The musical based on British author Roald Dahl’s much-loved 1964 children’s novel is coming to Singapore for the first time in May 2026.
Charlie And The Chocolate Factory will be staged at Sands Theatre at Marina Bay Sands, and feature songs from the 1971 film adaptation, including Pure Imagination, The Candy Man and I’ve Got A Golden Ticket. There will also be original music by Grammy and Tony winners Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman.
It is the show’s first stop in South-East Asia. Simone Genatt and Marc Routh, co-owners and producers of entertainment companies Broadway International Group and Broadway Asia, said in a joint statement that the show will feature special effects inspired by the magical concepts in the story.
It follows the boy Charlie Bucket after he wins a golden ticket that allows him entry to Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory, where he goes on a fantastical adventure that includes chocolate rivers and nut-sorting squirrels.
The novel has been adapted into films several times, including the 1971 musical Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory, starring Gene Wilder. In 2005, another adaptation, Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, directed by Tim Burton and starring Johnny Depp, was released to critical and commercial acclaim. In 2023, Wonka, a musical prequel to the 1971 film, was released, with Timothee Chalamet in the title role.
The Broadway production premiered in 2017 and ran for over 300 performances, followed by a four-year North American tour. The show was also staged on London’s West End, where it received two Olivier Awards for Best Costume Design and Best Lighting Design.
The show is presented in Singapore by Base Entertainment Asia, which also brought to Singapore Broadway classics such as The Phantom Of The Opera in May, Sunset Boulevard in February and Hamilton in April 2024. – The Straits Times/Asia News Network
