Cactus Canyon Junior High Drama Club students will transport Apache Junction to a “world of pure imagination” with their production of Roald Dahl’s Willy Wonka JR., a musical based on Roald Dahl’s timeless children’s book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, on April 27 & 28 at 6:30PM at the Performing Arts Center of Apache Junction High School 2525 S. Ironwood Drive in Apache Junction.
Tickets are $5 (cash only) for all ages and will be available at the box office 30 minutes prior to show time.
In Roald Dahl’s Willy Wonka JR., a world-famous reclusive candy man named Willy Wonka announces that he will offer the tour of the lifetime through his secret chocolate factory to five children who find a golden ticket in one of his world-famous candy bars. One ticket-holder will also win a lifetime supply of chocolate. Against all odds, an impoverished but sweet-natured boy named Charlie Bucket wins a golden ticket. He and his fellow tour members — the spoiled-rotten Veruca Salt, gluttonous Augustus Gloop, gum-chewing Violet Beauregarde and television junkie Mike Teavee — spend a day traveling with the mysterious and marvelous Willy Wonka and his crew of Oompa Loompas through the fantastical factory. The children encounter marvelous sights and tastes along the way, including giant nut-selecting squirrels, fizzy lifting drinks, Everlasting Gobstoppers, and a chocolate river. But each stop proves to be a test, as only one can go on to win the Wonka prize.
“It takes tremendous imagination to communicate the whimsy and wonder of Willy Wonka’s factory, and it requires great sensitivity to deliver the musical’s key message on the importance of good character,” says Drew Cohen, president of Music Theatre International (MTI). “We want to applaud the Willy Wonka JR. cast and crew and hope Cactus Canyon Junior High’s audience will outnumber all the Oompa Loompas in Willy Wonka’s factory.”
Roald Dahl’s Willy Wonka JR. is adapted for the stage by Leslie Bricusse and Timothy Allen McDonald. The show features lyrics and music by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley, including beloved songs “The Candy Man,” “I Want It Now!”, and “Pure Imagination” from the classic film.