Broadway alum Eric Petersen has joined the cast of the upcoming world premiere of Willy's Candy Spectacular, the parody musical inspired by Glasgow's Willy Wonka-related debacle. The musical will play Pleasance King Dome at Edinburgh Festival Fringe August 9–26.
The show has also reached back to the 1971 Willa Wonka movie for some casting, bringing Julie Dawn Cole, who played spoiled youngster Veruca Salt; and Paris Themmen, the TV-obsessed Mike Teevee, in to lead the company. Kirsty Paterson, "Sad Oompa Loompa" from the Glasgow "Chocolate Experience," is also in the company.
The cast also includes Broadway alum Wilkie Ferguson III (Motown), Shelley Regner (Pitch Perfect), Nicole Greenwood (In Plain Sight), Cassandra Parker (Cabaret), Monica Evans, and Chris Villain (Freakshow). Special guests are expected as well.
The parody musical will feature a book by producer Richard Kraft and Andy Fickman, the latter of which is directing. The score features songs by various teams, including Kraft and Megan Cavallari, Tova Litvin and Doug Rockwell (High School Musical: The Musical: The Series), Riki Lindhome, Alan Zachary and Michael Weiner (First Date), Daniel Mertzlufft (Ratatouille: The TikTok Musical), and Jennifer Lucy Cook.
Previously titled Willy Fest, a musical parody, the project was unveiled earlier this year, shortly after the event on which it's based became a viral sensation.
The Glasgow "Willy's Chocolate Experience" blew up on social media in late February, when families expecting an "immersive experience" based on Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory and the 2023 prequel film Wonka were greeted by halfhearted candy decorations, flimsy backdrops, and a menacing masked character named "The Unknown" (with no connection to the films). Parents reported kids leaving in tears, police were called, and photos of the whole fiasco spread like wildfire on social platforms.
“If you announce it, they will come,“ says Kraft in a statement. “It was only in March that I came up with the notion for a stage musical. I had a press release before I had a show. Then a great team of top songwriters wrote our score of sixteen tunes. Next, the perfect director, Andy Fickman, signed on. And now our dream cast has assembled to premiere this crazy idea at the Edinburgh Fringe Fest. Even in my purest imagination, I couldn’t have seen this all coming together so beautifully and so fast. It is simply scrumdiddlyumptious.”
“I feel like Willy Wonka himself standing at the gates to the factory with this remarkable cast all arriving with their Golden Tickets ready to perform," adds Fickman. "Working with this glorious cast in this dreamy musical is already a joy, but to add the original Veruca Salt and Mike Teevee to the mix—my head is having an explosion of sweet treats!"
In the weeks leading up to the musical's world premiere, the production has been releasing demos of the show's songs, including "The Best Show I've Ever Seen," "One Big Fucking Nothing," "I Coulda Gone to Law School," "I Was Never That Way," and "The Unknown."
Visit WillysCandySpectacular.com.
