Chocolate Rules!
BAAY’s Willy Wonka is sweet
by Christopher Key
Bellingham Arts Academy for Youth (BAAY) has only been around for a few years, but it has become a local institution. I know this because I am now seeing the younger siblings of BAAY actors I reviewed several years ago. Their latest confection is Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Before the show, director Mattie Wheeler and I were wondering how much different our theatrical lives would have been if we had had something like BAAY around when we were kids. Suffice it to say that the local kids are performing in real shows at an age when Mattie and I were playing trees in Thanksgiving pageants.
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory sprang from a 1964 Roald Dahl novel called Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Most people know it from the 1971 film starring Gene Wilder and Jack Albertson. The score, by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley, received an Oscar and songs like “The Candy Man Can” and “Pure Imagination” will be familiar to everyone.
BAAY gives it new life with a cast of eight- to ten-year-olds who come across like champs. As usual, space limitations prevent me from mentioning every cast member and I apologize to them and their parents because some are going to hate me for not getting their names in the review. It’s a dirty job, but someone has to do it.
Cristina Perona performs the title role in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, March 12 - 15 at the Bellingham Arts Academy for Youth.
Elsie Dank is enchanting as Charlie Bucket, the poor kid who wins a golden ticket to tour the Chocolate Factory and becomes Willy Wonka’s successor. Elizabeth Pine steals the show as Mrs. Gloop, with a German accent than most adult actors couldn’t begin to approach.
Anthony Bowmer is dead-on as Mike TV, the kid hooked on modern technology. As the TV interviewer, Sydney Balfour shows the same attitude and stage presence as her older sister Savanna did in Peter Pan. Madicyn McCallum is perfectly snotty as the princess who believes she is entitled to everything.
The Purdie family has more talent than is really fair to the rest of us and young sister Marina portrays Grandpa Joe with a zest that does her older sisters proud. Those sisters, Brianna and Michelle, are always worth watching even when they are schlepping the set pieces about backstage. And that brings up the subject of the stage crew. They are extraordinary, manipulating the pieces of the set with dispatch, never taking away from the show as a whole.
There are some adults, in addition to director Mattie Wheeler, who have done some things worthy of a mention. Nathan Dodge designed the ingenious set and continues to amaze with how he can make magic out of nothing. Stage Manager and Costume Designer Lacey Oleson is so gifted that no words I can come up with can possibly do her justice.
The same goes for Musical Director Steve Barnes. There is nothing I can say that captures the way he drives the kids to perform way beyond their capabilities. Choreographer Mary Evans has worked her usual magic, especially in the scenes with the Oompa Loompas.
If you love chocolate, and who doesn’t, don’t miss this BAAY show.
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory performs March 12-15 at the BAAY performance space, 1059 North State Street. Thursday, Friday and Saturday performances at 7:00 p.m.; matinees Saturday and Sunday at 2:00 p.m. Tickets are $10.00 at the door or may be purchased in advance from www.brownpapertickets.com.
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