Lillith Dunn and Maanya Parikh
eSomethin staff
From the technology to the sets to the leadership roles, spring musical “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” is one of Perrysburg Theatre Department’s most ambitious productions yet.
The musical begins with Willy Wonka trying to find someone to run his factory so he can retire. Wonka goes on to hold a contest for a tour of his chocolate factory in order to find this heir. Due to their flaws, the children are removed from the contest one by one, leaving one to inherit everything.
Seth Ermie, a senior who plays Willy Wonka, described his inspiration for the iconic character’s portrayal. “When I’m Willy Wonka, I definitely pull a lot of my stuff from Johnny Depp specifically because he’s more creepy, and the musical version is a bit more horror and mystery.”
“I love seeing all the pieces come together in the end. Everything seems so hectic in the process but when we see it all finished together it’s absolutely brilliant,” said Luella Eynon, a sophomore and member of the costumes/makeup crew.
It isn’t even opening night, and the show is already a whopping success. Jacob Nahhas, an extremely involved member of the musical explained, “We already sold over 1,000 tickets which is . . . the record breaker of all of Perrysburg Theater since Mr. Meinhart has been here . . . in the first two weeks of ticket sales.”
Various cast and crew members discussed which parts of the musical they were most excited about.
“My favorite part of the show would be a really cool acrobatic move Wonka does in resemblance to Gene Wilder. It takes a lot of effort but it’s coming along amazingly,” Nahhas said.
Jia Thakker, a member of the pit orchestra, said “I think getting to see the behind the scenes of how the musical is being produced and stuff [is my favorite part], because I’ve watched a lot of the musicals, but I haven’t seen how they pull it all together, and I think that’s really fun to see behind the scenes.”
Cast and crew alike have been working incredibly hard to make sure that the show is a complete success.
“Just having to memorize everything is a big challenge, especially in the time limit,” said Sarah Modlin, a junior who plays Charlie Bucket.
Jordan Nahhas, who has quite a few roles, explained some of the difficulties that come with putting together a show of this magnitude.
“There’s just so many different moving parts in the play and we all have to keep in contact with each other,” said Jordan Nahhas. “I built [shoes] for the dancers in this one scene, but the issue was it didn’t actually work for the scene, so we brought in Mr. Meinhart (our director), the choreographer that we hired, the dancers, and we all sat and we discussed. So that’s how we do it. We have a conversation with the necessary person, and that’s how we resolve the issue.”
One such part is the costume/makeup crew. Eynon explained some of what goes into the creation of the costumes. “[There is] a lot of searching closets, taking measurements, online shopping, thrift shopping, renting, borrowing, planning, and occasionally some sewing if it’s really needed.”
Additionally, the pit orchestra provides the background music and sound effects for the entire show. A few lines before the start of the music are written into the score. These lines give an indication of when the musicians should start playing, and allows Mr. Michael Smith, the director of the pit, to properly cue them.
“There’s something for everyone. There’s little kids that love the innocence of the story, but adults that, it’s a classic from their childhood, but also, high school kids kind of think it’s funny how they’re all just dying and no one really notices that. So I think every single person will have something they’ll take away from it,” said Ermie.
Jordan Nahhas summarized it perfectly. “It’s gonna be a banger.”
Tickets are on sale now, and the show runs from April 23 to April 27.
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