Thalian Association
Willy Wonka
Roald Dahl is my favorite author of children's fiction and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory has always been one of my favorite stories. I have probably read the book over a dozen times with various groups of students.
Needless to say, I was excited to hear that the Thalian Association was putting on a production of Willy Wonka and was interested to see how the show compared to the book and movies. My five year old daughter and I attended the Sunday afternoon performance and were very impressed with the production.
The show opened with the song "Pure Imagination" sung by Nick Basta who plays Willy Wonka. It was a wonderful opening to what would be a great performance by the actor throughout the play. Basta truly embodied the Willy Wonka that I have always visualized when reading the novel. I felt his portrayal of the character was more true to the book than Johnny Depp's depiction of the character in the 2005 film Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
Quinn Gonzalez, who plays Charlie Bucket, also did an amazing job of acting and singing. Through his performance, the audience was able to empathize with him and the Bucket family and root for him throughout the play to rise above his circumstances.
Another character that added pizazz to the story that was not present in the novel was reporter Phineous Trout played by Khawon Porter . The actor did a fantastic job as an over-zealous reporter always looking for the next "scoop". Porter not only added humor but also a booming singing voice to the song "I See it All on TV".
Overall, the cast did an amazing job with the show. There was never a dull moment and my five year old sat mesmerized during the entire performance. I would certainly recommend this show to anyone that has children or to those that love the works of Roald Dahl.
Willy Wonka can be seen at Thalian Hall Thursday, Dec.19 - Sunday, Dec. 22. Tickets for the Thursday performance are $15 each and for all other shows are $30 each. These can be purchased at the Thalian Hall box office or online.
