Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (franchise) co-production with American Lyric Theater and Wexford Festival Opera. A musical based on the novel, titled "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" premiered at the West End's Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in May 2013 and officially opened on 25 June. The show is directed by Sam Mendes, with new songs by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, and stars Douglas Hodge as Willy Wonka. The production broke records for weekly ticket sales. Coincidentally, Hodge was also the voice of a Charlie and the Chocolate Factory audiobook, as part of a package of Roald Dahl CDs read by celebrities. There are two "Charlie
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (musical) orchestrated by Doug Besterman. The Broadway production had a 17 piece orchestra + conductor, which was also orchestrated by Besterman and with additional orchestrations by Micheal Starobin. The West End production of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" received mixed to positive reviews from critics. While the physical production and quality of the performances were generally praised, the score and storytelling received criticism. The Broadway production received mixed to negative reviews from critics. Despite the enormous overhaul to both the book and score from the London production, critics noted that the storytelling was still choppy and relied too heavily on humor.