The new songs do little to move the story along or reveal much by way of character development. I was humming Hairpray when I walked out of the theatre, but there is something rote and perfunctory about their contributions here that never catch fire.
The new songs by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman are not particularly the duo’s best work. Masterworks Broadway has just released the cast album of the Broadway production of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and though it does nothing to counter any of the critics’ claims, it is nonetheless a pleasant album with dashes of charm and certainly some fun performances captured (particularly Borle, who was born to play the idiosyncratic Wonka). Even anticipating the worst (or taking the critics’ assessments as gospel), this show was always going to have something going for it. It also stars one of Broadway’s finest character actors, Christian Borle, in the role of candy-maker extraordinaire, Mr.
It mines the best of the Leslie Bricusse/Anthony Newley songs from the film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, while calling on the usually dependable composing team of Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman ( Hairspray, Catch Me If You Can) to write additional songs to fill the score. It has a family-friendly, magical story by Roald Dahl that takes audiences (particularly children) on a wondrous journey into the world of candy. Though critics didn’t exactly fall all over themselves with love and adoration for the confection that is Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, with or without their approval, the musical already has many things going for it that are bound to lure in crowds.