The beloved children’s story is welcomed into Shea’s Broadway series

Samantha Vargas | UB Spectrum

A UB alum is helping bring the Broadway production of Roald Dahl’s “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” to Shea’s Performing Arts Center with a fresh twist. The performance offers a vibrant set design, elaborate musical numbers and a barrage of humor. 

The production runs from Sept. 21 through Sept. 29 and is a part of the M&T Bank Broadway Series. The choice to tour in Buffalo comes from Mark Shacket, a ‘95 alum, who serves as the general manager of the national tour. 

“Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” follows the journey into Willy Wonka’s mysterious chocolate factory, and the chaos that accompanies the children who enter. The plot includes Charlie Bucket, a little boy living in poverty that defies all odds when he has the chance to tour the factory. 

The production featured familiar songs like “The Candy Man” and “Pure Imagination,” but also included new songs written entirely for the stage production. Many of these songs replace the Oompa Loompa marches that occurred during the film adaptation. 

Despite an audience full of families with young children, the production made multiple questionable style choices with their adaptation. Unlike the book and film, the live production is blatant with the depiction and acceptance of death.

Both the film and book adaptations took the liberty of reassuring the audience that the children were alive following their departure from the tour. The musical production contains two scenes that depict the obliteration of children and a musical number about cannibalism. 

These scenes were well-written and comically timed, but seemed unsuitable for an audience of young children. The use of human-sized squirrels, all dancing under a red light and ripping a young girl apart is not something expected within a children-friendly production. 

The backstory of the Oompa Loompas has long since caused controversy because of its implications to colonialism. The Oompa Loompas could easily become a fantastical species Willy Wonka takes care of, rather than a native tribe he pays in beans. 

Many families were unbothered by these aspects and enjoyed the production with their children. 

Maria Knoeble brought her two daughters, ages seven and nine, to the production. 

“We’ve seen both movies and we really like the show,” Knoeble said. “I think the jokes are fine. It’s up to the parents to determine what their kids see.”

The production featured an incredibly talented cast. Actor Noah Weisberg (Willy Wonka) stole the show with his powerful vocals, but the supporting cast also gave solid performances. The child performers were surprisingly strong. Brynn Williams (Violet Beauregarde) was another powerful performer who belted out musical performances throughout the show. 

In order to compensate for the film adaptation’s computer-generated imagery, the show implemented projections throughout the performance. These projections acted as a backdrop, as well as a tool for character interaction. 

Within the book and film, Mike Teavee is transported into a television set. This action was entirely done using projections and resulted in interesting practical effects. His character was projected all throughout the stage and interacted with video games within the television. The audience laughed as Teavee’s character ran from Oompa Loompas along the “Crash Bandicoot” map, all within the confines of a projection. 

“I’m really impressed by the show. I actually think it’s much better than the movies,” said Tim Smith, a Hamburg resident. “I like how it can be real and in front of you. There’s something for everyone here.”

The audience laughed throughout the performance, and the cast received a standing ovation following the final number. 

Live action recreation of Disney classic takes over Shea’s Theatre

Samantha Vargas | UB Spectrum

Based on the beloved Disney animated film from 1992, the “Aladdin” musical kept some of the film’s charm despite production flaws.

The Broadway musical took center stage at Shea’s Performing Arts Center from Aug. 8 to Aug. 19 for a two-week run at the popular local venue. The musical’s Middle Eastern style, production and costume design paralleled the extravagant beauty within Shea’s Theater. The costume and set designs contrasted between the constant golden imagery with rich colors and fabric.

Lucie Peterson, a junior exercise science major, grew up on the animated “Aladdin” film.

“It’s kind of crazy seeing a performance of something you know so well live,” Peterson said. “The casting was really great. It looks exactly how I thought it would.”

The production also featured multiple visual effects. Following a show-stopping performance of “Friend Like Me,” small stage fireworks shot out to frame the posing cast in light. Similarly, the cast performed the entirety of “A Whole New World” while on top of the magic carpet, framed and lit to imply the actors were really flying.

The classic Disney story is overhauled to accommodate the transition from animation to live-action, all while attempting to stay faithful to the original content. Rather than produce a scene-for-scene remake of the animated film, the stage production introduces a slew of new characters and character developments.

The most notable change between the two mediums is the replacement of Abu the monkey and Rajah the tiger. These two iconic characters are replaced with three male friends and three female friends, respectively.

