Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at Curve Leicester: rehearsal photos and full cast

Jonny Fines as Willy Wonka with Charlie in rehearsal. Photo: Marc Brenner.

The first rehearsal photos from Curve's new production of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory are out, and they show Leicestershire actor Jonny Fines already in top hat and tails as Willy Wonka. Directed by Curve's artistic director Nikolai Foster, the Roald Dahl musical runs at the Leicester theatre from Saturday 21 November 2026 to Saturday 16 January 2027, and tickets are on sale now.

The production is made at Curve, with a community company of more than 20 young people joining the professional cast. The pictures, taken by Marc Brenner, catch Fines with one of the young actors playing Charlie Bucket, along with the Bucket family and the four golden ticket winners and their parents at work in the rehearsal room.

The cast

Fines is a familiar face at Curve. He played the Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz in 2022, Johnny in My Beautiful Laundrette in 2019 and Kenickie in Grease in 2016, and his screen work includes EastEnders and Coronation Street.

David-Michael Johnson plays Grandpa Joe and Molly Lynch returns to Curve as Mrs Bucket, with Michelle Cornelius as Grandma Josephine, Thea Jo Wolfe as Grandma Georgina and Samuel Sarpong-Broni as Grandpa George.

The young roles of Charlie, Violet, Mike, Veruca and Augustus are shared by teams of child performers.

Playing the golden ticket winners' parents are Lejaun Sheppard as Mr Beauregarde, Rachel Izen as Mrs Teavee, Darren Bennett as Mr Salt and Lizzie Bea as Mrs Gloop.

Liam Doyle plays Jerry, Sinead Kenny plays Cherry and Aisha Davis plays Mrs Green. The ensemble is Elsie Buckley, Ru Fisher, Liam McEvoy, Billy Medlin and Hannah Nuttall, with Jordan Dixon, who makes his professional debut, and Rachel Jayne Picar as onstage swings, and Joseph Craig and Tori McDougall as offstage swings.

The production and creative team

The musical has a book by David Greig, music by Marc Shaiman and lyrics by Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman, plus songs from the film by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley. The score includes The Candy Man, The Oompa Loompa Song and Pure Imagination.

Foster is joined by choreographer Ebony Molina, set designer Leslie Travers, costume designer Katrina Lindsay and illusions designer Chris Fisher. Lighting is by Ben Cracknell, sound by Adam Fisher, video by George Reeve and puppets by Rachael Canning. Stephen Brooker is musical supervisor and Isaac McCullough is musical director.

After Leicester, the production transfers to the London Coliseum from 4 June to 18 September 2027, where Michael Ball will play Wonka. You can find out more about the London run.

When does it run?

From Saturday 21 November 2026 to Saturday 16 January 2027 at Curve in Leicester. The show runs for about 2 hours 30 minutes, including a 20 minute interval, and is recommended for ages eight and over. Full performance times are on Curve's website.

Are there accessible performances?

Yes. Curve has scheduled these access performances:

• BSL interpreted: Friday 4 December 2026, 7.15pm
• Captioned: Saturday 12 December 2026, 7.15pm, and Thursday 17 December 2026, 2pm
• Dementia friendly: Wednesday 16 December 2026, 2pm
• Audio described: Saturday 19 December 2026, 2pm, with a touch tour from 12.30pm, and Wednesday 6 January 2027, 7.15pm, with a touch tour from 5.45pm
• Relaxed: Sunday 3 January 2027, 1pm, and Thursday 7 January 2027, 2pm

More to read

Catch up on Michael Ball's casting for the London Coliseum, look back at Curve's Wizard of Oz in rehearsal, or read our review of the musical at Theatre Royal Drury Lane.