Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

On a wet, grey and windy Thursday evening we were looking forward to a good evening’s entertainment. Welcomed warmly by Jennie Tonks and her front of house team, we entered the already packed auditorium for what was the second performance of a five show sell out run. 

I have been coming to see CPYT shows, even before I became a NODA Rep, I have to say they never do things by half. Charlie and the Chocolate factory was no exception. The difficulty is where to start. The lights dimmed, the orchestra, a fantastic thirteen-piece group of brilliant musicians led by Rachel Thorpe and Ian Partridge, struck up and away we went. We knew we were in for a fabulous night. The tabs were drawn back and we were greeted with the rear of the stage fully covered by a Video Wall at the back that depicted Willy Wonka's factory with a pair of Wonka Gates to the fore.

The choreography, by Summer Huges, was great from the start, inventive, challenging in places but well-rehearsed and the opening number of The Candy Man, set the scene well. Stage Manager Alan Pawley and his crew made good use of the stage and had two trucks to stage left (The Shop) and stage right, (The Buckets house) which, although large, came on and off at the correct time with the minimum of fuss and nonsense. There was no discernible down time and no blackouts whatsoever. The set was well lit and the lighting programmed well by Livewire Theatrical consultants and the sound levels that accompanied it all by Rich Wyeth and Mark Bourne made the whole experience fantastic. This was a clean set, which had been designed and built for CPYT, with crisp backdrops being utilised well, pulled across from stage left to stage right. Everything allowed the cast to be fully involved and engaged in the story.

The diction here was generally of a very high standard, there were no apparent line drops, and all lines were heard well and we were able to follow the (well known) story without any problems. The principal line up led the show with strength and confidence. Samuel Fitzsimmons as Willy Wonka gave a character full performance and Jack Strong as Charlie Bucket was very believable and interacted very well with Bella Huntly as Mrs Bucket and Wayne Ings as the old curmudgeon Grandpa Joe. They were very ably backed up by Jacon Calder and Eva Crouch as Mike Teavee and Mrs Teavee, Alana Walker and Aaron Axtell as Veruca Salt and Mr Salt, Ceylan Kaynak and Will Vokes as Violet and Mr Beauregarde and Kieran Tonks and Ella Friel as Augustus Gloop and Mrs Gloop, their dance routine and choreography for "More of him too love" was a great duet and partnership, both working well together. And then there were the Oompa Loompas! Brilliant. All the juniors obviously loving every moment they were on stage and didn't they do well. Confident, (generally) in time and together, they looked where they knew where (and why) they should be, a credit to the obvious hard work in rehearsals by Mike Mullen, Ashley Mullen, Summer Huges and the team had put in. It was worth it.

The costumes were fantastic. bright, colourful, and so, so many of them. Nicki Moorhouse and her team have done a fabulous job here to really bring the show to life. I can only begin to imagine the hours of work that has gone into this. It added so much. Fabulous. You might be forgiven for thinking that you were watching a professional show. The standard was that high.

What a fantastic night we had, musically and visually brilliant.

Well done to all at CPYT, another polished performance

 

A note from the Regional Councillor

It was a glorious evening, on Wednesday when together with the National President Graham Liverton, I watched with awe with some fine and polished individual performances together with outstanding company numbers.  It was exciting to see the new 'set' created  by CPYT but executed by others.  The stage and ‘techie’ crews were their usual efficient selves.  Overall a first-class production made even better by the exceptional performance of the well-drilled cast.

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