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SYNOPSIS OF WILLY WONKA
Act One
The play opens somewhere in the bowels of Willy Wonka's fabulous chocolate
factory. Wonka, a famous, eccentric, mercurial, whimsical and occasionally
sinister candy wizard, welcomes us into his world ("Pure Imagination").
Wonka summons his Oompa-Loompa servants for an important announcement: he
is planning to retire, and the time has come to choose his successor
("Golden Age of Chocolate").
Wonka, acting as narrator, introduces us to the impoverished Bucket
family: Mr. And Mrs. Bucket, their young son Charlie, and Charlie's four
bedridden grandparents. Charlie's Grandpa Joe assures Charlie that Charlie
is destined to work for Mr. Wonka making candy, just as Joe himself did as
a young man. Unfortunately, Wonka fired all his workers years ago (after
one of his candy recipes had been stolen and sold to his competitor
Slugworth) and locked the gates of his factory forever. Mysteriously,
however, Wonka's factory has continued to produce candy. But nobody ever
goes in...and nobody ever comes out.
A group of children gather outside Charlie's house, each clutching a
nickel to buy a Wonka bar from the local Candy Man ("Candy Man"). Charlie
is the only child too poor to buy any candy, but the Candy Man treats him
to a lollipop and a copy of yesterday's newspaper.
Charlie takes the paper home, and the Buckets learn from it that Wonka has
announced a contest: five lucky children will receive a tour of his
world-famous factory, and receive a lifetime supply of Wonka chocolate.
Five Golden Tickets have been hidden among fifty million ordinary candy
bars, and the finders of these tickets will win the tour and the
chocolate.
The first Ticket is found by Augustus Gloop, an obese, gluttonous child
from Frankfurt, Germany ("I Eat More!"). The second Ticket is found in Sao
Paulo, Brazil, by an extremely spoiled girl named Veruca Salt. Her wealthy
father, a macadamia nut magnate, had purchased hundreds of thousands of
the candy bars and put his entire factory workforce to work searching for
the ticket.
As the mania for Wonka Bars continues all over the world, Mr. Bucket loses
his job at a toothpaste factory. Charlie encourages him not to give up
hope ("Think Positive").
On Charlie's birthday, his family presents him with a Wonka Bar. Everyone
manages to suppress his or her disappointment when Charlie unwraps the bar
but does not find a Golden Ticket.
The third Ticket is found in Snellville, Georgia by Violet Beauregard, an
abrasive girl who is constantly chewing gum. The fourth Ticket is found in
Television City, California by Mike Teavee, a boy who seems more
interested in television, video games and cell phones than touring Wonka's
factory ("I See It All On TV").
That night, before Charlie goes to bed, Grandpa Joe reveals that he has
secretly purchased another Wonka Bar for Charlie. They open the bar
together, but it contains only chocolate. The Buckets tell Charlie not to
be discouraged ("Cheer Up, Charlie").
As winter approaches, the Bucket's situation is becoming increasingly
desperate. Charlie is helping the Candy Man pack his wares when he finds a
silver dollar on the ground. He assumes that it must belong to the Candy
Man and tries to return it, but the Candy Man assures Charlie that it
isn't his, and tells Charlie to bring it home to his family. He also gives
Charlie a Wonka Bar as a reward for his honesty. Charlie buys another
Wonka Bar to share with his family. Charlie unwraps the candy and
discovers that he has found the last of Wonka's prizes. Charlie chooses
Grandpa Joe to accompany him on the factory tour, prompting Joe to leave
his bed for the first time in years. ("I've Got a Golden Ticket").
Act Two
The five winners and their chaperones are gathered at the gates of Wonka's
factory, where he makes a spectacular entrance ("Pure Imagination",
reprise). Wonka greets each child (apart from Charlie, each one is
insufferable in his or her own way). Wonka forces everyone to sign an
elaborate and cryptic contract before beginning the tour.
The tour finally begins, and Wonka describes a dizzying array of fabulous
chambers and exotic rooms, each devoted to the creation of various sweets
and treats ("In This Room Here").
