Hi!
Roald Dahl's Willy Wonka was a massive hit for us last spring!! Huge name recognition, tons of families brought their children, (the Candy Man threw candy into the audience at the end of his song - and all the kids rushed out of their seats for it); super bright and fun sets and costumes, doable music, and TONS of good female roles (each gets a song or moment to shine): Violet and Mrs. B., Augustus and Mrs. G., Veruca, Mrs. Teavee, Mrs. Bucket, the Grandmas, the Cooks, Squirrels, and Kids (dance and sing a lot), and of course, the Oompas!
Both our Charlie and Augustus were played by females, and they knocked it out of the park! The music is in a range that would allow for Willy to also be played by a female, for sure.
The show also kept our techies busy, busy, busy. Super fun and memorable. It has the potential to be a huge success for your program!
Best wishes.
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Mrs. Holly Wood
Teacher and Director of Troupe #860
Burlington, Washington
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Original Message:
Sent: 08-04-2022 06:53
From: Jordanne Bradley
Subject: Please read my sob story…struggling to find a musical
Hello! Part of this is to vent and part is for advice. I live in a small mountain town in Colorado. We have a very small program and like a lot of people are having to rebuild after COVID. Last year we limped through Mamma Mia… oof it was hard! Our biggest issue was trying to find males to be in the show. The ones we did convince to be in it barely showed up. It was like they knew we were desperate and could show up whenever they felt like it cause we didn't have any other option? Then we had to postpone due to COVID which REALLY knocked the wind out of our sales.
Needless to say I'm feeling a little discouraged and uninspired at the moment. Maybe I'm being a bit… dramatic! My music director and I are having a hard time picking a musical for this year. We need female heavy & crowd pleasing. All of our funding depends on the amount of audience members (fundraising is very hard in our tiny town) so something well known would be preferable. Past shows have been…
Mamma Mia
Legally Blonde
Cabaret
Footloose
Grease
The Music Man
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Jordanne Bradley
Drama Director & Auditorium Manager
Estes Park High School
CO
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