Fringe to premiere taster of Willy Wonka event musical
A taster of an upcoming musical spoofing the disastrous Willy Wonka experience is to premiere at the Edinburgh Fringe.
The event in February became infamous after angry families discovered they had spent up to £35 to attend a sparsely decorated warehouse in Glasgow and called the police.
Now a stage reading of the upcoming Willy's Candy Spectacular: A Musical Parody will have its world premiere at the Pleasance King Dome on 9 August.
It has been created by US producer Richard Kraft, who previously produced and directed a Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory concert at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles.
The first three tracks from the show have been released with ER actor John Stamos performing the opening number Willy's Candy Spectacular.
Producers say the number "traces the downfall of civilization back to the disastrous event in Glasgow."
Another song titled Dreamed To Dare features actor and yoga teacher Kirsty Paterson, who became a viral meme after pictures emerged of her as a sad Oompa Loompa at the event.
There has been no mention of whether Stamos or Paterson will appear in the show itself.
Additional songs are expected to be released every Sunday in the run-up to the Fringe event.
A stage reading will typically feature actors reading and singing the script in full, but with no costumes or sets, and limited onstage movement.
Part of the purpose of a stage reading is to let producers and directors evaluate the flow of the show, the dialogue and the songs.
Mr Kraft, who has produced live versions of films such as The Nightmare Before Christmas and the Disney version of The Little Mermaid, said that that creating a new musical would usually take years, but the Wonka show had been "condensed" into a couple of months.
Songwriters Alan Zachary and Michael Weiner said: "We love musicals with epic opening numbers.
"And we thought - what could be more epic than John Stamos singing about the end of humanity and linking our species' demise to an underwhelming immersive experience in Scotland?"
The new production has no connection to any companies that own the rights to Roald Dahl book Charlie And The Chocolate Factory and its different adaptations, or to House of Illuminati, the organisation behind the Glasgow event.
The event went viral in February to the extent that it was referenced on American late-night talk shows and inspired an ironic performance art spoof in Los Angeles in April.
