CHILDREN’S THEATER REVIEW : ‘Charlie’ Delectable Adventure for Children

Ever listen to the stories children dream up? Usually there’s a hero, a bunch of bad guys and a series of fantastic situations in which the baddies get their just desserts and the good guy comes out smelling like a rose. Or in this case, chocolate.

Maybe that explains why children eat up “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” Roald Dahl’s 1964 fantasy about a young boy who wins fame, fortune and a lifetime supply of candy all in one afternoon. The Orange Coast College Theater Department presents Richard George’s stage adaptation of “Charlie” this weekend at the school’s Robert B. Moore Theater. Alex Golson, the college’s theater department chairman, directs.

For those unfamiliar with Dahl’s book (or Paramount’s 1971 film version, “Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory,”) the story goes something like this: Charlie Bucket, a penniless boy with a 24-karat heart, dreams of finding one of the five golden tickets that local chocolate magnate Willie Wonka has hidden in his popular candy bars. Four other children (none of them as deserving as Charlie, of course) have already nabbed the golden goodies, but as luck and fantasy story lines would have it, Charlie beats the odds, finds the last ticket and wins oodles of Wonka candy, plus a behind-the-scenes tour of the wondrous factory. With the slightly batty Mr. Wonka as their guide, the children and their families embark on adventures that seem straight out of a second-grader’s daydreams.

More than half of “Charlie’s” 44-member cast is made up of local schoolchildren, many of them under age 10. (Several of the children’s roles are double-cast.) Adult members were drawn from Orange Coast College’s theater department and the community. Overall, with the help of a few special effects, the cast does a fine job holding the attention of even the youngest audience members.

Narrator D. Alysia Batchelder, a petite and unrelentingly perky brunette, gets things off to a rollicking start. Armed with a cordless microphone, she flits around the auditorium, introducing Charlie’s fellow winners, all seated throughout the audience.

There’s the gluttonous Augustus Gloop (Drew Ostrowski); gum-popping Violet Beauregarde (Billie Pienado and Brandi Glass alternate); spoiled, headstrong Veruca Salt (Sabrina Harper and Britton Ashley Hill) and television junkie Mike Teavee (Wesley Thomas and Ryan Cavalier). Each child is accompanied by one or two dim but devoted parents.

Given the competition, it’s no surprise when Charlie emerges as the only good apple in the bunch (the others having been dipped, swallowed, puffed up and otherwise indisposed by the factory’s machines as a result of their own selfishness), and is named the heir of the Wonka empire.

Adam Greenfield and Randy Campbell are an effective twosome as Charlie Bucket and Grandpa Joe, both brimming with a gee-whiz sense of wonder and admiration for Wonka’s amazing concoctions. College theater student Karl Person does an admirable job as the mischievous Wonka, punching up his lines with silly gestures and pratfalls. Although his fast-paced delivery sometimes results in a few garbled lines, Person is, overall, a dashing if quirky tour guide. But the real scene-stealers are the Oompa-Loompas, a ragtag bunch of munchkins ranging in age from 3 to 10.

Set designer Brock Ciley has brought together a few simple but effective stage tricks for the Wonka factory. On the other side of a low wall, just out of the audience’s sight, a pair of stagehands operate a small trolley on a track, allowing the little ones to be swept away in a river of chocolate, ferried through a canal on Wonka’s yacht, and given a hair-raising, side-to-side elevator ride. And a handful of magical machines (which make the Everlasting Gob Stopper and other Wonka favorites) delight the children with their whirring, jangling and clanging.

Costume designer Brigitte Harper was more restrained, outfitting the entire cast--except Wonka, who sports a dovetail coat, ascot and top hat--in modern dress.

“Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” is part of Orange Coast College’s 1990 summer theater season which kicked off last month with Robert Harling’s Southern comedy “Steel Magnolias” and continues Aug. 3 to 19 with “Little Mary Sunshine,” a send-off of 1920s and ‘30s musicals. “Charlie” is suitable for children ages 3 and up.

‘CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY’

An Orange Coast College production of the play by Richard George, adapted from Roald Dahl’s children’s fantasy. Directed by Alex Golson. Runs one hour, no intermission. With Julie Ackerman, Jennifer Anderson, D. Alysia Batchelder, Dania Lyn Brenneise, Randy Campbell, Ryan Cavalier, Fay Furness, Madelyn Gillespie, Brandi Glass, Adam Greenfield, Sabrina Harper, Britton Ashley Hill, Adam Martin, Peter Odegard, Drew Ostrowski, Billie Pienado, Toni Pienado, Karl Person, Angela Sanders, Wesley Thomas and Christopher Uhl. Sets by Brock Ciley. Costumes by Brigitte Harper. Lighting by Jane Hobson. Sound by Rick Golson. Performances are Friday at 10:30 a.m. and 1 p.m., Saturday at 3 and 7 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m. at the school’s Robert B. Moore Theater, 2701 Fairview Road. Costa Mesa. Tickets: $3.50 to $6. Information: (714) 432-5880.