Grab tix now for St. Joseph High School’s production of ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’

Playing the lead role of Willy Wonka is Grade 12 student Vince Dizon, who shares that the cast has a lot of freedom with their portrayals and how they want to bring the characters to life in a unique way.

“This production is definitely more a combination of the Gene Wilder movie, and also the book, because the musical, or the playbook itself, is derived from Roald Dahl’s book,” says Dizon, adding to not expect too much Johnny Depp-esque acting in this instance.

“All of our cast members have so much to offer as talented young students, and we are really putting in the effort to make this show great. We are giving our time to stay during our lunch hour when we could be hanging out with friends, and we’re staying after school instead of going home to do homework. We are putting a lot of our effort into this play because not only do we want to present it to the public, we are really looking forward to putting on this play for ourselves as well because our theatre community is so tight-knit.”

Dizon and Peyton Stratichuk say other schools’ theatre groups will come to watch, as they do for others.

Backdrops for the production are being made from scratch by students. (rdnewsNOW/Josh Hall)

Stratichuk, a Grade 11 student, is the production’s sound manager, and has high expectations for her team and the public who come to enjoy the show.

“Our set department right now is currently building backdrops from scratch, as with pretty much everything. There’s a lot of time and effort put into everything, plus people are going out of their way to donate stuff, like materials and equipment, just so that we can build it up from scratch,” she says.

“When the whole set, props and everything comes together, it just makes it look much more nice and a lot more enticing and immersive for the audience.”

Theatre students at St. Joseph can receive 10 credits for participating in the program, so motivation to do well and put on a fire performance is high.

Costume Manager and Grade 11 student Isabella Hernandez shows off the outfit for the character of Willy Wonka. (rdnewsNOW/Josh Hall)

“The set our team is making is stunning, and especially with a play such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which is really reliant on the background, I’m really excited,” adds Dizon.

“We’re also excited to see fellow cast members’ voices be heard during show week because they’re really talented. Even our Grade 10s this year, I can definitely say they are such talented young people, and I’ve definitely built up my experience to be able to put on a character like Willy Wonka.”

Dizon acted last school year as well, as part of an ensemble, and an understudy for Will Bloom, who is one of the main characters in the production Big Fish — which St. Joseph put on last year. Stratichuk also worked in sound last year.

To buy tickets, use the links below:

Thu https://www.showpass.com/stjcharliethu7pm/

Fri https://www.showpass.com/stjcharliefri7/

Sat aft https://www.showpass.com/stjcharliesat1/

Sat eve https://www.showpass.com/stjcharliesat7/

The box office is also open Mon-Fri 9:30-2:30 (closed Dec. 23-Jan. 4). Tickets can be purchased over the phone by calling 403.967.1769.

by Josh Hall | @Vancan19

Grab tix now for St. Joseph High School’s production of ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’

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