Aussie Charlie's Chocolate Factory

Ryan Foust in the original 2017 Broadway cast of Charlie And The Chocolate Factory.

Photo: Joan Marcus.

Get a first look at Charlie And The Chocolate Factory during cast rehearsals. https://youtu.be/Y8JDp8kEAsc

British novelist Roald Dahl was famous for his dark plots and gruesome characters, yet the first song shown to the media on the rehearsal floor was saccharine sweet - ‘The Candy Man’.

US actor Paul Slade Smith, who plays Willy Wonka, sauntered through the number, set in a lolly shop, whilst very energetic dancers pirouetted faultlessly around him - after just one week of rehearsal. Sweetness wasn’t Roald Dahl’s forte. “You cannot read much of Dahl without thinking of what his view of humanity was. He did not think much of it. He is very dark,” said Slade Smith.

“Yet he always had a hero or heroine who was pure and innocent and true. He also gave us someone to root for. That is the recipe. When he introduces Charlie, he says Charlie Bucket is our hero. He is what we aspire to be. Not selfish, not greedy, he listens, learns and is open to life.

“Charlie is the only child. There is nothing boring [about him], because his innocence contrasts with the other [children], who are played by young adults.”

The musical had more of a dark edge when it was first staged in the West End. Director Jack O’Brien said the London production was “very big physically, very dark, very Oliver Twist. It was sumptuous and uniquely British.” This is code for ‘not commercially viable on Broadway’.

“I asked if we could do it differently, and they said ‘help yourself’.”

One of the biggest changes was to introduce the character of Willy Wonka earlier into the story (he doesn’t appear in the novel until chapter 14).

Also, O’Brien “felt it needed more of an international profile.”

Some Russian characters are added into the mix, while for the Australian production the Bucket family, which is blessed with the discovery of the Golden Ticket, is dinky di.

“The Bucket family are totally Australian. They display open heartedness, generosity and enthusiasm,” said O’Brien.

Grandpa Joe is played by Tony Sheldon, who recently notched up his 2000 th performance of Bernadette in Priscilla Queen of the Desert.

“The golden ticket winners come from all around the world - Russian, German and American - so we thought, why can’t the Buckets be Australian?” Sheldon said. “It has been lovely to localise a couple of the references. “Coming off Priscilla I don’t immediately need to assume an American accent. “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is new to me. I only just read the book, and never saw the film until six weeks ago.

“Typical Roald Dahl, there is a lot of darkness in there. I grew up on his macabre adult short stories. I am delighted that continues into his kids’ books.

“It is a cautionary tale about greed, entitlement and a lack of imagination. He encourages kids to make something out of nothing.”

The role is a lighter load than his part in Priscilla Queen of the Desert, apart from sliding down from the top of a double bunk and doing a jig or two in the song ‘I’ve Got A Golden Ticket’, which he describes as a “bit of a stretch”.

The role of Grandpa Joe was originally played on Broadway by Slade Smith. Now he is relishing the opportunity to step into the lead, which he understudied.

“What I realised after performing the role on Broadway is that the journey for Willy Wonka is to meet Charlie Bucket and realise that in speaking to this tenyear-old boy, it is a ten-year-old him. [Both] feel like an outsider in the world and feel apart from the other kids.

“Willy feels like he has a creative gift for the world. He is able to say [to Charlie] there is a lovely life ahead of you.” He admits the character is a little odd. “Willy Wonka is not spelled out in the book or the show. He has clearly walled himself off. He lives in the factory and never comes out. It is just him and the Oompa Loompas and his chocolate. It makes him a strange person, but if you have Roald Dahl’s understanding of humanity you can understand it.”

The original 2017 Broadway cast of Charlie And The Chocolate Factory.

Photo: Joan Marcus.

Slade Smith admits he is daunted about being compared to the portrayal of Willy Wonka in the original movie by Gene Wilder.

“Huge shoes to fill does not even cover my acknowledgement of what Gene Wilder did with the role of Willy Wonka. I think he captured the soul of the story, just with the look on his face. It is so deep, without him even tyring.

“Gene Wilder, up until that point, had displayed such comic genius playing frenetic quirky characters. But with Willy Wonka he was quiet. He was still. He had the look of curiosity on his face. You want to know what is going on with the guy the whole time. It was spot on.” Is this what he aspires to? “That is part of it. There is a freneticism to Willy Wonka as well. He is always changing skins. He’s very entertaining and full of life and mischief. He has a joy about him, but a dark side as well. I think the stillness, like an inner sadness, is definitely part of the role.”

Slade Smith said the iconic movie helps the audience digest its new incarnation as a musical.

“So many people come to the story through the Gene Wilder movie, which already has some songs. You already associate ‘Candy Man’, ‘Pure Imagination’ and ‘I’ve Got A Golden Ticket’ with this story. It absolutely sings well.

“The lovely Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman [composer/lyricists for Hairspray] had a rich environment for creating songs to introduce very colourful characters.

“They wrote a lot of very fun songs for the show - when Willy Wonka introduces himself to the golden ticket winners, and there is great first act closing moment.”

Slade Smith himself is a published writer, with his niche being farce.

“In my 30s I started to write. I realised subconsciously I always had the mind of a playwright.

“That is often how I got cast in shows. I would come into the audition reading the script, then understanding - I see what the writer is going for, and what the story is telling.

“I view the job of acting through the eyes of a writer, rather than an actor’s perspective of how does my character feel at the moment,” he said.

His casting in the role ruffled some feathers in the local acting community.

“I can completely understand the passion that local union actors feel about who is being given these jobs.”

Watch Tony Sheldon sing “I’ve Got A Golden Ticket” during cast rehearsals. https://youtu.be/sRO_MN9RmPs

Tony Sheldon.

He recalls feeling the same way when he was working in Chicago, when actors from New York got roles.

“But I also did a show in New York with Anthony Warlow: Finding Neverland.

“I also identify with producers and directors, trying to put together a show with a particular vision.

“I am just the lucky guy who gets to play Willy Wonka.”

Four lucky Australians have been cast as Charlie. The eldest of these is thirteen-year-old Ryan Yeates, a student of the McDonald College. He told me that he loves chocolate and could “never get sick of it”. He describes the characters of the other finalists as bratty but realistic. Ryan said Veruca ‘Daddy I want another pony’ Salt uses tactics that are familiar.

Eleven-year-old Oliver Alkhair is already a veteran, having recently starred in Kinky Boots, and has an agent. He told me that fitting schooling around being in a professional musical is a piece of cake. Oliver rattled off all the characteristics of the brats - greed, gluttony and watching too much television. The eleven-year-old, though, loves his role. “I really like how thoughtful Charlie is and that he puts others before him.”

Charlie And The Chocolate Factory plays at the Capitol Theatre, Sydney from January 5.