I asked each of the girls what their favorite thing was, and Laramie's reply was "All of it." I smiled and asked her if anything stood out or if she liked any person the best, and she said she loved it when Charlie got her golden ticket. Yes, I did say her golden ticket. Charlie was played by a senior at NC, Ruth Levine. While it might have been a bit of a surprise to see a girl in the role of Charlie Bucket, Charlie can be a girl's nickname too, and she did a fabulous job! I was very impressed by her performance. She has a great voice and wonderful expression as well. She made me believe that she really was a little kid, skipping through the streets and "thinking positive" through all the tough times that her family was facing.
Becca said she loved everything, and when I asked her if anything stood out, she said "All of it", so I'm glad to see that she enjoyed the entire event :). Hannah and Laramie sat forward in their seats, arms on the backs of the empty chairs in front of them and leaning forward, completely absorbed for the entire play. When I asked Hannah what her favorite part was, she said she loved the Violet (Kiki Rochelle) part, when she blew up like a balloon.
Justice also loved the whole thing, but thought the Candy Man did a great job and really enjoyed his song especially. The young man playing the Candy Man, senior John T. May has a great voice and really brought dimension to his character.
I enjoyed the performance entirely. It was wonderful to see the way that they handled the effects and costumes, the set changes ran quickly and smoothly, and the set itself was simple, but absolutely fabulous and easily adapted to scene changes without a lot of time and visible effort. I know there was effort, because it would not have appeared so effortless if they had not put in a lot of time and preparation before hand and were not working hard at every moment.
All of the young actors and actresses were very good, from the Oompa-Loompas in the chorus, to Willie Wonka himself. Several standouts to me include Phineas Trout (Junior, Jesse Marvel), who has a great "broadcasting voice", and Senior Emily DiVita who actually raised my anxiety level two notches with the great portrayal of the easily agitated and ever moving Mrs. Teevee. Caleb Phillips (Junior) did a fabulous job in the role of Grandpa Joe, though when he first got up from the bed he seemed more like a zombie than an old man who was stiff after sitting there for so many years.
My favorite two roles had to be Ruth's portrayal of Charlie Bucket, and Senior Soren Engstrom's role as Willie Wonka. In his interview in the Casper Star Tribune earlier in the week he'd mentioned that "getting into that slightly insane vibe" was difficult for him, but he did a fabulous job, and Roald Dahl's mysterious character really came to life on the stage Thursday night.
That particular tick-tock rythym of the chimes when Willy Wonka appears and "I've Got a Golden Ticket"are still running through my head, and I highly recommend catching the last showing of this play today, at 2:00 PM at NCHS. Plan on taking $3 extra dollars to buy a chocolate bar, because they are also an experience not to be missed, and you never know, you might find your own Golden Ticket!
I wasn't able to take photos during the play because of the agreement with the original theatre company, but I do have some pictures of the girls in their seats and checking to see if they have golden tickets! There are also photos of the cast and some rehearsal photos in the Casper Star Tribune Article.
No comments:
Post a Comment