The Gothenburg Opera has created a buzz around this season’s musical, with the signing of Ola Salo (formerly of the rock band The Ark) as Willy Wonka attracting a lot of interest around Sweden. But Roald Dahl’s story – and David Greig’s book for the musical – are about much more than the mysterious and eccentric chocolatier. Happily, this production enjoys great performances from the whole cast, including a number of regular performers in Gothenburg Opera musicals.
The set and costumes both let fantasy take flight in a delightful way. The rubbish dump and Charlie’s home in Act I are made interesting by Lucy Osborne’s clever design (which even allowed Charlie’s grandparents to dance in bed during ‘The Amazing Fantastical History of Mr Willy Wonka’) and Formförbundet’s video design, both as backdrop and a delightfully retro projection during the same scene, telling the story of Willy Wonka’s chocolate Taj Mahal. The scene changes for the scenes introducing the first four children to find Golden Tickets were excellently done. Act II allowed an even higher level as the story entered Wonka’s chocolate factory – the stunning Chocolate Room (pictured above) earned its own round of applause, and the final scene with the Great Glass Elevator was beautifully lit by James Farncombe.
Rachael Canning’s costumes easily match this colourful creativity, not only in Willy Wonka’s extravagant suit but also in a wonderful variety of costumes for the ensemble, such as the pink and white confections for the Oompa Loompas and the amazing dancing squirrels who consign Veruca Salt to the waste disposal chute. There should be a prize for the amazing coiffure for TV reporter Cherry. The costumes for each of the five children on the factory tour reflect their characters brilliantly, especially the neon-coloured outfit for bubblegum influencer Violet Beauregarde and the grungy style of computer game addict Mike Teavee. Erik Fägerborn’s Swedish translation is fresh and funny, unafraid to be up to date and to add some delightful Swedish puns.
Oskar H Olsson’s character Mike Teavee is perhaps the most revolting of all the children with Golden Tickets (with stiff competition), but Olsson gave him some of the pathos of his Boq in last year’s Wicked. Åsa Fång gave a brilliantly characterized performance as Teavee’s pill-popping and smothering mother. Julia Carlström’s spoiled Veruca Salt very believably wrapped her billionaire father (David Lundqvist) round her little finger. Robert Sillberg played Augustus Gloop as a straightforwardly comic glutton, with a particularly entertaining scene when Wonka confiscated his sausages. Carina Söderman’s Mrs Gloop sang ‘More of Him to Love’ with great gusto and humour. Amanda Lindgren gave a showstopping performance as Violet Beauregarde in ‘The Queen of Pop’ but also acted thoughtfully, with her arrogance a reflection of her mercenary father (Sami Yousri in excellent form) and his project to turn her into a moneymaker.
The story’s more loveable characters also performed at a high level. Charlie’s bedbound grandparents were portrayed with great warmth and individuality by Timo Nieminen (George), Ingahlill Wagelin (Georgina), Hanna Lindblad (Josephine) and Lars Hjertner (Joe). Hjertner wonderfully captured Grandpa Joe’s character as a loveable teller of tall stories and a deeply loving grandfather to Charlie. Charlie’s mother Mrs Bucket was beautifully played by Karin Mårtenson Ghods, above all in her moving solo ‘If Your Father Were Here’.
For this the Swedish premiere of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory the role of Charlie Bucket was performed by Edith Lyttkens. But there was no sign of first-night nerves as Lyttkens immediately charmed the audience from her first entrance, with a bright and positive voice in ‘Almost Nearly Perfect’. Her acting was always believable and displayed all the sides of Charlie’s character, especially Charlie’s talent ‘to create something from nothing’ with fantasy, which is what links Charlie and Willy Wonka. The final scene where Wonka explains that this talent was what he was looking for and shows Charlie the letter she wrote to Wonka with ideas to make her family’s life happier was wonderfully moving.
Ola Salo had tremendous stage presence as Willy Wonka. His voice is versatile, both capable of power for showstoppers like ‘It Must Be Believed to Be Seen’ but also sensitive and beautiful in ‘Pure Imagination’. Salo had great fun with his dialogue, in particular Wonka’s sarcasm and his ambivalent attitude to the various sticky accidents that befall the children. Like the ringmaster of a circus Wonka brings out the bad characters of the children and their parents by placing temptation in their way, but in the same way brings out Charlie’s goodness.
Some of the highlights of this fantastical production are the ensemble scenes, where the ensemble sung superbly (especially as the Oompa Loompas, commenting on the deservedness of the various accidents during the factory tour) and the direction and choreography are impressive. Michael England’s conducting skillfully reflected Wonka’s manic energy but was also sensitive to the more reflective moments.
This musical is a fitting tribute to the fantastic imagination of Roald Dahl and the joy he brought to generations of children.
Niklas Smith
Running until 12 April 2025. For tickets and more information see the Gothenburg Opera website (click here).
Production:
Sung in Swedish with Swedish and English surtitles
Book by David Greig based on the novel by Roald Dahl, Music by Marc Shaiman, Lyrics by Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman and including songs by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley.
Director – Mattias Carlsson
Musical arrangement – Björn Dobbelaere
Choreography – Simen Gloppen
Set design – Lucy Osborne
Costume and Doll design – Rachael Canning
Lighting design – James Farncombe
Sound design – Dennis Barkevall
Video design – Formförbundet
Swedish translation – Erik Fägerborn
Cast:
Willy Wonka – Ola Salo
Charlie Bucket – Edith Lyttkens
Mrs Bucket – Karin Mårtenson Ghods
Grandpa Joe – Lars Hjertner
Grandma Josephine – Hanna Lindblad
Grandpa George – Timo Nieminen
Grandma Georgina – Ingahlill Wagelin
Augustus Gloop – Robert Sillberg
Mrs Gloop – Carina Söderman
Veruca Salt – Julia Carlström
Mr Salt – David Lundqvist
Violet Beauregarde – Amanda Lindgren
Mr Beauregarde – Sami Yousri
Mike Teavee – Oskar H Olsson
Mrs Teavee – Åsa Fång
Jerry – Tobias Ahlsell
Cherry – Anders Wängdahl
Mrs Pratchett – Lina Svahn Larsson