Entertainment
27 April, 2024
Family favourite
GET your golden ticket to embark on the sweetest adventure with the arrival of the mega school production Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at the Cairns Performing Arts Centre next week.
Jump into a syrupy adventure full of chocolate with St Augustine’s and St Monica’s colleges rendition of the Roald Dalh’s classic Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in a large production of over 100 cast and crew members with memorable sets, beautiful costumes, and majestic orchestral numbers from May 2 to 4 at CPAC.
Willy Wonka, portrayed by Daniel O’Donnell, invites the lucky Golden Ticket winners – Charlie Bucket (played by Emma Reeve), Violet Beauregarde (portrayed by Caelin Maher), Augustus Gloop (embodied by Kyle Heidenreich), Veruca Salt (brought to life by Lillee Chapple), and Mike TV (enacted by Erin Maher) – on an extraordinary tour of his renowned chocolate factory as their well-deserved prize.
“It’s a large scale, all the bells and whistles musical, fun for all audiences, jokes for adults but also lots of jokes for the kids to enjoy too, so everyone’s going to get something out of it,” said director and St Augustine’s drama teacher Phoebe Ballard.
“We’ve got 100 students years 7 to 12 in this production and a lot of time and effort has gone into this production,” she said.
“It has been a community effort, we’ve got support from parents, the Cairns Choral Society, we’ve had Sheree Barnes (local costume designer) make us quite a few outfits for the dances and some very spectacular pieces for Wonka and Samantha Allen from Brisbane who’s made all of the Oompa Loompa outfits.
“The students are just excited to be on stage at CPAC in front of a big audience.”
Ms Ballard said audiences could expect a hilarious show with amazing orchestral numbers.
“It’s definitely a large-scale school musical but it’s also very funny, people can expect to really laugh. Our version of Wonka in this show, has a very dry sense of humour and he’s also not afraid to tease the children and parents,” she said.
To buy tickets, visit www.ticketlink.com.au
