San Benito Stage Company opens ‘Willy Wonka, Jr.’
Theater-goers who attend the latest San Benito Stage Company
production may feel a little like kids in a candy shop
– or more specifically, kids in a candy factory. The group opens
its latest show,
”
Willy Wonka, Jr.
”
tonight at the Granada Theatre on Fifth Street.
San Benito Stage Company opens ‘Willy Wonka, Jr.’
Theater-goers who attend the latest San Benito Stage Company production may feel a little like kids in a candy shop – or more specifically, kids in a candy factory. The group opens its latest show, “Willy Wonka, Jr.” tonight at the Granada Theatre on Fifth Street.
The show features a cast of 61 students, from 8-year-olds to eighth-graders. Co-producers Melonie Gonzalez, and her husband Dan, as well as director Robert Jerome, had a joint vision of the production that will reflect some of their favorite elements from the original “Willy Wonka” movie starring Gene Wilder.
“Our generation knows Gene Wilder and the kids know Johnny Depp,” Gonzalez said. “We worked really hard to intermix a little bit from each. It will have the spirit of the original with some of the fun, quirkiness of the Johnny Depp one.”
She added that the directors and producers worked closely to develop a plan for creating some of the bigger special effects from the films, such as the chocolate river and a girl who blows up like a blueberry.
“It’s a very technical show, not just a straight musical,” Gonzalez said, adding that Jerome used some magic show elements for some of the effects.
The show is the first one the Gonzalezes are producing, with help from Toni Smith, as associate producer. The couple first got involved in theater in 2007, when their daughter auditioned for “Aladdin, Jr.” at Rucker School in Gilroy.
“We got the bug and helped build the set,” Gonzalez said. “Over the next three years we did more and more.”
The couple even helped out with a production of “Willy Wonka, Jr.” in Gilroy in 2008.
“They knew we had kids involved and they knew we’d been part of this exact production and we know the show,” Gonzalez zalez said, of San Benito Stage Company’s board of directors inviting her and her husband to produce the show. “Dan and I, really from our point of view, we approach it as theater people, but we have the skew of being parents. We lend that to the process.”
From auditions to the opening of the show, the kids are involved in rehearsals for two months. Gonzalez said they worked hard not to interfere with STAR testing and even scheduled the stressful tech week during spring break so the kids wouldn’t have to cram in hours of work after school.
The week before the show opened, Gonzalez said they were still working out the lighting as well as some of the final special effects.
“We are huge fans of the story and I think that really helps out,” she said. “That is a big part of it. And the kids, every single kid in the production is fabulous and we have a huge group of supportive parents.”
Others involved in the show included Kristy Burchard, who is the assistant director, and Heidi Henderson, the vocal director. Burchard runs the Kids Rule Theater camp, and the campers voted last summer for their pick for the San Benito Stage Company’s kids’ spring show. “Willy Wonka, Jr. won out,” and Gonzalez ventured a guess as to why the kids like it.
“It’s a fun book, and the content – candy – is fun,” she said. “The overall theme and message is that the underdog who is a good kid wins in the end.”
In the book, children all over the world are buying up chocolate bars in the hope of getting a golden ticket, which entitles them to visit Willy Wonka’s candy factory.
Tying in with the theme, the San Benito Stage Company partnered with the owners of the Marich Confectionery to give away tours of the local candy factory. During intermission, theater-goers have a chance to purchase a candy bar, and some of those will have a golden ticket inside. Those who find a golden ticket, along with the cast and crew of the show, will tour Marich Confectionery next month, according to a tentative date. One lucky winner will also receive a year’s supply of candy for free.
“We’ve really worked hard to make it really fun and surprising – theatrical,” Gonzalez said.
The San Benito Stage Company performance of “Willy Wonka. Jr.” runs April 16 through May 1 at the Granada Theatre, in Hollister. Shows are April 16, 17, 23, 24, 30 and May 1 at 7 p.m. and April 18 and 25 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $15 for children and $12 for seniors. Every show will have a golden ticket hidden in the candy sold at intermission. Eight winners will receive a tour of Marich Confectionery at a later date and one lucky winner will receive a year’s supply of candy. Advance tickets are available at Postal Graphics at 636-3787 or from cast members.
