You may have seen the 1971 Movie Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory starring Gene Wilder. You may have seen the 2005 Tim Burton remake named Charlie and the Chocolate Factory starring Johnny Depp as the mad chocolatier. You may think you know the story of the poor boy who wins the Golden Ticket and a chance to tour the wondrous, mysterious candy factory.
But - unless you saw the production recently presented by the Crown Point High School Drama Department - you don’t know Wonka.
Narrated by Katie Mojica, the production featured Jared Wood as Willy Wonka, Erin Muller at Charlie Bucket, Blake King as Augustus Gloop, Emma Peterson as Veruca, and Arriana Gonzalez as Violet and was adapted from the original fantasy novel by Roald Dahl.
Directed by Kit Degenhart, who describes the play as a reinterpretation of the source material.
“When you’re looking to present a version of such a classic, well-known show, you are looking not necessarily to recreate it, but rather to just honor the story,” said Degenhart. “When we held the auditions, we were looking for specific talent to represent the personalities of the characters in Roald Dahl’s original novel.”
“We try to do children’s stories every so often. Not every year, because it’s a different skill set, but when we were planning the show, I spoke with a colleague and he mentioned that this was his favorite story," he continued. "We’re not trying to compete with the movie, we’re not trying to recreate the movie. We created some special effects and it’s a real honor to be able to present this show here tonight.”
Degenhart said that the rehearsals began in early September, and the actors were there three to four days a week.
“But these last two weeks, we’ve been here every day, three to four hours each day. It’s been quite a process.”
“I like the mystery of it all,” said Erin Muller (Charlie). “I like the way that the story unfolds. It’s entrancing and it teaches the importance of being true to yourself.”
“I’ve been coming here, watching these shows for years and when I heard about this play, I thought this was my moment, this was my chance to finally do this,” said Muller, 15 and a sophomore at Crown Point High School.
Jared Wood (Willy Wonka) is a junior at CPHS and has been acting for two years. He appreciates the chance to escape to a different world and become someone else, if just for a little while.
“I can throw away my daily stress and have a few hours just to myself, becoming a different person for a little while,” said Wood.
Stephenie Ford drove all the way from Crestwood, Illinois to see the play with her friend, Mary Cioe.
“It’s great! The acting is great!” said Cioe.
“I love the atmosphere!” said Ford. “It’s a great production. My kids were laughing when they saw the Oompa Loompas come out on stage.”
“Augustus Gloop was my favorite,” said Cioe.
Crown Point High School continues to keep the bar high for the quality of their produtions and the talent they recruit in their plays. Surely if this play is any indication, then the future looks bright for CPHS Theater.
Cast:
Katie Mojica as Narrator
Blake King as Augustus Gloop
Emma Peterson as Veruca
Arriana Gonzalez as Violet
Aaron Herrera as Mike Teavee
Kyle Bokota as Mr. Bucket
Elena Bir as Grandma Josephine
Brandon Rueth as Grandpa George
Maria Jeffirs as Grandma Georgina
Monika Krcoski as Mrs. Bucket
Ben Land as Grandpa Joe
Erin Muller as Charlie Bucket
Emma Maddack as Mrs. Gloop
Jared Wood as Willy Wonka
Ales Drakulich as Mr. Salt
Riley Miller as Mrs. Salt
Kaitlyn Bruder as Mrs. Beauregard
Carlton Rager as Mr. Teavee
And the Oompa Loompas:
Jeremy Andras
John Poponas
Brandon Rueth
Ben Smith
Tatiana Maa
Maria Jeffirs
Steven Harsh
Kyle Bokota
Monika Krcoski
Elena Bir
Directed by:
Mr. Kit Degenhart