Wonka leads the tour group through a chamber in which the walls and
ceiling appear to be closing in around them, and they emerge in the
chocolate smelting room, featuring a chocolate river and a network of
pipes. Wonka introduces his workers, the Oompa-Loompas. Augustus falls
into the chocolate river and is sucked into a large pipe. Wonka, will
little apparent concern, directs the Oompa-Loompas to take Mrs. Gloop and
retrieve Augustus. The Oompa-Loompas share a moral message about the
dangers of gluttony ("Oompa-Loompa One").
Wonka and the remaining guests board a pink candy boat. Veruca Salt
demands that her father buy her both the boat and one of the Oompa-Loompas.
Salt attempts to buy them from Wonka, but Wonka is unimpressed. The boat
ride then turns into a psychedelic nightmare as Wonka navigates them
through what appears to be a tour of the darker aspects of human
imagination, complete with frightening projected images ("There's No
Knowing"). Wonka laughs maniacally and the others scream with horror until
the boat abruptly vanishes and the party finds themselves in Wonka's
Inventing Room.
In the Inventing Room, Wonka reveals on of his creations - the Everlasting
Gummy Gourmet Gobstopper, an entire gourmet meal contained in a piece of
gum. Heedless of Wonka's half-hearted warnings that the gum is not yet
perfected, Violet is unable to resist it ("Chew It") and is transformed
into a blueberry and apparently explodes. The Oompa-Loompas share a
warning about the evils of excessive gum chewing ("Oompa-Loompa Two").
Wonka and the remaining guests proceed to the Fizzy Lifting Drink Room,
which is filled with bubbles. Wonka informs everyone that the drink will
cause the imbiber to float on air, but forbids anyone to partake. Charlie
and Grandpa Joe linger behind after the others leave, and the
Oompa-Loompas tempt them to sample the drink. They do so, and immediately
rise into the air ("Flying"). Unfortunately, they soon find that they're
in danger of being sucked into a giant fan on the roof of the room.
However, they discover that burping reverses the effects of the drink,
and, via a series of belches, they are able to descend back to the ground
("Burping Song").
Charlie and Grandpa Joe rejoin the others in the Nut Room, where a team of
squirrels is busy sorting good nuts from bad nuts. Veruca immediately
demands a squirrel, and launches into an extended spoiled tantrum ("I Want
it Now!"). She is deemed a "Bad Nut" and falls down one of the sorting
shoots, pursued immediately by her father. Wonka has lost another
candidate. The Oompa-Loompas share a moral about the ills of spoiling
children ("Oompa-Loompa Three").
Wonka and the dwindling group proceed to the Choco-Vision Room. Wonka
explains that he is currently developing an experimental process for
transmitting chocolate via television. Her explains how to activate the
experimental machinery but warns everyone not to do so. Naturally, Mike
immediately activates the equipment and transports himself via television
signal. This results in his being shrunk to tiny size. Wonka directs that
he be taken to the taffy-pulling machine and stretched out. The
Oompa-Loompas warn of the perils of excessive television viewing ("Oompa-Loompa
Four").
With only Charlie and Grandpa Joe remaining, Wonka abruptly announces that
the tour is over. He pronounces that the day has been "a total waste of
time and chocolate." Before going, Charlie confesses that he and Grandpa
Joe tasted the fizzy lifting drink, and states that he therefore doesn't
deserve the lifetime supply of chocolate he was promised. He apologizes to
Wonka and thanks him for the tour. Wonka stops Charlie from leaving and
announces that the entire competition was devised with the goal of finding
his successor, and that Charlie's behavior and performance prove that he
should take over the factory. Wonka then launches them into the air in a
flying glass elevator ("Flying", reprise).
Augustus, Violet, Veruca and Mike appear, restored to their former selves,
and join the Oompa-Loompas in praising the virtue of honesty ("Oompa-Loompa
Five").
Wonka informs Charlie that his entire family is welcome to come and live
at the factory. Charlie is delighted to take on his new role as Wonka's
handpicked successor ("Finale"). |
