The Miami engagement of Roald Dahl’s Charlie And The Chocolate Factory is coming to the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County on January 1 – 5. That’s right, there is something exciting you can take your someone special to on NEW YEAR’s DAY!
Leading the cast as the extraordinary chocolate maker, Willy Wonka, is Cody Garcia, with Brody Bett and Ryan Umbarila alternating in the title role of Charlie Bucket.
They will be joined by Steve McCoy as Grandpa Joe, Caitlin Lester-Sams as Mrs. Bucket, Audrey Belle Adams as Mrs. Gloop, Zakiya Baptiste as Violet Beauregarde, Katie Fay Francis as Mrs. Teavee, Scott Fuss as Mr. Salt, Branden R. Mangan as Mr. Beauregarde, Angela Palladini as Veruca Salt, Sam St. Jean as Augustus Gloop, Matthew Boyd Snyder as Mike Teavee.
Rounding out the cast, David Nick Alea, Bella Calafiura, Gina Daugherty, Nicole Hale, Domanick Anton Hubbard, Ryan Kiernan, Alysha Morgan, Daniel Pahl, Jenna Brooke Scannelli, Justin William Schaffner, Lauren Soto, Luis Villar, Jamaal K. Wade, Justin White, and Nicole Zelka.
It was a pleasure to sit down with Cody Garcia for this exclusive Hotspots interview:
At what age did you begin performing and how did it happen?
I started performing as a very small child as I was doing everything my brother did. He started theatre, therefore I did. He stopped, but I never did and then went to a Performing arts High School (NESA) and then I went to college at the Boston Conservatory. I basically never stopped performing.
What was your first professional role?
I was in the ensemble in the Music Man in high school. However, my first lead was Ambrose in Hello, Dolly, also in High school.
How did you get cast in this Charlie And The Chocolate Factory?
I was working for Disney Cruise Line doing Beauty and the Beast and I missed the auditions in New York. I was disappointed, but then a couple weeks later I saw on Instagram they were still looking for a Willy Wonka and I submitted a tape. I got called in to read for the producers, and a short time later I was offered the role.
Is there pressure playing such an iconic film role?
Yeah 100%. Whether its pressure that people are putting on me or the pressure I am putting on myself, it’s there.
Other than this role, what has been your favorite role to play?
I loved doing Flynn Rider in Tangled the Musical is was such a fun show and fun character to play. I also loved Lumiere in Beauty and the Beast.
What is your fantasy role?
The Bakers Wife in Into The Woods is a dream role for a long time. I would also love to play Raul in Phantom of the Opera.
What should our readers expect from this production of Charlie And The Chocolate Factory?
They should expect to see Charlie and the Chocolate factory in a way that has never been done before. It’s very cool and interesting the way we tell the story on stage.
For more information on Cody, go to: Codyrgarcia.com
The hit Broadway musical features songs from the original film, including “Pure Imagination,” “The Candy Man,” and “I’ve Got a Golden Ticket,” alongside a toe-tapping and ear-tickling new score from the songwriters from Hairspray.
Tickets to Roald Dahl’s Charlie And The Chocolate Factory are available online at Arshtcenter.org, by calling 305.949.6722 or through the Arsht Center Box Office in person at 1300 Biscayne Blvd. Miami, FL 33132. Ticket prices start at $35.
DISCOUNT CODE – “HOTSPOTS20” will get you $20 off Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday Evening performances in PL4-6 (tier 3 and 4).
For more information, visit CharlieOnTour.com.
ABOUT ROALD DAHL AND HIS LEGACY
Roald Dahl (1916-1990) was a spy, ace fighter-pilot, chocolate historian and medical inventor. He was also the author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda, The BFG and many more brilliant stories. He remains the world’s No.1 storyteller.
Sitting in a hut at the bottom of his garden, surrounded by odd bits and pieces such as a suitcase (used as a footrest), his own hipbone (which he’d had replaced) and a heavy ball of metal foil (made from years’ worth of chocolate wrappers), he went on to write some of the world’s best-loved children’s stories. His first children’s story, James and the Giant Peach, was published in 1961, was a hit and every subsequent book became a best-seller.
Today, his stories are available in 58 languages and, by a conservative estimate, he has sold more than 250 million books. Many of these stories have also been adapted for stage and screen, including the 1971 film classic Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, Wes Anderson’s acclaimed Fantastic Mr. Fox, the multi-award winning Matilda The Musical from the RSC with music by Tim Minchin, and Steven Spielberg’s blockbuster The BFG. The latest adaptation is Charlie and the Chocolate Factory the Musical which opened on Broadway in April 2017 following three Golden years on London’s West End.
