by Missy Thompson

STAFF WRITER

Willy Wonka's secret factory of delicious chocolates and candies is coming to Grantsville Junior High School.

Seventh and eighth graders at GJHS will transport audiences into a world of pure imagination with their production of Ronald Dahl's "Willy Wonka Junior," based on the book "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory." The show runs Wednesday through Saturday at 7 p.m. in the GJHS forum.

GJHS drama teacher Glen Carpenter allowed students in his classes to vote on which musical from Music Theater International they wanted to perform. In the end, "Willy Wonka Junior" won five times as many votes as runner-up "Seussical Junior."

MTI works with authors of classic children's novels to create specialty musicals that are suitable for ages 8-14 to perform. With the success of the movie adaptation "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," starring Johnny Depp, and the original "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory," starring Gene Wilder, Carpenter thought this production would be great for his young actors to put together.

"I wanted to do this because of the message the show brings across and points it out more than in the movie," Carpenter said. "You don't have to break rules to win. That's a good message for junior high age kids."

"Willy Wonka Junior" follows the Gene Wilder version very closely and has five of the songs from that movie with two or three additional songs added in specifically for this version. This the first year Carpenter has been teaching at GJHS and in his six classes he has close to 200 kids per day in the drama program.

"This is not double cast because I was able to extend the Oompa Loompa chorus," Carpenter said. "I wanted to fit everyone into one cast."

Steven Moulton, an eighth grader, is playing Willy Wonka. Carpenter says he has a nice singing voice and personality on stage.

"He's got that whole mischievous air like Johnny Depp or what you've seen with Gene Wilder," he added.

Carpenter didn't want to limit the cast to eighth graders because seventh grade students might lose interest in the theater program. Austin Greenland, who plays Charlie Bucket, is a seventh-grader and the smallest boy in the cast, who also has the highest voice.

"I tried to spread the leads out," Carpenter said. "I tried to pick the ones that fit their parts the best. They all have unique personalities that fit the characters."

Because "Willy Wonka Junior" is designed for younger students, it also has a short run time of an hour and 15 minutes.

"It's a perfect family show," he said. "It's good for people in the area to see what the kids in school are accomplishing."

Tickets for "Willy Wonka Junior" are $6 for adults, $4 for kids and students or $20 for a family pass for up to five people.

missy@tooeletranscript.com