This alteration is questionable, considering the shift in the characters’ social dynamic. The flaw rests heavily on the character of Aladdin. The audience is constantly reminded of Aladdin’s ‘heart of gold’ through blatant scenes, yet his character does very little to help his friends. It is implied that the relationship between the four boys is very brotherly because of their upbringings, yet Aladdin chooses to ignore his responsibility to them in order to win over Princess Jasmine. The three friends are not even aware of the genie until the final few scenes of the production.

This negligence contrasts the relationship between Aladdin and Abu within the animated film. Although it paralleled a friendship, the ‘animal sidekick’ trope relies on the human companion regardless. The film uses Aladdin’s relationship with Abu along with the ‘heart of gold’ exposition scenes to make his character seem redeemable for lying throughout the film. This idea does not come across in the stage production.

The stage show features familiar hits from the animated film such as “One Jump Ahead” and “Prince Ali,” but also includes new songs written solely for the stage production. Many of these new songs are set up for the characters introduced within the show.

The new songs served as both filler and exposition, which ultimately didn’t make them very memorable.

Tony Rezemek, a resident of Cheektowaga for fifty four years, travelled with her granddaughter to see the performance.

“It really was excellent. I think it was much better than the movie,” Rezemek said. “I don’t even have the words to describe how beautiful everything was.”

Still, another critical flaw with the performance and writing is the pacing. The production features multiple themes and ideas that are never fleshed out to the extent of being significant, which leads to the overabundance of filler. An example of this is Aladdin’s expository song “Proud of Your Boy,” where Aladdin sings about his deceased mother. This song is reprised once more at the end of the second act, but Aladdin’s mother is never brought up again.

The climax of the animated film occurs when Jafar’s character steals the lamp and begins his reign of terror over the city of Agrabah. Within the stage production, Jafar interrupts Aladdin and Jasmine’s wedding, hell bent on becoming sultan. Within a one-minute song reprisal, Jafar exposes Aladdin as a liar. Aladdin then immediately tricks him into wishing he was a genie within two lines of dialogue. Within three minutes, the climax of the entire production is over.

Despite the production flaws, many people were awestruck by the production. The cast received a standing ovation following the performance.

Samantha Vargas | UB Spectrum

Daniel Armbruster, lead vocalist of the upstate New York band Joywave, talked about the Buffalo Sabres and Rochester while he drank Genesee beer between songs at Town Ballroom Wednesday night.

Joywave closed its “Thanks. Thanks for Coming” tour at the local venue, featuring performances from other upstate-based groups, Humble Braggers and Kopps. The tour also featured California-native and singer-songwriter Sasha Sloan.

The audience’s energy spiked when the crew set up for Joywave. They laid out television props that read messages throughout the band’s set. The crowd became even more lively after the crew pulled down Joywave’s banner that would hang behind the drum set.

As the smoke poured in, Joywave took the stage. The audience on the floor of the venue stood shoulder-to-shoulder in anticipation for the 13-song-set and three-song encore.

The crowd roared for the performance of Joywave’s song “Doubt,” which the band had previously performed on “The Late Show.” The stage lights flashed between blue and red, while smoke poured out from a machine off-stage.

Armbruster showed devotion to his bandmates. He cheered them on as they performed solos and intricate instrumental verses.

Joywave ended it’s set with “Going to a Place.” Members of the band left the stage while keyboardist Benjamin Bailey played them out.

As Bailey finished his solo and left the stage, the crowd erupted into a chant, demanding an encore. The house lights dimmed again and the band returned, thrilling the audience.

Joywave thanked the crew and previous acts for their help with the tour and played their song “Tongues,” featuring Patricia Patrón from opener Kopps.

The audience cheered as she came back on stage and performed with Joywave. They officially ended the performance with the tour’s titular song, “Thanks. Thanks for Coming.”

The audience greeted Kopps with cheers during their opening set. Kopps provided a five-song set with intense choreography from the lead vocalist and the bass and guitar players.

During Joywave’s second song, Armbruster came out to join the group with their collaborated song “Hott,” inspiring fans in front of the stage to dance along to the performance.

Sloan put on a different performance from the other acts. The pop singer began her act by introducing her touring band members and professed she would be performing “really f*cking sad [music].”

Before the band began performing, Sloan requested the lights be dimmed in order to bring forward a melancholy tone to match the intimacy of her performance. Her songs offered a look into dysfunctional relationships and the trials of being a young adult.

Sloan ended her performance with her new song “Good Enough,” an intimate look into her battle with eating disorders and insecurities. She dismissed her bandmates for the final song and performed solo on piano. The demeanor of the audience changed from high-energy to a hushed appreciation for her artistry.