Young Shoreline actors in local production of Willy Wonka

Young actors from across the Seattle area are currently in rehearsal for Broadway Bound Children’s Theatre’s production of Willy Wonka, which runs Friday, February 4 to Sunday, February 13 at Broadway Performance Hall, 1625 Broadway, Seattle. 

The show, based on Roald Dahl’s beloved children’s novel, also features many memorable characters and songs from the classic family film.

Among the actors participating are several students from the Shoreline area, including siblings Jonah and Simone Beres, Aislinn Brunner, Anna Ostrem, Mia Perritt, and Edan Seaton.

The story of Willy Wonka is recognizable to many people who have read the book or viewed either of the two movie adaptations. 

“This cultural familiarity has proven to be both an asset and a challenge to creating our own version of the fantastical world of Wonka,” said Willy Wonka director Sonya Shaw.

Despite any initial hardships this recognition may have created, Shaw and the cast of Willy Wonka have been able to provide a new perspective on an old classic.

“Our take on the Wonka’s Factory tour is that of a TV game show experience,” Shaw said, “where red risers host a doom-thirsty studio audience.” The characterization of Willy Wonka adds to this point of view, especially in act 2, when “he is the charismatic Roman emperor. The Golden Ticket winners become the gladiators, and the spectators are his cheering crowd.”

Willy Wonka, directed and choreographed by Sonya Shaw, is Broadway Bound’s third show for the 2010 season, which began in August, with the world premiere staging of an original musical God Lives In Glass (Rainier Beach High School) and continued recently with Hairspray. The 2010-2011 season will conclude with the Tony-Award-winning musical Big River, for which audition sign-ups are now open at the website.

Tickets to Willy Wonka are $15.00 and are available at brownpapertickets.  For more information about Willy Wonka and Broadway Bound, visit the website.