MILWAUKEE— “Who can make the sun rise, sprinkle it with dew, cover it with chocolate and a miracle or two?”
The Candyman can, and the ultimate Candyman gave a golden ticket to Milwaukee.
“Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” opens at the Marcus Center for Performing Arts May 31 and runs through June 5.
The musical tells a timeless tale: Willy Wonka lets a handful of kids, and their parents, into his whimsical chocolate factory. All they have to do is find a golden ticket in a candy bar. And one of those children is Charlie Bucket, whose life could certainly use some sweetness.
But in real life, this may just be the sweetest dream come true for Cody Garcia, who plays Willy Wonka in the national Broadway tour.
Garcia said they have always loved “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” having seen both films countless times. But it wasn’t until they were in college at Boston Conservatory they discovered the musical rendition, which was playing in London at the time.
“I did as much research on it as possible,” Garcia said. “I ended up watching entire videos [of the] whole production. I was super thrilled when I heard it was coming to New York.”
Naturally, Garcia went to see it as soon as they could, but it wasn’t what they expected.
“It was very different from the London production,” they recalled. “Then, I saw the first national tour as well, when I was working for Disney Cruise Line in Toronto. It came through Toronto and I was like, ‘Well, let’s see what’s going on here.’ And it was very different from the Broadway production.”
Then, one day, Garcia got the call.
They had landed the role of Willy Wonka.
“I worked with the original creative team, and our production is even different from the first national version. It’s crazy how much it’s evolved over the years that it’s been up. And Jack O’Brien, who is the original director, will tell you that the show coming directly from London, it didn’t have an out-of-town tryout. So, they didn’t want to do the version that was happening in West End.”
The creative team made some changes before the Broadway debut in 2017, but Garcia said they didn’t have enough time during previews to make every change they wanted, which is why it’s still being updated now.
Through it all, Garcia said they found a way to make their own mark on the production.
“I feel like there’s a lot of pressure,” they said. “Because Wonka is such an iconic character, I feel like there was always this expectation to either do what Gene Wilder does, or do what Johnny Depp did, or do something that is familiar. I just sort of don’t do that; I sort of do my own interpretation for what I think works best for this version of the story.”
As far as those specific differences though, Garcia said people will just have to come see the show to see them for themselves. They did not want to give away any spoilers.
Garcia said they love the show, including everything from the chocolate room to the mixing room, and is hoping audiences feel the same.
“I hope they leave wanting to be closer to their families and [knowing] that you can’t put a price on pure imagination.”
For information on tickets, click here.
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