LHS to present ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’

The Lovell High School Music Performance Class will stage Roald Dahl’s well-known musical “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” this week at the high school multipurpose room.

The play will run today (Thursday) and Friday at 6:30 p.m. and Saturday at 3 p.m. at the MPR. Admission is free, and doors open a half hour before each show.

According to music teacher and director Carissa French, “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” is about “a young boy named Charlie Bucket who lives in extreme poverty but miraculously finds one of five Golden Tickets hidden in Wonka chocolate bars. The ticket grants him and his Grandpa Joe a once-in-a-lifetime tour of the mysterious chocolate factory owned by the eccentric Willy Wonka.”

Charlie is joined by four other children, each representing a specific vice: 

• Augustus Gloop: A gluttonous boy who falls into a chocolate river while trying to drink from it.

• Violet Beauregarde: An obsessive gum-chewer who turns into a giant blueberry after sampling experimental gum.

• Veruca Salt: A spoiled brat who is deemed a “bad nut” by trained squirrels and tossed down a garbage chute.

• Mike Teavee: A television-obsessed boy who shrinks himself while trying to be transmitted through the airwaves.

“Led by Mr. Wonka and his diminutive workers, the Oompa-Loompas, the group explores fantastical rooms like the Chocolate Room and the Inventing Room. One by one, the other children fall victim to their own character flaws, leaving only the humble and obedient Charlie,” French said.

Primary characters and cast members are: Willy Wonka - Jay Mayes, Charlie Bucket - Isaac Sanders, Grandpa Joe - TJ Davis, Mrs. Bucket - Atlee Sanders, Grandma Josephine - Denna Slater, 

Grandma Georgina - Claire Shumway, Grandpa George - Henry Meyers, Mrs. Gloop - Lynn Marchant, Augustus Gloop - Grady Henley, Mr. Salt - Connor Grant, Veruca - Ella Spanier, Mr. Beauregard - Cade Durtsche, Violet - Jaelen Mayes, Mike Teavee - Wilson Hendershot, Mrs. Teavee - Haley Sanders, Mrs. Green - Kaycie Marberry, Cherry - Kara Heindl and Jerry - John MacPeek.