Fort Myers Theatre ushers in September with a spirited production of Willy Wonka. This show takes its musical and confectionary cues from Kevin Crumpler. As Wonka, he leads the audience into a magical world of pure imagination from the show’s very first moments.
Come with me and you'll be In a world of pure imagination Take a look and you'll see Into your imagination
We'll begin with a spin Trav'ling in the world of my creation What we'll see will defy explanation
After replacing his work force with Oompa-Loompas following an unfortunate case of corporate espionage, Wonka has built his chocolate factory into the ultimate place to explore, taste, create and enjoy everything sweet and chocolatey.
I can’t stop eating sweets All those wonderful Willy Wonka treats You can keep the others
Cause, me, I’m a Wonkera
When it comes to candy,
Willy’s the conqueror
To the bewilderment of the kids who live in the factory’s shadow, no one’s been allowed in for years. But Wonka’s no recluse. He goes out regularly into the surrounding community disguised as The Candy Man.
The Candy Man
The Candy Man can
The Candy Man can
because he mixes it with love
and makes the world taste good
Wonka is energized by these encounters, so when he decides it’s time to retire, instead of selling his chocolate empire or merging with a rival, he decides to ask to the universe provide him with a successor. He conceals five golden tickets in his world-famous candy bars. Each kid that finds one not only gets a lifetime supply of chocolate, but a tour of the factory. Unknown to them, the tour is really an audition to see if any of the winners deserves to become Wonka’s successor.
“I think it’s more fun that way,” said Kevin Crumpler, in character. “It is. It’s fun to see what happens, and then maybe just kind of direct some people this way and that to see how they’ll react.”
The balance of Act One is devoted to introducing the Golden Ticket winners. One of the characters sets the odds of finding a Golden Ticket at one in a million. So it says a lot about author Roald Dahl’s opinion about the Baby Boomer generation that the first four winners are self-absorbed, entitled brats who are coddled by their over-indulgent parents.
By contrast, poor little Charlie Bucket is a decent, other-directed kid whose Grandpa Joe instills in him a positive mental attitude in spite of their abject poverty. Aiden Johnson deftly portrays the character, and sings this mantra.
I’m hoping for the best,
Think positive
Think positive
Think positive
As Napoleon Hill and Tony Robbins would predict, Charlie’s PMA pays off.
I never thought my life could be
Anything but catastrophe
But suddenly I begin to see
A bit of good luck for me
‘Cause I got a Golden Ticket
I got a golden twinkle in my eye
In Act Two, the audience goes on the tour with the Golden Ticket winners and watches as one after another invariably ignores Wonka’s simple rules: “No touching, no meddling no tasting!”
Fear not. This production does not mete out the gruesome ends for which the Broadway play was so heavily criticized.
Kevin Crumpler provided the spin placed on Dahl’s story by this show, “They each learned their lesson. I think that it was something that needed to happen and I helped them along the way to figure that out. So maybe in the long run they’ll become better and more creative people in their lives.”
Most people regard Willy Wonka as a children’s story. It’s not. Rather, it’s a cross-generation cautionary tale for permissive parents. If you fail to instruct your kids to follow the rules placed on them by the workplace and society, in general, they truly will meet with catastrophe. But with honesty and empathy, anything they want to, they’ll be able do with pure imagination.
Simply look around and view it
Anything you want to, do it
Want to change the world, there's nothing to it
There is no life I know
To compare with pure imagination
Living there, you'll be free
If you truly wish to be
Willy Wonka runs through September 10th at Fort Myers Theatre. Go here for play dates, times and a full cast list.
MORE INFORMATION:
- The musical is an adaptation from Roald Dahl’s 1964 novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
- Roald Dahl is also known for James and the Giant Peach (1961), The BFG (1982), The Witches (1983) and Matilda (1988).
- While the characters of Frankfurt overeater Augustus Gloop (JJ Freitas), rich kid Veruca Salt (Lisa Acevedo), gum-chewing Georgia peach Violet Beauregarde (Winter Talley), internet/video game junkie Mike Teavee (Vivienne Randall) and Charlie Bucket (Aiden Johnson) represent Baby Boomers, the character of Grandpa Joe (Paul Vander Vennet) is a stand-in for The Lost Generation, whose values were shaped by the poverty and stoicism of the Great Depression.
- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was made into two movies. The 1971 film was released under the name Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and starred Gene Wilder. The 2005 remake starred Johnny Depp.
- Tim McDonald and Leslie Bricusse adapted the novel for the stage, and Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley provided the music and lyrics.
- The London production ran for three and a half years.
Fort Myers Theatre co-founder and Artistic Director directs and choreographs this production, with Roz Metcalf providing vocal direction.To read more stories about the arts in Southwest Florida visit Tom Hall's website: SWFL Art in the News.
Spotlight on the Arts for WGCU is funded in part by Naomi Bloom, Jay & Toshiko Tompkins, and Julie & Phil Wade.