What Did Critics Think of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory on Broadway?

Read reviews for the new musical, which opened April 23.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, starring two-time Tony Award winner Christian Borle as iconic candy man Willy Wonka, opened officially at Broadway’s Lunt-Fontanne Theatre April 23. Performances of the Jack O’Brien-helmed production began March 28.

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Jake Ryan Flynn, Ryan Foust, and Ryan Sell make their Broadway debuts alternating in the role of Charlie Bucket; the cast also includes Tony Rubinstein as Grandpa Joe, Emily Padgett as Mrs. Bucket, Kathy Fitzgerald as Mrs. Gloop, F. Michael Haynie as Augustus Gloop, Ben Crawford as Mr. Salt, Emma Pfaeffle as Veruca Salt, Alan H. Green as Mr. Beauregard, Trista Dollison as Violet Beauregard, Jackie Hoffman as Mrs. Teavee, and Michael Wartella as Mike Teavee.

Read reviews for the new musical below, and check back for updates.

Broadway News (Elizabeth Bradley)

Chicago Tribune (Chris Jones)

Deadline (Jeremy Gerard)

Entertainment Weekly (Chris Nashawaty)

Hollywood Reporter (David Rooney)

NBC New York (Robert Kahn)

New York Daily News (Joe Dziemianowicz)

New York Magazine (Jesse Greene)

New York Times (Ben Brantley)

Time Out New York (David Cote)

Variety (Marilyn Stasio)

The Wrap (Robert Hofler)

Directed by three-time Tony Award winner Jack O’Brien, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory features music by Marc Shaiman, lyrics by Scott Wittman and Shaiman, a book by David Greig, and choreography by Joshua Bergasse. The production includes additional songs by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley from the 1971 Warner Bros. film.

Enter a World of Pure Imagination With a First Look at Charlie and the Chocolate Factory on Broadway Enter a World of Pure Imagination With a First Look at Charlie and the Chocolate Factory on Broadway 6 PHOTOS

Rounding out the company are Yesenia Ayala, Darius Barnes, Colin Bradbury, Jared Bradshaw, Ryan Breslin, Kristy Cates, Madeleine Doherty, Paloma Garcia-Lee, Stephanie Gibson, Talya Groves, Cory Lingner, Elliott Mattox, Monette McKay, Kyle Taylor Parker, Paul Slade Smith, Stephen Carrasco, Kristin Piro, Amy Quanbeck, Michael Williams, and Mikey Winslow.

The Broadway production features scenic and costume design by Mark Thompson, lighting design by Japhy Weideman, sound design by Andrew Keister, puppet design by Basil Twist, projection design by Jeff Sugg, orchestrations by Doug Besterman, and music direction and supervision by Nicholas Skilbeck. Casting is by Telsey + Company/Rachel Hoffman, CSA.

The musical is described as such: “Willy Wonka, world famous inventor of the Everlasting Gobstopper, has just made an astonishing announcement. His marvelous—and mysterious—factory is opening its gates…to a lucky few. That includes young Charlie Bucket, whose life definitely needs sweetening. He and four other golden ticket winners will embark on a mesmerizing, life-changing journey through Wonka’s world of pure imagination. Get ready for chocolate waterfalls, exquisitely nutty squirrels and the great glass elevator, all to be revealed by Wonka's army of curious Oompa-Loompas.”

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