Last week I saw Charlie and the Chocolate Factory the musical in The Theatre Royal.
When booking this show I knew it could go one of two ways - either it would be quite panto and aimed largely at a child audience or it would basically be everything I dreamed it would be: 'a world of your imagination'.
What I was not expecting was a mix of the two. When we got there it felt like we truly had the Golden Ticket as our seats were upgraded into the stalls, so naturally the excitement levels were high. We sat down - a group of teenagers to my right and empty seats next to my sisters. (I am really hoping that the lack of audience that night was just a post-Christmas, mid-week blip) About 2 minutes into the show the empty seats were occupied by a family. That's fine, just reassures me that the show wasn't struggling to attract an audience.
The problems begun to occur when the family residing in these seats did not stop talking through the whole of the first act. There is nothing worse than sitting in a theatre trying to appreciate the fantastic talent of the boy playing Charlie Bucket (who really was amazing. I had never imagined a Scottish Charlie before; but the sweetness of his accent and just generally everything about him complimented the character perfectly) when the people next to you just wont shut up.
To make matters worse half way through act 1 the teenagers next to me also started talking and the people behind rustled very loud packets during an emotional song. Needless to say that this, teamed with the lack of 'Ive got a golden ticket' song, by the interval I was feeling a bit deflated. I really resented the people around me for making me feel this way, especially as I know that without them there I would really be lost in the world depicted to me.
During the interval we took our opportunity to go and speak to an usher about what was going on. The woman we spoke to was so lovely and understanding and gave us new seats in a flash. The new seats were amazing, in fact I felt a bit guilty for being given them as they must have been top priced seats and we were lucky to have been in the stalls at all.
But what a difference a seat makes. The people around us this time gave the show their undivided attention (probably as they had paid high fees for the seats and wanted to get their monies worth) and the second half was over in a second.
I even got a version of Pure Imagination.
I left feeling satisfied.
Up until now I have been focusing mainly on the overall experience of the evening, which the cast and crew had no control over. So I will now take the time to compliment the actors, particularly the young cast, on their outstanding talent. Each of the children had a different style which complimented their personalities perfectly and I can not begin to explain just how talented these children are. They were expert dancers, fantastic singers who were filled with energy and the icing on the cake was that they were superb actors bringing the appropriate level of humour to their roles.
The set design was not as I had imagined it, it was far superior. The way that magic was incorporated into the whole show was just amazing, filled with unexpected tricks.
Would I see it again? Probably not - but I left with no regrets about seeing the show.