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 getting ground into powder. A fan of the book since childhood, film director Tim Burton wrote: "I responded to "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" because it respected the fact that children can be adults." In a 2006 list for the Royal Society of Literature, author J. K. Rowling (author of the Harry Potter books) named "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" among her top ten books every child should read. A 2004 study found that it was a common read-aloud book for fourth-graders in schools in San Diego County, California. A 2012 survey by the University of Worcester determined that it