Charlie & The Chocolate Factory Musical to open at Palladium in 2013?

As already reported,  Roald Dahl’s novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory  is to be turned into a stage musical under the direction of Sam Mendes with the aim to start rehearsals early in 2013 and then begin previews in May of that year. Warner Bros studio, which controls the book’s rights, is in early negotiations for the show to open at the London Palladium.

The songs will be penned by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman who are the team behind Hairspray  using a libretto by David Greig (the man behind the National Theatre of Scotland's fantastical new version of Peter Pan).  Designer Mark Thompson has already begun preliminary work on how The Chocolate Factory will look and Peter Darling will choreograph.

The two film versions of  "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" starring Gene Wilder in 1971 and Johnny Depp in 2005 (directed by Tim Burton of Sweeney Todd and Alice in Wonderland fame) were both huge hits.