"Charlie and The Chocolate Factory" by Mansfield Operatic and Dramatic Society.

Mansfield Palace Theatre.

"Charlie and The Chocolate Factory" is based on the 1964 book by Roald Dahl and features an original score composed by Marc Shaiman with lyrics by Shaiman and Scott Wittman and a book by David Greig. The soundtrack also pays homage to the Leslie Bricusse/Anthony Newley score from the 1971 film with songs from the film, which starred Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka, including "The Candy Man," "I've Got a Golden Ticket," "Oompa Loompa Song," and "Pure Imagination."

The world-famous Willy Wonka is opening the gates to his mysterious sweet making factory…but only to a lucky few. Young Charlie Bucket and four other golden ticket winners embark on a life-changing journey through Wonka’s world of pure imagination including chocolate waterfalls, nutty squirrels and the great glass elevator, all to be revealed by Wonka's army of curious Oompa-Loompas.

Charlie Bucket's role is shared by Oscar Wilkins and Harry Bramall, and on Friday night Oscar was centre stage, making his Mansfield Ops debut. It is very clear though that Oscar is no stranger to the stage and musical theatre. You just have to hear his vocal ability and the confidence that he has on stage and the chemistry with the other actors. The boy has some moves as well as seen throughout this musical.

Amy Shaw plays Charlie's hard-working mother, Mrs Bucket. Amy's history of singing in public is one of the reasons why she sounds so good on stage, and this is another role to add to the growing musical theatre CV of wonderful principal female characters.

Grandpa George is played by Kay Thomason‑Vardy, Grandma Georgina is played by Clare Harris and Grandma Josephine is played by Elizabeth Sissons, a trio of character filled pensioners who spend all their time in the "communal" bed.

Grandpa Joe is played by Sean Curtis who gets the physicality of this elder statesman of the family spot on. A fun, at times feisty character who always sticks up for his Grandson, Charlie. Sean is back on stage after a two year break, and what a comeback role for him.

Mrs Green, the vegetable seller, is played by Jan Hodgetts. Jan is another one of those actors who I've seen in several productions, and it's nice to see Jan in a role where she can show off her comedy bones.

Mike Teavee, the ultimate screen addict, is played by Jamie Savage. Jamie obviously has good genes, or great make up, because he really does look like a teenage boy, and has all the energy of a teenager, maybe it's all pent up due to being sat in front of a screen most of the day! There's quite a bit of physicality involved with this character, as seen during one of the challenges Wonka sets the kids in the second act where Mike spends as much time being thrown to the floor as he does standing. Another fun character filled role.

Mike's long-suffering mother, Mrs Teavee, is played by Carolyn Frith. I've always liked the scene where Mike transports himself onto TV and Mrs Teavee has to recover him from the TV; and this scene with Carolyn is done wonderfully.

Violet Beauregarde, played by Rebecca Wigman, is self‑centred, rude, fiercely competitive and the world‑record‑holding gum‑chewing queen. There's a brilliant song that goes along with Violet's character called "The Queen Of Pop" - because she is always chewing gum - and is as catchy as anything. I wondered how Mansfield Ops were going to recreate the scene where Violet turns into a giant blueberry, after eating one of Wonka's prototype pieces of gum, but they did, but I won't reveal any spoilers.

Always by her side is her equally determined and energetic mother, Mrs Beauregarde, played by Helen Savage. Helen injects high energy into this role and matches Violet all the way, well they do say like mother like daughter... or something like that.

Augustus Gloop is played by Oliver Ward. Oliver brings a whole new fun side out of Gloop and treats this journey as a big adventure with chocolate and sausages thrown in. Gloop is like a big friendly sheepdog who jumps around in an excitable fashion, and always with a massive smile on his face. He makes you feel happy just by watching him.

Mrs. Gloop is played by Lauren Taylor, and you can see where young master Gloop's excitability stems from with Lauren's version of Mrs Gloop.

Veruca Salt, the spoiled brat who gets everything she wants from her doting, but often frustrated father, is played by Verity Lee-Varley. This is another role I can imagine being a real joy for an actor to play because Veruca's character is so "out there", plus it's made even more comical with the accent.

Mr Salt is played by Matthew Bird, who I almost didn't recognise, whether it was the accent or the hat, Matthew is almost chameleon like.

