The Dutch ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ is a musical to enjoy

It is an illustrious list, which actor Remko Vrijdag can count on from now on. After Gene Wilder and Johnny Depp, he also puts the purple jacket around his shoulders and joins the Oompa Loompas. On Friday Willy Wonka will play in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the musical after the famous book by Roald Dahl. This production premiered in the West End about ten years ago and is now on display in the Netherlands.

You would think that Willy Wonka would also be the shining centerpiece of the musical, but that must – certainly in the first half – be the young Charlie. At the premiere, Noah Fontijn plays him disarmingly: he is sparkling, has humor and a good voice. (During the tour, there are five children who alternately take on this role.) Fontijn forms a wonderful duo with Vrijdag, who portrays Wonka as a distant and clumsy man; maybe not very charming, but comical and very mysterious.

In the performance, Charlie grows up in a poor family without a father, but with a mother and four old people living at home, who are in bed all the time, but still have a lot of fun. Charlie has the best bond with his grandfather, who constantly gives free rein to his imagination and places himself in his anecdotes next to greats from world history (a nice role by Peter van Heeringen). In addition, Charlie is a big fan of Wonka’s chocolate bars. When the eccentric chocolatier organizes a competition to win children a visit to his factory, he is delighted. He must and will find one of the golden tickets.

Modernization and magic

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a well-known story, which has been filmed several times, but has been considerably adapted for the musical. Elements from Dahl’s book (1964), for example, have been modernized, such as the group of children who are allowed to go to the chocolate factory. The chewing gum addict Violet is now a vlogger and the annoying Joris an avid gamer. Who of course just remained part of the Wonka universe: Oompa Loompas, the strange factory helpers. These are just not small people, as in the film adaptations, but figures who – with their white-painted faces and black hats – are most reminiscent of pantomime players.

The direction by Jasper Verheugd is tasteful and tasty: it is really a musical to feast on. This is the decor by Joris van Veldhoven

colorful and very atmospheric, with the spectacular ending before the intermission as one of the highlights. Then the big W, on which the previous scenes were played, is hoisted up and the chocolate factory suddenly comes very close. The decor has grandeur and at the same time enough gimmicks to convey the magic of the story.

carnival cracker

Another forte is the translation by Rik van den Bos and Thomas van Luyn. It runs like clockwork, with asides that refer to the Dutch context. With the song ‘More Caspar Slok!’ was busy yodelling in the West End with a German accent; in the Dutch adaptation this is a kind of carnival cracker, including soft ones g. The audience spontaneously starts clapping. Musically there is a lot to enjoy anyway, with well performed classics like ‘Land of your imagination’ (which was also in the 1971 film) and new songs, like the jumpy “As Veruca Says” about a father trying to rein in his sassy daughter. This is how this one Charlie and the Chocolate Factory all the ingredients to make the audience disappear into that magical world of Willy Wonka.