBOURNE

THE SYDNEY SEASON of the spectacular new musical Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is coming to an end, with the season extended due to huge demand until July 21.

Tickets for the final two weeks will go on sale on Friday (May 31).

Paul Slade Smith (Willy Wonka) and cast of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. PHOTO by Brian Geach

Following the Sydney season, the production will play at Her Majesty’s Theatre, Melbourne from August 9, and at the Lyric Theatre, Brisbane from March 2020.

Sydney has embraced Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with both audience and critical acclaim, many performances selling out.

All ages are loving the familiar story, the colourful characters and especially the Oompa-Loompas!

TOP CAST

Four boys share the role of Charlie Bucket in this delicious tale, Oliver Alkhair, Tommy Blair, Xion Jarvis and Ryan Yeates.

Charlie lives with his mother and his four grandparents in a little wooden house near a great town, and is the final child to find a Golden Ticket.

Willy Wonka, the most amazing, fantastic chocolate maker the world has ever seen, is played by Paul Slade Smith.

Ninety and a half year old Grandpa Joe, an enthusiastic storyteller and eternal optimist, is played by Australian show business royalty Tony Sheldon, while Mrs Bucket, a kind, caring mother and a woman of few words, is played by Lucy Maunder.

Jake Fehily and Octavia Barron Martin play Augustus Gloop and Mrs Gloop, Karina Russell and Stephen Anderson are Veruca Salt and Mr Salt, Jayme-Lee Hanekom plays Violet Beauregard with Madison McKoy as Mr Beauregard, and Harrison Riley and Jayde Westaby are Mike Teavee and his mother Mrs Teavee.

Completing 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, Jordan Malone, Kassie Martin, Phoenix Mendoza, Adam Noviello, Glen Oliver, Danielle O'Malley, Jackson Reedman, Emma Russell, Taylor Scanlan, Thalia Smith and Quentin Warren.

SYDNEY ENCHANTED

Producers John Frost, Craig Donnell, Warner Bros Theatre Ventures, Langley Park Productions and Neal Street Productions are thrilled that Sydney has embraced Charlie and the Chocolate Factory for an extended season.

“Sydney audiences have fallen under the spell of this exciting musical production. Children love seeing their favourite characters come to life on stage, and their parents enjoy re-visiting the adored film,” they said.

“There are only a few more weeks for Sydney to be enchanted by this glorious show before it moves to Melbourne, so make sure you get your Golden Ticket fast.”

Sydney secured the Australian-premiere of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory through the NSW Government’s tourism and major events agency Destination NSW.

ECONOMY BOOST

Tourism Minister Stuart Ayres said it’s a must-see spectacular show, which is expected to generate more than $37 million in visitor expenditure for the State’s economy.

“Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a sure-fire hit for the whole family. From the zany characters to the colourful costumes, the catchy songs to the elaborate sets, this musical boasts all the ingredients for a magical show. With only a matter of weeks to go until the show wraps in Sydney, I strongly encourage all Charlie fans to make sure they don’t miss this unique opportunity,” Mr Ayres said.

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 61 languages.

TASTE-TESTING LEADS TO SWEET SUCCESS

Roald Dahl began working on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in 1961, but its origins can be traced all the way back to Dahl’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.

Get in fast to see the Oompa-Loompas, incredible inventions, the great glass elevator and more, more, more at this everlasting showstopper!

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