The TV reporters Jerry Jubilee and Cherry Sundae, who report on the locations of the golden ticket finders are played by Garry Richardson and Chloe Thistlethwaite. A great pairing with Garry and Chloe and their chemistry makes it feel as if these two TV news personalities have been working together for a while; in fact there's one scene where the chemistry slightly overflows.... but I won't say anymore!

Taking on the iconic Willy Wonka is JJ McCormack. This role taps into the JJ personality that I have known for about the last decade. Wonka is not only a professional but is a massively fun character to be around with a lovely sense of sarcasm. JJ could be playing himself in Wonka as he is, as everyone who has worked with him will attest to, an entertaining and warm person with a wicked sense of humour. that sense of humour also comes out in the songs, and you can tell just by watching JJ that he is enjoying being Wonka, for all the above reasons.

The Oompa Loompas are played by  Cassey Barrett-Brough, Grace Bowskill, Andrea Caulfield-Smith, Ann Colgan, Bex Haddow, Bella Shaw, Geraldine Smith, Gemma Strange, Chloe Thistlethwaite, Rosie Walters, Oliver Ward and Rebecca Wigman.

The Gloop Bavarian Dancers are Andrea Caulfield-Smith, Jonathan Cooper, Bex Haddow, Lewis Mathias, Becky Miller, Jamie Savage, Chloe Thistlethwaite and Anita Warner. This is another one of my favourite scenes in the musical where Augustus and his mother start by talking to Cherry Sundae as the news breaks about Gloop finding a ticket and then goes into a big ensemble dance number complete with yodelling.

The Veruca Salt ballet section with dancers consist of Ann Colgan, Bella Shaw, Geraldine Smith, Gemma Strange, Chloe Thistlethwaite and Rosie Walters.

The Violet Beauregarde "Queen Of Pop", pop video dancers are Cassey Barrett-Brough, Grace Bowskill, Bex Haddow and Chloe Thistlethwaite.

The squirrels and squirrel sextet are Cassey Barrett-Brough, Grace Bowskill, Andrea Caulfield-Smith, Ann Colgan, Bex Haddow, Bella Shaw, Geraldine Smith, Gemma Strange, Chloe Thistlethwaite and Oliver Ward.

The vocalists are Clare Harris, Jan Hodgetts, Lewis Mathias, Becky Miller, Garry Richardson, Amy Shaw, Elizabeth Sisson, Lauren Taylor, Kay Thomason-Vardy and Anita Warner.

As you can see, this is a big cast with the ensemble roles being many and varied.

Directed, Produced and Choreographed by Cassey Barrett-Brough. What can I say? Pacy, fun and funny, everything you'd want to be in a musical like this, Cassey has maintained them, and with such a large cast, I imagine that the choreography for this show was a massive undertaking, as well as a massive hit! Dance Captains are Ann Colgan, Grace Bowskill and Jamie Savage. Jamie is also the vocal coach.

Musical Director is Roger Holland. Some big ensemble vocal pieces but Roger also bought out the individual elements of the characters, as well as the vocalists, in the solo and duet sections.

Costumes are thanks to Cassey Barrett-Brough 9is there nothing Cassey doesn't have a hand in with this production?), Pam Frith, Carolyn Frith and the Company. Brilliant costumes all round and I loved the mini Wonka costume for Charlie in the final bows, but every costume, and there were lots of them, were all fantastic.

A busy production calls for a Stage Manager who knows what they are doing and they are Eddie Ratcliffe and Jonathan Cooper.

Sound is not credited so it may be the Palace Theatre crew, but, while at times it might have been better to depress the volume, I'm not going to have a dig at that because at least everyone from the front row to the back could hear everything with great clarity, and a nice sound mix between music and vocalists.

Lighting Design and Operation is by Nick Elliott and Amanda Joyce and Follow Spots were Alan Betton, Kirsty Smith and Izzy Tilley - not the easiest of jobs to operate successfully but a good job done by this trio.

The backdrop video worked really well and opened up the whole stage, also creating magic, especially when Charlie launched his paper aeroplane into the wings to see it flying in the videography among the stars. The Scenery and Projections are thanks to Scenic Projects and Linney Crate.

Nick Elliott is the Video Operator.

Performance Track Technician is Emily Beet.

This is a big production, with big production values, and I am sure that you can see this by the amount of people involved. 

"Charlie and The Chocolate Factory" is at Mansfield Palace Theatre until Saturday 7 March with a matinee at 2.30.