The fall season is finally setting in, leaves are falling, the sun is setting later and your mom is forcing you to wear a bigger coat… All these things happen every year. You know what else happens every year? Every year, Groves GPAC puts on a musical production, never disappointing; last year’s Newsies musical and 2022’s Chicago were both amazing. This year, GPAC is putting on a show about your favorite psycho taking a bunch of kids into a dangerous factory, filled with 4-foot-tall Orange people… You guessed it, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory! This play takes place in November, with opening night on November 8th at 7:00 pm. It runs over that weekend, at 7 PM on Saturday the 9th, and 2:30 PM on Sunday the 10th. It also runs the weekend after that, on the 15th and 17th, during the same times.
Based on the iconic Roald Dahl novel, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is about 11-year-old Charlie Bucket, a poor boy living in Wonkaville. One day, the abnormal candy genius, Willy Wonka, announces that five golden tickets were hidden randomly in candy bars and, of course, Charlie found one. The winners of this contest are Augustus Gloop, Veruca Salt, Violet Beauregarde, Mike Teavee, and Charlie Bucket, who all go on a tour of Willy Wonka’s mysterious factory. Throughout the tour, it is slowly revealed Wonka may have an ulterior motive behind the tour. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory has been adapted into 3 movies, one in 1971, another in 2005, and a recent 2023 movie about the rise of Willy Wonka into the chocolate mogul he is. However, GPAC’s production is based on the Broadway musical, featuring songs such as “Queen of Pop” and “The Candy Man”.
I interviewed Lauren Mattison, an actress in the play, to get some insight into the production process. She is playing Mrs. Teavee, the mother of Mike Teavee, one of the children who received a golden ticket.
“I felt it’s been kind of slow and easygoing. But I think more recently, we started to get into runs, dance reviews, and stuff where things are a little more all hands on deck regarding working throughout rehearsals,” Mattison said. So, the rehearsals are starting to pick up in intensity, and everything is starting to come together.
“We just finished choreographing it must be believed to be seen, and that’s been fun,” Mattison said. When asked how excited she was about this play, she replied…
“I don’t know, maybe an eight. I’m pretty excited but waiting for it to set in a little bit,” Mattison said.
Overall, the GPAC production of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is an exciting and fun experience. This play will be great, just like last year and the year before, and everyone should come out to support their fellow Falcons.
