Preparing for Willy Wonka

The GCHS fall musical will take place on November 16, 17, and 18

The story of Willy Wonka, the popular book turned movie turned musical turned movie, again (“Wonka,” starring Timothée Chalamet, is out in December), will take the stage at Grand County High School in two weeks. 

What’s most exciting about the musical is also what’s most challenging: the fantastical sets and costumes that create the story of the reclusive candy maker Willy Wonka and his exceptional candy factory. 

But luckily, Nicki Hazlett, the musical director, said she and Maralee Francis, the high school drama teacher, work with a team of dedicated volunteers. 

“We have magical people, who make magical things happen,” Hazlett said. 

Stacey Garrett, a volunteer who makes costumes, said she had one of the most difficult costume effects—when Violet Beauregarde swells into a blueberry—completed first. The musical requires quick changes: some of the cast have three different costumes throughout the course of the musical. Garrett also looked forward to creating the Oompa Loompa costumes. 

The set, too, is a fun challenge. Each year, the musical reuses pieces from other sets, but this year, they’re pulling together almost everything they have, including the background from last year’s Addam’s Family (which will be repainted) and a boat leftover from a ballet that traveled through town performing The Little Mermaid. 

Francis said she’s putting together a program quiz for returning musical-goers, to see who can identify the most items used from musicals in the past. The set has to capture iconic moments of the story, like the Bucket family bed and the chocolate pipe Augustus Gloop gets stuck in.

These two weeks of preparation are hectic: most of the 30-student cast is in band, Hazlett said, which competes in a state competition over the weekend of November 3. But after that, it’s all hands on deck preparing this musical. 

Francis chose Willy Wonka this year, she said, because she has a male-lead-heavy cast this year who would thrive in roles like Willy Wonka, Charlie Bucket, and Grandpa Joe. She typically chooses musicals based on her idea of what the cast would shine in. Each musical usually has around 30 students. 

“We get to have those moments in rehearsal where it just happens: chills go up and down and you just get so excited,” Francis said. “There’s a lot of hard work to get there, but even some of those first rehearsals where [the students] just do so well, it makes you know they’re going to get to that chills point, because they have it in them.” 

“There’s nothing better than sitting up there and watching the lights come on and those kids turn on the magic,” Hazlett said. “Especially the night before, it’s like, is this going to work? Are they listening? Are they paying attention? Are they going to do what they’ve been taught? And when the lights come on, they do. And it’s magical.”  

Willy Wonka will show at the Grand County High School on Thursday, November 16 to Saturday, November 18, from 7 to 9 p.m. each night. Tickets are $8 for students and seniors, and $10 for adults.