Karylle says ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ is about hope and imagination
Chocolate rivers, nut-sorting squirrels, and other eye-popping visuals are designed to dazzle the audience in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the touring Broadway musical production which will make its Manila premiere at The Theater at Solaire in Manila from July 8 to 26. Yet, underneath all the spectacle at its heart lies a message, which is relevant today more than ever. As theater and TV icon Karylle described it during the press conference on April 15, it is all about “grounding yourself, [and] not losing the ability to dream. I think the biggest lesson [here] is just opening your mind. How can we use that for the good—which is exactly what we need right now.”
Karylle plays Mrs. Bucket, the mother of the hero, young Charlie, who wins a highly prized golden ticket to the legendary chocolate factory owned by the quirky Willy Wonka. For a fleeting moment, the boy can escape his ordinary life to embark on a once-in-a-lifetime journey, which the production notes describe as “fantastical.” Tim Clothier, the renowned Las Vegas magic and illusion designer who joins the Broadway team, said in the press release that they had to design “new stage wizardry” to live up to the fictional Wonka’s reputation as “the king of imagination.”
The Broadway production premiered in 2017 and ran for 300 performances before going on tour in subsequent years in North America, London’s West End, India, the Middle East, and Asia. It is based on the book with the same name, written by the late 20th-century British author Roald Dahl, known globally for his many works in children’s literature.
Karylle first came across the actual book of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory courtesy of her “best friend … who always had [it] with her.” Although not a parent herself, the actor said she is excited about playing a motherly role. “I do work with a lot of kids [in various organizations]. People always [tell me] ‘you’re very motherly’ but I can’t say that for myself but it is something that people often tell me. So yeah, there is that motherly side of me that I would love to explore.”
Her stage son Charlie’s trip down the mysterious factory is more than just a fun-filled exploration of the magical. According to Sam Sewell of GMG Productions, which acts as the “local presenter” that does “general management” for the musical, the kids like Charlie who enter the factory ultimately face “a test. Each child represents a new moral [lesson]” that has to be overcome whether it’s to fight against gluttony or pride. Sewell pointed out, “Each kid represents a different lesson.”
Regardless of what Charlie encounters in his journey inside the chocolate factory, Karylle described her hopes for her fictional son: “I would really love for Charlie to be whole despite everything that is lacking. Because when there is love in a family, there is no lack.”
Bettering the world
Karylle said that the musical can give an “experience” in “hope and joy,” which can be encouraging in an era like today that is packed with a lot of stress factors. “See, we’re just in a beautiful time, aren’t we?” She opened up a little about a few familiar scenarios that the audience can understand and possibly empathize with. “Because we know the struggle. We know the bottom that we go through, the calls that we have to make, and the abono we have to make.”
“A lot of us have a little bit of that in us,” she added. “That struggle: am I going to go with my creative brain or the one that has to pay the bills? Can it be both? How do we do better in the world in general?”
At the same time, she said she believed that “sometimes music, art can help find that path.”
Sewell said that especially during difficult times, “Theater has become an escape, stepping away from the rest of the world, and being able to consume a world of pure imagination.” She affirmed that Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is “a family show.”
Admittedly happy about her return to theater, Karylle said that watching the dramatic arts can be a family affair, which can be shared with loved ones. One of her memorable moments as an audience member was watching Bar Boys with her niece, Aya, who is now 18 years old. Karylle recalled that moment years ago: “I held her hand and it was just so beautiful watching a young fan. It’s really great experiencing theater beside somebody who’s just experiencing it for the first or second time … Holding her little hand in the theater, gosh, that was really a moment.”
Karylle also said that she had her moments at the other side of the stage, when she was the theater artist interacting with family members who loved the show. She gave as an example her performance as the Baroness in The Sound of Music a few years ago: “I would really hang out and talk to the people. Families and generations would come, like grandma and the children.”
Multi-generational appeal
She expressed her hopes and belief that the same multi-generational appeal will happen in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory especially because Dahl’s original book has been made into movies three times: the 1971 version starring the late Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka; the 2005 version starring Johnny Depp as the latter; and a 2023 prequel with Timothée Chalamet essaying the young soon-to-be factory owner.
Karylle said that the audience could turn out to “be like a mix of people who’ve known [the material or the book] for so long. Maybe they saw the newer [films]. Then they’re all going to experience it live on the theater stage in a most magical way. That’s what this promises and that’s what it will bring.”
Sewell promised that the Manila performance will be “upping the magic” and weave in a “theatrical sleight-of-hand” that includes shrinking people, children walking through TV screens, and an expanding blueberry that ultimately explodes. She said, “The creatives did a long workshop in Las Vegas to work with magicians and illusionists to teach the cast how to execute those new illusions.”
Photo Credit: Yingzhou
Karylle said she looked forward to returning to the stage and reuniting with another family, her theater family. Considering today’s trying times, she appreciates the “love and support of everyone now [that] we have to make things better and better. The support of the community of actors, just sharing what you’ve learned, the ups and downs. So there are all these struggles and all the showing up for each other—it builds all this camaraderie and the tools that you have within yourself.”
“A lot of people in the theater, believe it or not, could also be introverts, but they like to perform. You find that middle ground where you’re able to connect with other people. As I was once told, maybe I’m not as painfully shy as I used to be.”
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory features music by Marc Shaiman, lyrics by Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman, book by David Greig, based on the novel by Roald Dahl. There are songs from the 1971 motion picture by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley. Including original direction by four-time Tony Award-winning director Jack O’Brien, and original choreography by Joshua Bergasse. The global tour features direction by Matt Lenz, choreography by Alison Solomon, and musical supervision by Nate Patten and Greg Jarrett.
Behind and supporting the show are Broadway International Group and Broadway Asia, in association with HY Culture Fund, Doug Meyer, AMA Group, GMG Productions, UnionBank of the Philippines, Bergamot Front Row Fund, and Willette Klausner.
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