After a disastrous Willy Wonka “immersive” experience in Glasgow set the internet ablaze, the fiasco is getting the musical satire treatment.
The creative team behind “Willy Fest: A Musical Parody” includes Emmy nominee Riki Lindhome (Garfunkel and Oates, “Another Period”), Emmy winners Tova Litvin and Doug Rockwell (“High School Musical: The Musical: The Series,” “Julie & The Phantoms”), TikTok songwriter Daniel Mertzlufft (“Ratatouille: The TikTok Musical” “Grumpy Monkey: The Musical”) and Broadway songwriters Alan Zachary and Michael Weiner (“First Date,” ABC’s “Once Upon a Time”). Richard Kraft (“The Little Mermaid Live”) will produce.
The misguided event, falsely marketed to families as an elaborate experience worthy of Willy Wonka’s fictional chocolate factory, captured viral attention worldwide as it morphed into a nightmare not unlike the infamous Fyre Fest. Guests paid for overpriced tickets to enter a creepy warehouse filled with sad Oompa Loompa wannabes and underwhelming production design. Children reportedly left in tears, the police were called and the debacle was ultimately canceled, leaving organizers and guests with a bitter taste in their mouths (and wallets).
“This could be ‘Waiting For Guffman,’ but with scam artists,” said writer Lindhome of the parody project.
“From Broadway to street corner pop-ups, audiences have become obsessed with immersive experiences that enable them to be a part of the story,” Zachary and Weiner added. “But it takes a special kind of magic to devastate children and adults alike — and it feels like the only way to find meaning in this chocolate-less catastrophe … is to sing about it.”
Kraft, who previously produced and directed “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory in Concert at the Hollywood Bowl” added, “If Ed Wood and P.T. Barnum got into ‘environmental experiences’ fueled by a million dreams and zero dollars, it might turn out like this. While most see nothing but wreckage in a disaster of this magnitude, we all think it screams out: MUSICAL!!”
“Willy Fest: A Musical Parody” is currently targeting a late 2024 launch.
