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Theater Review

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory musical plays on nostalgia to sweet effect

Alex Bentley
Aug 23, 2019 | 12:20 pm
Touring cast of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory plays at Winspear Opera House through August 25.
Photo by Jeremy Daniel

At first blush, the existence of the musical Charlie and the Chocolate Factory feels a lot like the existence of the all of the “live action” remakes of classic Disney animated films. The idea is interesting, but there’s no real need for it in the world given that there have been not one but two movies based on Roald Dahl’s book, both featuring versions of songs made famous by the first movie.

It’s those songs that everyone is waiting for in the production (playing at Winspear Opera House through August 25), along with the ignominious fates of the various winners of Willy Wonka’s coveted Golden Ticket. But the musical, with book by David Grieg and music and lyrics by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, makes you wait for those moments, as most of its big scenes come in the second act of the show.

The production does offer a few new aspects to differentiate itself from the films. Willy Wonka (Noah Weisberg) is introduced right away, disguising himself as the owner of a candy store. This leaves him in perfect position to witness the increasing despair of Charlie Bucket (played on opening night by Henry Boshart) as other kids around the world find Golden Tickets that will give them access to Wonka’s long-shuttered factory.

Charlie, of course, does find a Golden Ticket and soon joins Veruca Salt (Jessica Cohen), Mike Teavee (Daniel Quadrino), Violet Beauregarde (Brynn Williams), and Augustus Gloop (Matt Wood) on the tour of Wonka’s factory. These scenes are mostly familiar except with the fate of Veruca, which hues close to Dahl’s original text, save for one gruesome change.

The various story adjustments and clever production aspects keep things interesting. Instead of traditional sets, the production uses lighted walls full of graphics to create illusionary depth and interactive elements. The solution for making the tiny Oompa Loompas is arguably the best part of the show; when they make their entrance, it garners the audience’s loudest reaction.

Because of the anticipation of the songs from the movies, few of the new songs make much of an impact. Each of the other Golden Ticket winners has both an entrance and exit song, but it’s the visuals in those scenes that matter more than the music. The sole song that does manage to break through is second act opener “Strike That, Reverse It,” mostly because it’s revisited on a couple of different occasions.

It’s slightly odd, though not completely off-putting, that all of the Golden Ticket winners except for Charlie are played by adults. There have been plenty of other theater productions with multiple children in prominent roles, so it’s unclear why that couldn’t have been the case here. Still, Cohen, Williams, and Wood each play their respective roles well, hiding their maturity to at least appear childlike.

The only role that truly matters is that of Willy Wonka, and Weisberg comes off relatively well. With two iconic performances to judge him against, it’s almost a no-win role, but he makes it his own. He never goes too wacky or too reserved, but his delivery of key lines makes up for this down-the middle approach.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is one of those musicals where nostalgia plays the biggest part in its success. It’s not a production you’ll be talking about for weeks after you see it, but it gives the audience almost exactly what they came for, which is more than enough.

theater music
news/arts

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GIFTED AND TALENTED

SMU historian Ariel Ron wins prestigious $800k MacArthur genius grant

Brandon Watson
Oct 2, 2026 | 10:36 am
Ariel Ron
Photo courtesy of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
SMU historian Ariel Ron will receive $800,000 — no strings attached.

Three Texans have been named 2026 MacArthur Fellows, one of the most prestigious honors in the U.S. for artists, scientists, and scholars. Among them is Dallas historian and author Ariel Ron, who directs the Clements Center for Southwest Studies at Southern Methodist University.

San Antonio's Vincent Valdez and San Marcos-based anthropologist Kate Spradley were also on the 2026 list of 20 recipients of the “genius grants” given by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Each fellow will receive $800,000 over five years, with no strings attached.

Individuals do not apply for the honor. The grants are awarded via a confidential, multi-step process managed by the foundation, and many recipients express surprise that they were considered for the fellowship.

“While individuals will have a track record of significant achievement, the fellowship is not a lifetime achievement award — it is an investment in a person's originality, insight, and potential,” wrote MacArthur on its website. “The Fellows Program is proactively working to foster and enable innovative, imaginative, and ground-breaking ideas, thinking, and strategies.”

Ron's research focuses on how Northern agriculture shaped economic growth and federal power in 19th-century America. Grassroots Leviathan: Agricultural Reform and the Rural North in the Slaveholding Republic, his 2020 book, challenges the notion of an industrial North versus an agrarian South.

"My approach is to identify and look carefully at things that everyone knows to be important but are somehow too obvious-seeming to look at closely," Ron says in a video on the MacArthur Foundation's website. "If you scratch the surface a little bit, you discover that there are a lot of interesting things that might change the way we think about bigger questions."

Valdez, who splits his time between San Antonio and Houston, is known for large, hyperrealistic drawings and paintings of Mexican American life. More recently, he has turned his focus to broader sociopolitical issues in works like The Strangest Fruit, a series of paintings confronting the lynching of Latinos.

At Texas State University in San Marcos, forensic anthropologist Spradley founded Operation Identification in 2013 — a program that identifies and repatriates the remains of migrants who died along the Texas-Mexico border. She is also a cofounder of the Forensic Border Coalition, which pushes for policy changes at the local and national levels. Spradley is the school’s first MacArthur Fellow.

A full list of the 2026 MacArthur Fellows can be found online.

arts grants macarthur grants southern methodist university visual arts
news/arts
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