Wings of Eagles Ballet Presents “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory”

Willy Wonka seems to have come back into the spotlight re­cently, from the col­orful and chocolatey new musical Wonka, to the infamous and viral “Willy’s Choco­late Experience” scam in Scotland. In Two Harbors on April 13, “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Facto­ry” was presented as a ballet.

Choreographed by lo­cal teen Hanna Searls, the ballet was based on the plot of the 1971 film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Facto­ry and performed by a cast of youth dancers ranging in age from 3 to 13. The ballet was held at First Bap­tist Church, and the stage was decorated in vibrant colors and whimsical gears, le­vers, and other facto­ry accessories. Candy shaped balloons and an eye-catching candy store set piece helped set the fanci­ful mood. Creative license casts Willy, Charlie, Augustus, and Mike as female characters: Willie, Charlie, Augusta, and Mikaela.

The ballet opens with Charlie leading a group of newspaper kids through the au­dience up to the stage during the “Main Ti­tle”, where they cele­brate the news of the Golden Tickets in a dance reminiscent of Newsies. The Candy Lady (played by Ruby E.) dances with the kids during “The Can­dy Man”. After the Candy Lady leaves, Charlie returns home, sad that she cannot purchase a Wonka bar. In the song “Cheer Up, Charlie”, Char­lie’s mother (Claire D.) gives her a quarter, and Charlie excitedly runs to the candy store and purchases the an­ticipated Wonka bar. Charlie unwraps her bar, and finds the final golden ticket (“Lucky Charlie”, “I’ve Got a Golden Ticket”).

The next scene begins with Willie Wonka (Natalie S.) greeting the five children with a golden ticket: Charlie, Augusta Gloop (Britta D.), Mikaela Teevee (Allie K.), Veruca Salt (Brooke S.), and Vio­let Beauregarde (Gra­ciah P.). During “Pure Imagination”, Won­ka performs several sleight of hand tricks, and the children are awed by her whimsi­cal and tasty factory. As Wonka sips from an edible teacup, Au­gusta begins to drink from the chocolate river (created from a long piece of brown velvety fabric). Un­heeding of Wonka’s warnings, Augusta falls in the river, dis­appearing from the scene into the chocolate river, thus disqualified from inheriting Won­ka’s work. The Oom­pa Loopmas come to sing about the danger of greed. In the ballet, there were two Oompa Loompa casts, played by the youngest danc­ers. Cast 1 came for Augusta’s demise.

Mikaela Teevee is the next to leave the fac­tory (“Wonkamobile, Wonkavision”). She succumbs to selfish­ness after seeing a large television and crawl­ing inside, having to flee the factory trapped inside the television. This time, the second Oompa Loompa cast dances to a song about how reading is better than excessive televi­sion viewing.

Wonka shows the re­maining children her gumball machine, and Violet Beauregarde forgets her manners and stuffs gumballs into her mouth, not heeding Wonka’s warnings (“Everlast­ing Gobstoppers”). Sure enough, Violet begins to fill with air (compliments of an inflatable suit), and a bloated Violet wad­dles out of the factory. Cast 2 Oompa Loom­pas dance to a song reminding listeners to mind their manners.

By this time, Veruca Salt has grown impa­tient and bored with Wonka’s factory. She begins to demand things, and, when not granted them, throws a ballet-style fit (“I Want it Now”). The fit culminates in her grabbing a ladder and climbing to where the golden geese are. Seizing a golden egg, she falls down a chute, causing the “good egg” light to go out and the “bad egg” light to shine bright red. Both Oompa Loompa casts dance to the final song, this one about being spoiled.

With all the other children eliminated from the succession, Wonka names Charlie her heir to the facto­ry. Charlie’s mother comes, and the three dance to the final song (“Wonkavator/End Ti­tle”).

At the end of the bal­let, Hanna Searls an­nounced that a gold­en ticket was hidden among the audience members, and the finder would receive a bag of “Wonka can­dy”. Much excitement ensued, and the hold­er of the golden tick­et was very excited to find it.

Olivia J., who played one of the newspaper kids, said, “I loved to perform in such a fun ballet! I really enjoy ballet. I liked my part because I got to dance around in circles while Charlie opened the Wonka bar and found the golden tick­et. I liked the suspense while she was opening the candy bar.” Her fa­vorite part of the per­formance was when Veruca fell down the “bad egg chute”.

Sarah S., one of the Cast 1 Oompa Loom­pas, said she had fun, and another of the Cast 1 Oompa Loompas, Taryn K., said it was fun and “the dances were fun. It was cool how Hanna made the dances be fun.”

Melanie B., another of the newspaper kids, described her favorite part. “My favorite part of the show was the ‘I Want it Now’ solo, when Brooke [Veruca] got the golden egg and disappeared off stage. My teachers are the best, and I love bal­let!”

Allie K., who played Mikaela Teevee, said, “I really liked pre­tending I was trapped in a TV and seeing Graciah [Violet] blow up like a balloon!”

“We made it really re­alistic. I had fun fall­ing into the chocolate river!” said Britta D. (Augusta Gloop).

“It was probably the most exciting per­formance we’ve ever done,” added Claire D., who played Char­lie’s mother.

Wings of Eagles Bal­let’s May session starts May 1st. September 16 and 17, they are hosting a professional ballet company, Ballet Magnificat!. Septem­ber 16th Ballet Magni­ficat! will be perform­ing “The Prodigals Journey’’ at Two Harbors High School, and on the 17th, they will be teaching a ballet workshop at First Baptist Church. Thanks to a grant from Lovin’ Lake County, ticket prices for these events are able to be subsidized. For more information and tick­et sales, visit https://wings-of-eagles-balletprodigalsjourney.square.site/.