Earlier this year Nottingham Operatic Society co-presented a five star production of Les Misérables at Nottingham Theatre Royal with two alternating casts of the main principals. From us and from other reviewers locally it got rave reviews. The standard of everything in that production was as close to professional as one could hope for from an amateur company. Some of their cast have subsequently been invited to be part of the Les Misérables 40th Anniversary celebrations at the Royal Albert Hall in November. I imagine they are very proud and, as it happens, some of that same cast are performing in the musical version of ‘Charlie and The Chocolate Factory’ at the Theatre Royal this week. We are ‘golden ticket’ lucky to be reviewing it on the very first matinée performance.

‘Charlie and The Chocolate Factory’ is a musical version of Roald Dahl’s super famous book voraciously read by children and adults all over the world. The musical’s book is by David Greig with music by Marc Shaiman and lyrics by Shaiman and Scott Wittman. The musical is chock (or is that choc?) full of songs – the most well-known ones being ‘The Candy Man’ and ‘Pure Imagination’.

With a tag line of ‘Enter a world of pure imagination’ we sit back and enjoy the story of young Charlie Bucket’s highly rare and fortunate break of spending time exploring Willy Wonker’s extravagant and dangerous sweet-making factory with Mr. Willy Wonker himself. Charlie has won one of the golden tickets but will it be the dream he always dreamed of or something else entirely?

His golden ticket adventure is shared with other not-so-nice children; Violet Beauregarde, Mike Teavee, Augustus Gloop and Veruca Salt, all human metaphors for bad human traits. Gloop is greedy, rude and insubordinate, Salt is a spoilt brat who loudly demands everything he wants and throws tantrums, Beauregarde is an obsessive chewing gum chewer, and Mike Teavee only cares for the guns and violence he sees on television. All of their accompanying parents are weak and ineffectual or deliberately blind to the faults of their awful offspring. Only Charlie Bucket is a kind and selfless boy and, what’s more, is unassuming and respectful to everyone in his life. He is the only one who truly deserves to win the golden ticket and all that involves. Only the mysterious Willy Wonker can make that decision. And, will Grandpa Joe ever get out of bed?

Well kids, we have got to the end of this first Wednesday matinée performance and I can assuredly say that Nottingham Operatic have definitely hit the sweet spot with their tremendous production of ‘Charlie and The Chocolate Factory’. It’s bloody brilliant. I would happily come back and watch this again.

The overall casting is perfect and top of the Chocolate Factory tree is Dan Armstrong as Willy Wonka. Armstrong is superb in the lead role, his dry wit and comedy timing is spot on and he has a commanding singing voice and especially good in Wonka’s patter songs such as ‘Strike that! Reverse it!’ When we get to see the magical interior of the Chocolate Factory and Armstrong sings of pure imagination we really believe his hopes, his words and inspirational thoughts.

Grandpa Joe is played by Simon Theobold and his character is thousand miles away from Theobold’s cruel M. Thenardier in Les Misérables earlier this year. Lovable and vulnerable is what Grandpa Joe is supposed to be and Theobold nails it with his vocals, his gait, his energy and his great personality.

The children in the cast alternate between performances and this afternoon the audience fall in love with Toby Clark as Charlie Bucket. Who could fail to be charmed by his gentle confident personality and sweet singing voice. His performance is a very believable one and his relationship with his mum (Emma Shute) has me welling up and wanting to hand the Bucket family a big food parcel and fix their leaking roof. There are tears in my big soppy reviewer’s eyes when his innocence and creativity are amply rewarded at the finale.

Then there are the other less likable Golden Ticket winners created by Roald Dahl: Augustus Gloop ( Seth Burgess), Veruca Salt (Clara Carter), Violet Beauregarde (Grace Hindle) and Mike Teavee (Samuel Smith). Each young actor fully brings out Roald Dahl’s interpretation of them as right little shits and all of them seem to relish the opportunity to portray them. Of course when they visit Willy Wonka’s factory they are supposed to behave and be accompanied by a responsible parent. Trying to control the children’s spoilt rotten temperaments are Mrs. Teavee (Joanne Lale), Mrs. Gloop (Lucy Haigh), Mr.Salt (Bara Erhayiem), and Mr. Beauregarde ( Ray McLeod). Each adult has an opportunity to express everything in song with numbers like ‘More of Him To Love’, ‘When Veruca Says’, ‘The Queen of Pop’, and ‘ What Could Possibly Go Wrong?’ All of these songs are also given full welly by members of the talented multi-role playing ensemble.

To use Roald Dahl’s crazy vernacular of understandable but made up words the ensemble as backing singers in character costumes are wondercrump, razztwizzling good, spliffling, and frankly rather gloriumptious. The Oompa Loompas get at huge round of applause for the way they are realised as do the giant squirrels that tear Veruca Salt to bits. No young snotty Russian girl is harmed in this staged dismemberment. Though the moment is ‘horrigust’.

The sets are fabulous, Justine Lee’s direction and choreography are off the chart, and Rob Murray’s musical direction is brilliantly enhanced by the eleven-strong live band. What a thrill this is for both adults and their children/grandchildren to experience. It’s much better than a pantomime and the end bit… the magical, tear-jerking end bit… yes that bit… shhhh, is worth the golden ticket price alone. No, you’ll just have to go and see it to get the reference. You would have to be a dogswoggler not to. Translation. Silly person.

On Weds 29th evening, Thursday 30th matinée , Friday 31st matinée and Saturday 1st Nov evening the young cast are Charlie Bucket (Henry Armstrong), Augustus Gloop ( Thomas Owen), Veruca Salt (Martha Crosby), Violet Beauregarde (Betsy Stevens) and as Mike Teavee (William Kent).

Photo credit: Martin Holtom and Stuart Reekie Jones