Alex Jennings stars as Willy Wonka in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, he is joined by new cast members Barry James, Josefina Gabrielle, Richard Dempsey and Kirsty Malpass.
In the new cast Barry James plays the role of Grandpa Joe, Josefina Gabrielle plays Mrs Teavee and Richard Dempsey and Kirsty Malpass play Charlie’s parents Mr and Mrs Bucket. They join Clive Carter (Mr Salt), Jasna Ivir (Mrs Gloop), Paul J Medford (Mr Beauregarde), Billy Boyle (Grandpa George), Roni Page (Grandma Josephine) and Myra Sands (Grandma Georgina) who all are original cast members.
New ensemble members include: Dan Cooke, Divine Cresswell, Connor Dowling, Gemma Fuller, Robert Jones, Matthew Rowland, Rebecca Seale, Gregory Sims, Paulo Teixeira and Laura Tyrer.
Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory has quickly become one of the West End’s most popular and successful stage musicals. It has broken West End box office records at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, where it has been seen by over half a million people since it opened in June 2013. It is currently taking bookings until 30 May 2015.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is directed by Sam Mendes. Featuring ingenious stagecraft, the wonder of the original story that has captivated the world for almost 50 years is brought to life with music by Marc Shaiman, and lyrics by Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman, a book by award-winning playwright and adaptor David Greig, set and costume designs by Mark Thompson and choreography by Peter Darling.
Barry James’s theatre credits include the role of Seymour in the West End premiere of The Little Shop of Horrors, and Thenardier on the 1988 Grammy Award-winning symphonic cast recording of Les Misérables. Other theatre credits include The Phantom of the Opera, Beauty and the Beast, Oliver!, She Loves Me (Olivier-nominated), Grand Hotel (all West End), Sweeney Todd (Olivier-nominated), The Merchant of Venice, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (all NT) and the 25th Anniversary Celebrations of The Phantom of the Opera at The Royal Albert Hall.
Josefina Gabrielle began her career as a soloist with the National Ballet of Portugal. Her theatre credits include: Two Into One (Menier Chocolate Factory); Puss In Boots (Hackney Empire); Merrily We Roll Along (Olivier award nomination for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical, Menier Chocolate Factory, Harold Pinter Theatre and Digital Theatre); The King and I (UK tour; MTA nomination for best actress in a visiting company); Me And My Girl(Sheffield Crucible); Sweet Charity (Menier Chocolate Factory and Theatre Royal Haymarket - Clarence Derwent Award winner and Olivier award nomination for Best Supporting Actress); Hello, Dolly! (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre); The 39 Steps (Criterion); The Witches of Eastwick (Prince of Wales); Chicago (Adelphi and Cambridge Theatres); Oklahoma! (National and Lyceum theatres, London, and Gershwin Theatre, New York; nominated for Olivier Award and Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Actress in a Musical and Astaire Award for Outstanding Dance); Fame (Cambridge Theatre) andCarousel (National and Shaftesbury Theatres). Her screen credits include Miranda, Doctors, Ronnie Ancona & Co, Heartbeat, Totally Frank, Born and Bred, Auf Wiedersehen, Pet, Sunburn and Oklahoma!
Richard Dempsey’s theatre credits include the world tour of Propeller’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Merchant of Venice and Neil Kellerman in the UK Premiere of Dirty Dancing. Other theatre credits include A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Noel Coward Theatre), Victor/Victoria (Southwark Playhouse), Alice in Wonderland Me (Bristol Old Vic), Citizenship/Burn, Honk! (both National Theatre).
Kirsty Malpass has recently finished working opposite Tim Pigott-Smith at the Park Theatre. She made her West End debut in the award winning Jerry Springer the Opera and has worked extensively throughout the West End, regional theatre and in national tours, with directors such as Edward Hall, Matthew Warchus and Jeremy Sams, for whom she made her most recent musical theatre appearance playing Maria in The Sound of Music. She last performed at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in The Lord of the Rings.
