Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (musical) recently closed Broadway version (instead of the West End one) and will feature only 4 child actors who will alternate the role of Charlie. The remainder of the "child" characters will be played adult actors. On 13 October the primary cast was announced and includes U.S. actor Paul Slade Smith (who played Grandpa George in the original cast of Charlie on Broadway) as Willy Wonka alongside Australian actors Tony Sheldon as Grandpa Joe and Lucy Maunder as Mrs Bucket. The role of Charlie will be shared between Tommy Blair, Ryan Yates, Xion Jarvis and Oliver Alkhair.. The play opens with
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (film) critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A–" on an A+ to F scale. Owen Gleiberman of "Entertainment Weekly" praised "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory", writing "Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka may be a stone freak, but he is also one of Burton's classic crackpot conjurers, like "Beetlejuice" or "Ed Wood"." Roger Ebert gave an overall positive review and enjoyed the film. He was primarily impressed by Tim Burton's direction of the younger cast members, but was disappointed with Depp's performance: "What was Depp thinking of? In "" he was famously