OriginalWilly WonkaActors Talk About Viral Glasgow Fiasco That Inspired New Parody Musical (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Paris Themmen and Julie Dawn Cole.Photo:Everett, Stefanie Keenan/Getty

Everett, Stefanie Keenan/Getty

Julie Dawn Cole andParis Themmenhave nothing but fond memories of playing Veruca Salt and Mike Teevee in 1971’sWilly Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.

Cole was 12 years old and Themmen just 10 when they were cast to star as their bratty characters oppositeGene Wilderin director Mel Stuart’s musical adaptation ofRoald Dahl’s 1964 children’s novel.

Cole remembersthe film’s young castrushing back to set after their required academic work to hear Roy Kinnear — who played Vercua Salt’s indulgent father — share stories about working with the Beatles in 1965’sHelp!Veteran performer Jack Albertson, who appeared in the film as Charlie Bucket’s Grandpa Joe, entertained the kids with his old vaudeville routine. And Wilder was “just Gene” to his young co-stars.

Neither Cole nor Themmen remembers having any sense that they were part of what would become a global cultural phenomenon. “When you’re 11 and 12, you don’t think in those terms,” says Cole. “You just take everything in your stride. It’s afterwards you go, ‘Wow! That was cool.’ ”

The cast of 1971’s ‘Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory’.THA/Shutterstock

THA/Shutterstock

“They would have us in an amazing set,” Themmen remembers, “which was not CG at all. It was all practically built — particularly the chocolate room, which was sort of the star set.”

“It’s kind of like they were building a Disneyland just for us,” Themmen adds, “and we were the only kids that got to ride on it.”

Paris Themmen as Mike TeeVee in ‘Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory’ and in 2024.Arthur Sidey/Mirrorpix/Getty; Chuck Fishman/Getty

Arthur Sidey/Mirrorpix/Getty; Chuck Fishman/Getty

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Parents demanded refunds for their £35 (about $45) tickets. Police were called and the event was shut down midway through its opening day. But not before outraged parents posted photos and videos to social media, which quickly went viral, gaining international media attention over subsequent days.

Julie Dawn Cole as Veruca Salt in ‘Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory’ and in 2024.Silver Screen Collection/Getty; Chuck Fishman/Getty

Silver Screen Collection/Getty; Chuck Fishman/Getty

Cole says she and Themmen were in Boston at the time appearing at a chocolate expo along with Peter Ostrum, who stared as Charlie in the 1971 film. “So, we spoke about it a lot,” she says. “We were talking about it going, ‘Oh my god, this is terrible!’ You know, the pictures and the stuff on the news! This sad little Oompa Loompa and all these disappointed people in this empty warehouse. And I felt really sad because we are very protective ofWilly Wonka. We don’t want anybody’s bubble to be burst, and it was such a shame. I wanted to say, ‘It wasn’t me! It wasn’t anything to do with me!’ ”

Musical theater producer and director Richard Kraft had a very different reaction: “I was obsessed,” he says. “I mean, give me a good crazy story and I will follow it!”

For better or worse, Kraft says, he related most to the ostensible villain of the Glasgow fiasco: House of Illuminati’sBilly Coull. Kraft compares Coull to famous huckster impresarios like P.T. Barnum, Fyre Fest organizer Billy McFarland and even Walt Disney. “Everyone since the history of show business has been scrambling to put on a show,” Kraft says, “and you’re often selling the sizzle before you have a steak — including me!”

Case in point: Kraft’s fascination with the Glasgow event inspired him to put out a press release earlier this year announcing a stage musical based on the fiasco — before a single song or line of dialogue was ever written. “There was no show,” he says, “there was a press release.”

Flash forward several months and the resulting production,Willy’s Candy Spectacular: A Musical Parody, just began its world premiere run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival beginning on August 9.

“We’re not doing a musical about Willy Wonka and we’re not doing a literal thing about what took place in Glasgow,” Kraft explains. “It became the inspiration. I think of it as theFyre Festof Fudge.”

The cast of ‘Willy’s Candy Spectacular’: Chris Villain, Monica Evans, Julie Dawn Cole, Miles Peterson, Eric Peterson, Jennifer Lucy Cook, Nicole Greenwood and Wilkie Ferguson.Duncan McGlynn

Duncan McGlynn

Cole and Themmen will star alongside Paterson as one of the show’s two narrators, with Cole performing the role through August 18, and Themmen taking over for the remaining performances through August 26. Each of the originalWilly Wonkastars will make the role their own, playing versions of their adult selves with inflections of theirWonkacharacters.

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“There are two narrators in the show: Kirsty is one of them, so she’s playing herself as a narrator. The second narrator is either Julie or Paris,” Kraft explains. “There’s a lot of comparing and contrasting experiences of Julie and Paris to the journey of Kirsty: one of them got to be part of an immortal classic and the other had the police show up.”

Meanwhile, another actor will play Paterson in the musical’s depiction of the Glasgow-inspired events.

After Edinburgh, the sky is the limit for the show, according to Kraft. “We very much want to do the show in England,” he says. “And then world domination.”

source: people.com