The Penn-Trafford Drama Guild (PTDG) performed their last showing of the musical of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” This final performance, which took place on Sunday, April 13, was a whimsical and colorful show. 

     “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” is a musical based on the 1964 children’s novel by Roald Dahl. The script was written by David Greig, music by Marc Shaiman and lyrics by Shaiman and Scott Wittman. The P-T auditorium stage was decorated with various hues, including purple, pink, orange, and yellow, and the floors were painted in rainbow hues with white outlines of candies on top.

     The musical begins with Willy Wonka, played by senior Carter Reyes, who is seeking an heir for his magical chocolate factory. He disguises himself as a candy shop owner and befriends Charlie Bucket — played by senior Aidan Coiner (Isaiah Cordera in the first weekend), a poor but imaginative young boy. 

     Reyes said that his version of Willy Wonka is a blend of the depictions by Gene Wilder (1971’s “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory”), Johnny Depp (2005’s “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”) and Christian Borle (2017-2018’s Broadway production), as well as showing his own original take on the character.   

     “I honestly think the hardest part of becoming Willy Wonka was singing,” Reyes stated. “I have a very low voice — especially when I did ‘Bye Bye Birdie,’ it was in my range. But Willy Wonka, he’s a baritone and tenor range, and so the most challenging part was really learning his songs and trying to hit those notes.”

      Reyes described how he got to throw exploding firecrackers on stage and toss glitter into the crowd.

      “[Wonka] is just a goofball,” Reyes added. “It’s so much fun to entertain the audience.”

     The story continues with Wonka announcing a contest to find five Golden Tickets hidden in his candy bars. Whoever finds them will win a tour of the factory and one lucky winner will be rewarded with a lifetime supply of candy. Charlie miraculously finds the last ticket and attends the tour with his almost-90-year-old Grandpa Joe (senior Zachary Posner for both weekends).  

     The other Golden Ticket winners are Augustus Gloop, played by senior Jared Miller, a Bavarian “beefcake” obsessed with food; Veruca Salt, a spoiled Russian girl played by junior Lyla Gross (Delaney Price in the first weekend); Violet Beauregard, played by senior Sarafina Premozic, a gum-obsessed “queen of pop” and Mike Teavee, played by sophomore Lucas Bramson, a technology addict who won a Ticket by hacking into Wonka’s computers.

     Similar to the 1971 film, Wonka emerges from the factory, appearing to be frail and old, but then reveals his true self. Gene Wilder, who played Wonka in the film, had revealed that his false limp was so viewers would be unsure of if Wonka was telling the truth or not.

     Each child is eliminated in some way by their own vices: Augustus’s gluttony, Veruca’s greed, Violet’s pride and Mike’s sloth. Wonka’s workers, the Oompa Loompas, sang a song about morals each time a child got into trouble. The only children who did not directly die from the factory were Mike and Charlie, though Mike was permanently shrunk by the Chocolate Television and left the factory with his mother — or rather, inside her purse. 

     “All eight [makeup crew members] collectively worked on the Oompa Loompas whenever they came in for quick changes,” senior and student makeup coordinator Fiona Bondra stated. “That was about 28 individual wigs that we had to style, brush out and spray.”

     At the end of the show, Charlie proves himself by valuing creativity over rules or rewards, and Wonka names him heir to his factory, inviting his entire family to live there.

     “Makeup crew gives me the ability to do something I love while helping,” said Bondra. “It’s like I’m part of something bigger instead of just doing makeup”.

     The performances themselves were shown on April 4-6 and 11-13. In terms of visual aspects, the set pieces included nostalgic locations such as the Chocolate Lagoon, the Mixing Room, the Nut Room and the Choco-Vision Room. Each area was constructed with specific elements, such as authentic candy trees, giant mixing pots and a TV set, to reflect the scenes in the musical.

 

     According to many PTDG members and leaders, the Guild dedicated significant time and effort across all areas of the production, including acting, singing, hair and makeup, costume design, set construction and prop creation. 

     “There’s just something about the community that the Drama Guild has,” Reyes stated. “It’s like a second home. It’s really nice to be able to connect in the little family we have.”

Abby Dreistadt, Editor in Chief