“There is no life I know
To compare with pure imagination
Living there, you’ll be free
If you truly wish to be”
— Willy Wonka
MANSFIELD — Noah Burton enjoyed creating his own world from Legos when was a young boy.
Without even knowing it, the now 18-year-old Burton was prepping for the lead role in “Willy Wonka Jr.,” which opens Friday night at the Mansfeld Playhouse.
“My interest in architecture and structure comes way back from 4 or 5 years old, playing with Legos. At that age, it’s all imagination. It doesn’t matter what pieces you have. You’re only limited by your imagination at that age,” said Burton, a home-schooled senior who also takes classes at North Central State College.
“Growing up a little bit, I realize how much I have come away from true and pure imagination. It’s very sobering. How could I possibly just give all that up? Because that was a wonderful place to be in where the world was really just whatever I made it to be,” he said.
Roald Dahl’s “Willy Wonka Jr.” follows enigmatic candy manufacturer Willy Wonka as he stages a contest by hiding golden tickets in five of his scrumptious candy bars. Whomever comes up with these tickets will win a free tour of the Wonka factory, as well as a lifetime supply of candy. Four of the five winning children are insufferable brats, but the fifth is a likeable young lad named Charlie Bucket, who takes the tour in the company of his equally amiable grandfather. The children must learn to follow Mr. Wonka’s rules in the factory –or suffer the consequences.
That’s one of the reasons the role of the well-known and fabled candy maker appealed to Burton, last seen at the East Third Street theater in June as as “Lumiere” in “Beauty and the Beast.”
“I loved the book, “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” (the novel upon which the stage show and movie are based). Willy Wonka is such an amazing character.
“He has been altered a little bit in the junior version. He’s a little bit less weird. A little bit more harsh in places and a little bit less harsh in other places.
“But just being able to take on a role that, if you’ve seen the (1971) original film with Gene Wilder, just the fantastic job he does in that movie. Just having that as an inspiration and just what can I do to that make it my own.
“I love the way that Willy looks at things,” Burton said.
“Willy Wonka Jr.”
Show Dates: Sept. 9-10 and Sept. 16, 17 at 7 p.m.; Sept. 18 at 2:30 pm
Ticket prices: $10 adults; $5 students
Tickets and Reservations: Call the box office at 419-522-2883. Box office hours are Wednesday through Friday from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. and one hour prior to all performances.
Tickets can also be purchased online at https://www.tix.com/ticket-sales/Playhouse/3818
Doug Wertz, the artistic director at the Mansfield Playhouse, said its Wonka’s imagination process that draws people into the youth theater performance with its cast of 39, ranging in age from 4 to 18.
“He talks about it, ‘Come with me and you’ll be in a world of imagination.’ And I think that’s what it is. It becomes animated and it becomes weird because you’re inside his head and his visions of things and his experimentations.
“But he’s also a bit eccentric and with a sense of humor and of course, he’s a little frightening,” Wertz said.
Anthony Parker, an eighth-grader at Lexington Junior High, gets the closest look at Willy Wonka, portraying “Charlie Bucket,” the young man who snags the final “Golden Ticket” to tour the chocolate factory.
It’s the fourth Playhouse show for the 14-year-old Parker, who said he loves working with Wertz.
“He is such a great director. He is so good at giving tips. He is never harsh about it … always encouraging. It’s helped a lot, especially at the singing tips,” Parker said.
The teenager admits the vocals are the most challenging part of the show this time.
“I have done a lot of music and singing in the past, but my voice is developing a little bit now,” he said.
Parker is excited for the opportunity — and the sweets.
“I am always happy to be back on stage. I’m always excited. It’s fun. I also like getting to eat a lot of chocolate,” he said with a laugh. “I ate the whole bar last night at rehearsal.”
Ella Aquino makes her Mansfield Playhouse debut as gum-smacking, southern belle “Violet Beauregarde,” another Golden Ticket recipient.
The 12-year-old student at Eastern Elementary School in Lexington said she already loves the theater.
“I love doing plays and meeting new friends. Whatever part I get in a show, I am happy with it. It’s just so much fun to sing and perform,” she said.
“I love Violet’s southern accent, even though I don’t speak it,” she said with a laugh. “I just love the character.”
Without giving away too much of the story, Violet meets an explosive, fruit-filled end in the show. Aquino helps to activate the show tech for the big moment and feels the pressure.
“You have to press a button to blow up into a giant blueberry … and one time I forgot where the button was,” she said. “So it’s kind of challenging to keep it in your hand. I’m worried it’s going to fall out.”
Wertz praised the work of the cast and backstage volunteers.
“The backstage organization and the assistance is huge, especially when you have a cast with 15 littles — the Oompa Loompas,” he said.
“We’ve had so much involvement with other teens, not cast in the show, and parents, and they had been fantastic with this. The show’s program is going to list more volunteers on than I’ve seen in a long time. It’s very cool,” he said.
Launching rehearsals in the summer for any show, much less a youth production, posed its own unique challenges for the veteran director.
“It’s tough. A lot of kids play soccer in the summertime and of course there’s vacations all the time. Then they’re getting ready to school. As we get ready to open, everybody’s starting school. So you have open houses in the evening.
“All you can do is understand that you’ve got to work around it cause they’re all volunteers. You make them up and work with them as much as you can when they get back.
“It’s a challenge, but when it comes down to the end product, they really seem to pull it together,” Wertz said.
Kara Bradley – Oompa #5
Samuel Hergatt – Phineous Trout
Liam Paxton – Mr. Bucket
Caden Stewart – Mr. Salt
Brett Lucas – Gpa Joe
Noah Burton – Willy Wonka
Jacoby Rapp – Augustus
Jeremiah Viscioni – Candy Man
Kaden Gilland – Gpa George
Paityn Hall – Gma Josephina
Leia Walker – Ms. Teavee
Cecilia Kettering – Matilda
Sophia Fraley – Mrs. Gloop
Elijah Burton – Oompa #4
Chloe Burton – Oompa Loompa
Julia Burton – Oompa Loompa
Micah Burton – Mrs. Beauregarde
Adon Burton – James
Kenan Burton – Oompa Loompa
Wesley Stefaniuk – Mike Teavee
Caroline Stefaniuk – Veruca Salt
Josie McNary – Oompa #2
Stella McNary – Oompa #3
Anthony Parker – Charlie Bucket
Ella Aquino – Violet Beauregarde
Hardtly Roig – Oompa Loompa
Tyson Edmunds – Oompa Loompa
Henry Parker – Ensemble
Liliana Richlovsky – Ensemble
Elena Allen – Oompa Loompa
Evelyn Walter – Ensemble
Calvin Walter – Oompa Loompa
Beatrice Jones – Oompa #1
Gwyneth Jones – Gma Georgina
Makaila Davis – Mrs. Bucket
Clara Thompson – Oompa Loompa
Addilynn MacIver – Oompa Loompa
Elijah MacIver – Oompa Loompa
Anna Ankrum – Ensemble
Lucy Lang – Ensemble
