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'Willy Wonka' is holiday delight
(by Herb Hammer - November 25, 2009)
THEATER, BY HERB HAMMER
'Willy Wonka' is holiday delight
During the holiday season, there isn't anything you would consider to be too cute. This is certainly the reason to forgive the stage play with clumsy directing, cheap sets and awkward dances.
Such is the case with the Chagrin Valley Little Theatre's production of Roald Dahl's "Willy Wonka," also known as "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory."
Mr. Dahl's sweet, endearing little story has found its way twice to the movie screen and to the New York stage. The show is done in schools nationwide with a cast of as few or as many kids as you might like to gather on any one stage.
Julia Kolibab directs the CVLT production, and, as slow moving and as static as she does her job, you still can't help but smile, for holiday time is near, and Willy Wonka is just the guy who'll make you feel good.
Don Bernardo plays Willy Wonka, not in the clown-like character of Gene Wilder in movie No. 1 or the dark style of Johnny Depp in movie No. 2. Mr. Bernardo plays Wonka as a true blue charmer, escorting five children, winners of golden tickets, around his wonderfully enormous factory. Mr. Bernardo anchors the show.
The true comedy comes when we find young Charlie's four eccentric grandparents lying in bed, facing each other, eating cabbage soup. They appear to live in the bed.
Charlie's father has just lost his job at the local toothpaste factory, and the once poor family is facing abject poverty.
But on a 10 million-to-one shot, young Charlie Bucket, along with four of the brattiest kids you'll ever find, get the chance to tour the factory. The kids are the spoiled rotten Veruca Salt, played by Ashleigh Nagy, gluttonous Augustus Gloop, played by Kal Bowers, gum-chewing Violet Beauregarde, played by Anna Gottfried, and television junkie Mike Teavee, played by Liam Garnaut. All are just terrific. Little do they know that the child who proves to be the gentlest, kindness and most honest will inherit the entire candy business.
With music and lyrics by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley, the show's many bright spots may just charm you out of your collective seats. Most memorable songs are "Pure Imagination" and "Candy Man."
Bill Wade and Elizabeth Pollert provide the dances, which would have been better if the kids made them up themselves. Edmond Wolff's sets smack of a budget where the dollars are hard to come by. He is able, however, to provide truly delightful projections on the upstage wall.
We know upfront who will be Willy Wonka's choice to inherit his business. Cleverly, he disposes of the bratty four.
Don Edelman and Sy Levine give the play its comic lift as Charlie's grandfathers. Mark Oet, as Charlie, has the stage innocence that keeps you grinning from start to finish.
The show is far too long due mostly to the dead air in the dialogue. One can only hope the director recognizes this and speeds things up for the rest of the run.
But for all its flaws, CVLT has chosen the perfect holiday delight. "Willy Wonka" would make a wonderful annual event.
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