Pittsburgh Arts, Regional Theatre, New Work, Producing, Copyright, Labor Unions,
New Products, Coping Skills, J-O-Bs...
Theatre industry news, University & School of Drama Announcements, plus occasional course support for
Carnegie Mellon School of Drama Faculty, Staff, Students, and Alumni.
CMU School of Drama
Tuesday, March 19, 2024
Scottish Willy Wonka Fan Experience Disaster Has Spawned a Parody Musical
Playbill: Unless you've been living under a rock for the last month, you've no doubt heard of the ill-fated Scottish Willy Wonka-related "immersive" fan event in Glasgow. That story has now progressed to its next most natural stop, a parody musical.
3 comments:
Jasper Gitlitz
said...
New takes on methods of producing musicals are always exciting to hear about and oftentimes produce great artistic content but the fact that this amazing collaboration of so many great writers was inspired by such a hilariously disastrous event is just the cherry on top. The news of the Willy Wonka experience has more than made the rounds across the internet and been turned into everything from memes to drag shows but turning it into a parody musical is taking it to the next level. I’ve often found that many people think of the creation of art as this great, sacred thing that must be reserved only for the most important and serious topics. We’ve seen so many shows lately that have a deep underlying message about the world. While these shows have been great and the use of art to convey important messages is certainly needed, it seems we’ve forgotten that art can also be funny, unserious, and completely ridiculous as well. I’m looking forward to seeing what this musical will look like and hope it’s as ridiculously good as its inspiration was bad.
I have already read and written about this event and all of the memes and creative products it has made. I was literally talking to my friends early today about having a musical based on this event. And now I read the article and see that there already is one being made and now I am sad. I really like the quote at the end from Kraft when he says that writers' rooms are common for television but aren’t for theater and will likely produce great results for both the script and the music. Like all memes these days, this will die down on the internet within the next couple of days as something new will pop up that will take the attention of everyone in the world. I do think that a parody based on this and using the concepts and lessons from it will be interesting and fun.
I guess I have been living under a rock for the past month (I am trying to reduce my mindless scrolling,) because I had never heard of this kind of Willy Fest until now. I have not seen Wonka with Mr. Timothee Chalamet yet either, so I am really missing out on the whimsical chocolatier content. This article was interesting because I knew nothing about the production, and the idea of putting on a parody musical without licensing is so funny to me. “In short, children cried, parents called police, and the fiasco was over scarcely before it had even begun—or so we thought.” This statement said it all. I am very intrigued by this production and truly wonder if it is something that will come to fruition at any point in time. If it is, I will be on the lookout for a follow up article.
3 comments:
New takes on methods of producing musicals are always exciting to hear about and oftentimes produce great artistic content but the fact that this amazing collaboration of so many great writers was inspired by such a hilariously disastrous event is just the cherry on top. The news of the Willy Wonka experience has more than made the rounds across the internet and been turned into everything from memes to drag shows but turning it into a parody musical is taking it to the next level. I’ve often found that many people think of the creation of art as this great, sacred thing that must be reserved only for the most important and serious topics. We’ve seen so many shows lately that have a deep underlying message about the world. While these shows have been great and the use of art to convey important messages is certainly needed, it seems we’ve forgotten that art can also be funny, unserious, and completely ridiculous as well. I’m looking forward to seeing what this musical will look like and hope it’s as ridiculously good as its inspiration was bad.
I have already read and written about this event and all of the memes and creative products it has made. I was literally talking to my friends early today about having a musical based on this event. And now I read the article and see that there already is one being made and now I am sad. I really like the quote at the end from Kraft when he says that writers' rooms are common for television but aren’t for theater and will likely produce great results for both the script and the music. Like all memes these days, this will die down on the internet within the next couple of days as something new will pop up that will take the attention of everyone in the world. I do think that a parody based on this and using the concepts and lessons from it will be interesting and fun.
I guess I have been living under a rock for the past month (I am trying to reduce my mindless scrolling,) because I had never heard of this kind of Willy Fest until now. I have not seen Wonka with Mr. Timothee Chalamet yet either, so I am really missing out on the whimsical chocolatier content. This article was interesting because I knew nothing about the production, and the idea of putting on a parody musical without licensing is so funny to me. “In short, children cried, parents called police, and the fiasco was over scarcely before it had even begun—or so we thought.” This statement said it all. I am very intrigued by this production and truly wonder if it is something that will come to fruition at any point in time. If it is, I will be on the lookout for a follow up article.
Post a Comment