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Homecoming Musical in Final Stages

This year’s homecoming musical, “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory,” will premiere on Thursday, Nov. 4 at 7:30 p.m., with showings also at 7:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. 

Barbara Berard is a choreographer and teacher from Oklahoma City. She has directed and choreographed “Oklahoma,” “Fiddler on the Roof,” and “The Music Man” among other shows at Oklahoma Christian. She said choosing this year’s musical was a collaborative effort, and “Willy Wonka” fit their goals for the musical.

“I think it’s great for children and for the community, and I think that’s kind of the approach they were going for,” Berard said. 

Berard said the show started planning as early as June when the show was still being decided. Stage manager Patricia Elmore started her work a month later. 

“I start working on the musical as early as July to August and it takes me all the way through November, so it’s really half of my year dedicated to a show,” Elmore said.

Auditions were held around the second week of September with rehearsals starting the next week. Berard said the early start was beneficial, as several rehearsals were called off due to injury and the tornado warnings. Despite the setbacks, Berard said the show is developing.

“I think the most exciting thing in any show is seeing the development and seeing the progression they make,” Berard said. “You know when you start out it’s like ‘oh my, is this ever going to work?’ and then one night all of a sudden, it works, and it’s so exciting.”

Photo from a recent rehearsal during Act I where Charlie interacts with her family before the announcement of the Golden Tickets. Picture from Samantha Nelson.

Elmore has been the stage manager for shows including “Anything Goes,” “Oklahoma,” “The Little Mermaid” and “Cabaret – A Taste of Broadway.” Elmore said this show is harder in terms of detail.

“We’ve never had this many detailed set pieces, this many props,” Elmore said. “There are specific cast members who are playing three to four roles, so it’s a smaller cast in that regard. The detail of the show is just another caliber that I don’t think we’ve done before.”

Previous shows have required cast members to handle their own props, but Elmore and Berard hired a prop manager to manage the numerous props the show requires, including Wonka bars and golden tickets.

Senior Mikayla McKinzie plays a grandmother and several other roles during the show.

McKinzie has been ensemble for “Oklahoma,” a mersister in “The Little Mermaid,” and part of the cast in “Songs American Sings” and every Cabaret show since 2017. She said this show has given her the chance to get to know more people. 

 “Since we do have stage time at different parts of the show, we’re able to connect with people that we didn’t think we would,” McKinzie said. “The cast has been just a really good community, and it’s been awesome to get to know people that I otherwise wouldn’t really have had the time to get to know.”

Junior Trina Kenyon, who plays Violet Beauregard, said it has been good to get back to theater and hanging out with the cast, but it is hard on her schedule.

“It’s a big-time commitment,” Kenyon said. “We’re here for usually at least three hours every night except for Friday and Saturday, and we have to get here at 6:45 every night.”

McKinzie said the schedule has also been hard on her.

“I will say it is difficult not being able to go to some of the other things that I’d like to go to because of the long tedious rehearsal process,” McKinzie said. 

Whatever challenges they have had to overcome, Elmore said she has formed lasting relationships through her experiences with theater at Oklahoma Christian.

“Working with BB and Dr. Pullen – they’ve become some of my closest colleagues that I would trust my life to, and so building those relationships has just been crucial for me personally and professionally as I’ve grown here at OC,” Elmore said.

Kenyon said she hoped the audience would leave with a sense of wonder.

“In the imaginative sense, I hope it’s something that felt like one of those really great dreams you wake up from, and the whole rest of your day feels a little bit golden,” Kenyon said.

Students can check the Student Announcements for a discount code to get a free ticket for the Thursday, Nov. 4 showing and discounted tickets for the Friday and Saturday showings.

For more information about Oklahoma Christian’s rendition of Willy Wonka, students can watch Eagle Media’s newscast about the musical.

The Oklahoma Civic Center is showing “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” from Oct. 26 to Oct. 31. The Tulsa Performing Arts Center will host “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” as well, showing at varying showtimes from Nov. 2 to Nov. 7.

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