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we did the willy wonka jr. version last year in our middle school. here is a link to the photos and you can see some of our set and how we used it (and various props) to create some of the effects! 

https://leamarshall.smugmug.com/Raa/Willy-wonka-jr/

flying/burping- had the characters climb up higher on black boxes on stage

grandparents' bed- made of pallets and they were standing in it with covers over them

chocolate river- chocolate satiny fabric that wound around augustus and his mother

candy boat- made on a rolling steel device (my husband found these rolling devices at his works and we have three, they work GREAT.)

mike teevee- jumps into a large cut out tv and reappears as a ken doll dressed exactly like him, in a smaller tv across the stage

and we didn't have an elevator. though we have one this year for thoroughly modern millie jr! 

hope that helps! i think scrolling through the photos will help you see how we accomplished those with a minimum of cost!!!

Hi There! We just finished Willy Wonka, Jr and had a BLAST! 

I bought a blue Chub Suit for Violet - she wore that under a size 24 dress for the entire show. I cut a hole out of the dress for air to flow and cinched it with a belt. Mrs. Beauregard flipped the switch at her neck with one hand while holding a tissue in front of Violet with the other and trying to get her to spit out the new gum. We didn't have a velcro belt so we fixed it in the back and Veruca undid the belt after she started blowing up. It was a awesome! 

Welcome to ChubSuit.com! Home of the Inflatable Suit

I purchased three bubble machines - one that blew straight in the air and two that blew out at a slight upward angle. We had chorus kids on stage the entire time and they turned on the two and the music director was in the pit and turned on the other one. We spotted Chuck and Grandpa and it was great fun! They climbed the platforms toward the bubbles and it was great! The audience loved it! And I didn't show the kids until the first show. They were authentically thrilled! My Mike Teavee stomped on bubbles and was fierce with them! It cracked us up! But Walmart has a larger bubble machine for $24 

Gazillion Bubbles Tornado - Walmart.com

The candy boat was just a front that went in front of Wonka. It was a medium moving box from Lowe's - we opened it up, wrapped the bottom 3/4 of it in hot pink wrapping paper and the top 1/4 in a really cool paper with bright swirls. We covered the seam with gold duct tape. In the middle of the boat front (in front of Wonka and taped where the audience couldn't see) was an empty wrapping paper tube (wrapped with sparkly wrapping paper) and a big styrofoam circle which created a lollipop. They were wrapped in cellophane. 

We didn't have an elevator because it didn't call for it. So that was something we didn't worry about. 

The Candy cart was a plastic AV cart - two tiered with a half tier as well. We put a cardboard box on the second tier and then used brightly colored plastic table skirts (the box held the top layer). It took two layers to cover the cart and the box on top held a smaller box for the nut crunchies. The box also held a brown haired Ken doll for Mike Teavee. We bought several of the large lollipops from the Dollar Tree - took off the plastic and re-wrapped it with candy covers for homemade candies and cake pops, and tied them with ribbon and tulle. It made for a beautiful top tier. The cart allows storage for the scarf for the second Candy Man scene, the chocolate for Chuck, and the newspaper. 

For Mike Teavee - We used one of our black cubes (18x18x18) for the TV - it was painted black inside and placed it on the Candy Man Cart. Little Mike (a Ken Doll) was placed inside. When the lights went off, Wonka sat him up in the box. 

Chocolate satin was our river with Oompa Loompas making it move. He fell in and they wrapped him up. Other OLs used Large lollipops (like the one on the boat) to pretend to stir the river. 

Grandparents sat on a restaurant booth and a chair. All pushed together and covered with a brown blanket. The grandparents covered up with another blanket. 

Hope this helps. Email me if you would like photos! 

Jessica Stafford 

jessica.stafford@owensboro.kyschools.us