How we laughed at Willy’s Chocolate Experience, a family attraction so bad it left children in tears. What nerve to charge £35 to visit a miserable Glasgow warehouse where the staff handed out small handfuls of jelly beans while reading a script generated by AI.
Funniest of all was actor Kirsty Paterson who went viral as the Sad Oompa Loompa, pictured in a desolate laboratory with a silvery green wig and an expression of defeat. She became the poster girl for a ludicrously misconceived project.
Talking of ludicrously misconceived projects, Willy’s Candy Spectacular: A Musical Parody, the show of the attraction of the movie of the book, is as short of ideas as the event that inspired it. “I had a press release before I had a show,” said producer Richard Kraft when the production was announced. It is a moot point whether he has a show even now.
Sharing an online joke is one thing; sustaining it over an hour is quite another. None of the 15 songs, with their brash backing tracks and multiple writers, does more than repeat the real-life story rattled out at the start by director Andy Fickman. Singing about AI – as they do repeatedly – does not make it any funnier.
In a half-hearted attempt at a story, they introduce Charlize (Monica Evans), a girl who controversially enjoys the attraction, before megalomaniac Willy the Impresario (Eric Petersen) declares he wants to be the “best worst guy in history”. But with such a cartoon villain, there is no jeopardy and nothing to resolve.
Yes, there is novelty value in Julie Dawn Cole, who played Veruca Salt in the 1971 film, performing the clunky commentary between songs. Fun, too, to see the real Kirsty Paterson being superbly morose. The large cast put their all into it, but gutsy singing alone cannot turn such a thin concept into a golden ticket.
At Pleasance Dome, Edinburgh, until 26 August
