Charlie and The Chocolate Factory (Broadway) NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (951)
See it if If you like musicals, you will enjoy it
Don't see it if If you enjoy drama more, pass on this one.
See it if See it with children who will enjoy the hilarious things that can happen in a fantasy story when children are greedy. Great Story and fun!.
Don't see it if you are a fearful parent with no sense of humor.
See it if You want to see a glimpse into your childhood while having a modern twist that millennials will enjoy.
Don't see it if You want a more serious,real-world story.
See it if you enjoyed the movie with Gene Wilder
Don't see it if you don't like musicals
See it if You love the story, dark as it can be. You want to see Christian Borle's stellar performance. You like The Candyman and Pure Imagination.
Don't see it if You don't like kids on stage or in the audience. You want strong classically trained singing voices. You lack imagination.
See it if you feel nostalgic for the original movie. The cast is talented, and it was fun to hear beloved songs.
Don't see it if you want to feel the same wonder. The Wonka factory sets are disappointing.
See it if you love all things Roald Dahl. It's a fun show and has been updated for a modern audience. The cast is wonderful.
Don't see it if if you are expecting it to be the Gene Wilder version.
See it if you want a world of pure imagination
Don't see it if you are looking for something complex
Critic Reviews (52)
“Although not a fan of Dahl's high-calorie story even I found some of it satisfying and delicious…While no show could compete with Hollywood's special effects, there's plenty of cleverness displayed in the gimmicky scenery…and ingenious staging. The child-unfriendly ways that punish the plot's entitled brats are a hoot, and even queasy stomachs will likely ingest such comic images as people bursting into purple goop or dismembered by squirrels.”
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“There’s enough on-stage pizzazz to keep the pre-teens charged and cheering...I have to report that the sweets dispensed here have no appeal for me...The primary problem is with Greig’s prolific book, which, among other things, is all over the place...In regards to humor, of which ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ is totally devoid: book writer Greig is unable to land a single joke...Given the wafer-thin meager material, the cast members are pretty much left to fend for themselves.”
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"The set by Mark Thompson doesn’t wow, the music by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman misses the mark...I am a huge Christian Borle fan and, though it pains me to say it, Borle, in wonderful voice, is not the Willy Wonka from the book or the movies. If you are going to re-invent a film then it should be better live than on celluloid...O’Brien’s direction is satisfactory. Joshua Bergasse’s choreography is frantic...A watchable, but mediocre musical."
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"I’ve never witnessed such a second-act reversal of fortune...Only in retrospective can you see glimmers of hope in the musical’s desultory first half. Just one song hits the mark...What’s great about Act 2 is that...Borle as Wonka occupies center stage and never lets go...He makes us forget about both Johnny Depp and Gene Wilder. Of course, it’s not all Borle. His Wonka material is good. So, too, are the staging of the multiple deaths by candy overload."
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“Neither relevant nor even consistently entertaining, but it does provide the occasional guilty-pleasure shot of sweetness...Unfortunately these are few and far between…This uneven kiddie show takes us on a roller-coaster ride with too many flat stretches…The old tunes remain sources of delight as do a handful of the newer ones. But David Greig’s book misses the strong narrative drive of the original and the cinema versions.”
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"The musical is first and foremost a test of patience...Only once we reach the factory at last does the musical’s leading man, a sly and off-beat Christian Borle, finally get to take the reins and drive the show with some momentum...Don’t expect grand confectionary spectacle, though; director Jack O’Brien and designer Mark Thompson take the whole 'world of pure imagination' thing pretty literally...Borle is, all the same, a winning ringleader of a somewhat lackluster circus."
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"This musical confection spins a flavor that can only be described as modern...If you're looking to throw your cares away and just have fun, there's nothing more tantalizing...But if a well-structured, smartly planned musical is what you seek, this show swings for the fences and strikes out often...The new music is vibrant, modern, and earworm-worthy...The libretto was overstuffed...This show was all about the visuals, treading the fine line of homage and originality."
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"For a musical about the wonder of pure imagination, 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' is bizarrely lacking in it...It’s almost painful to watch Borle, a master of endearing virtuosity, work so hard to sell charm that simply isn’t in the script, the music and too much of the staging...The show is saccharine and soporific. David Greig’s book feels forced, and the intentionally nasty bits about fat Bavarian children, Russian megalomaniacs, etc., feel more gratuitous than satirical."
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