Publishers are looking beyond movies and TV to see the potential for tie-in marketing to plays and musicals.

Case in point, the upcoming US debut of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: The New Musical, opening on Broadway March 28, 2017 (previews, full roll out on April 23).

Ads are running and trailers were released in August. Forthcoming is a tie-in book edition: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: Broadway Tie-In by Roald Dahl (PRH/Puffin Books; Feb. 7, 2017).

Entertainment Weekly reports the show will “reunite the creative team behind Hairspray on Broadway: director Jack O’Brien and musical collaborators Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman.”

NYT‘s ArtsBeat blog writes the show, which has been running in London since 2013, will be revamped and made new for its US debut, making it more familiar to fans of the Gene Wilder film edition, including songs made famous by the movie. Quoting director Jack O’Brien: “Since the first production was created for London it’s only fair we do an American version, and in America, our connection is to the 1971 movie and the indelible impression of Gene Wilder as the slyly wicked Wonka.”

The NYT also has a profile of the lead actor playing Wonka in the US run, the two-time Tony winner Christian Borle. The paper’s chief theater critic describes him as “a master of carefully stylized excess.” It is “these qualities,” continues the profile, that “make his casting as Willy Wonka a walkover.” O’Brien says Borle offers “innocence and menace and mystery and charm.” Borle himself says he wants to stress the “humanity and sweetness” of the character.

Several teasers have been released:

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 12th, 2016 at 12:27 pm and is filed under Childrens and YA. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.