Jonny Fines leads Curve’s CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY cast as Leicester season extends

Curve has announced the completed company for its brand-new Made at Curve production of CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY, with Leicestershire performer Jonny Fines as Willy Wonka and four young actors sharing Charlie Bucket. The casting, released on 24 August 2026, also confirms a community company of more than 20 young people for the Leicester Christmas season. Performances at Curve will run from 21 November 2026 to 16 January 2027, one week beyond the original closing date.

Lucas Kerr, Jett Moises, William Stafford and Theo Wake will share Charlie. David-Michael Johnson plays Grandpa Joe and Molly Lynch plays Mrs Bucket. The Bucket family also includes Michelle Cornelius as Grandma Josephine, Thea Jo Wolfe as Grandma Georgina and Samuel Sarpong-Broni as Grandpa George.

The other Golden Ticket children will also rotate between performers. Serei Knight-Francis and Shamiso Nyamuda are among those sharing Violet Beauregarde, with Lejaun Sheppard as Mr Beauregarde. Kyrelle Lammy, Leo Hollingsworth and Samuel Smith share Mike Teavee, opposite Rachel Izen as Mrs Teavee. Matilda Hennessy, Rose Jammeh and Sophie Purnell alternate as Veruca Salt, with Darren Bennett as Mr Salt. Thomas Burton, George Consterdine and Benjamin Dalton share Augustus Gloop, alongside Lizzie Bea as Mrs Gloop. Curve has not published a performance-by-performance allocation for the rotating child roles.

The supporting cast includes Liam Doyle as Jerry, Sinead Kenny as Cherry and Aisha Davis as Mrs Green. Elsie Buckley, Ru Fisher, Liam McEvoy, Billy Medlin and Hannah Nuttall make up the professional ensemble. Jordan Dixon and Rachel Jayne Picar are onstage swings, with Joseph Craig and Tori McDougall serving as offstage swings. Curve identifies the production as Dixon’s professional debut.

More than 20 young people, many from Leicestershire and the East Midlands, will join the professional ensemble as the community company. The local connection also runs through Fines. His previous Made at Curve credits are THE WIZARD OF OZ, MY BEAUTIFUL LAUNDRETTE, AN OFFICER AND A GENTLEMAN and GREASE.

Curve artistic director Nikolai Foster directs the new staging, with choreography by Ebony Molina. Leslie Travers is set designer and Katrina Lindsay is costume designer, while Chris Fisher creates the illusions. Ben Cracknell designs the lighting, Adam Fisher the sound and George Reeve the video. Rachael Canning is puppets designer and director.

Stephen Brooker is musical supervisor, George Dyer has adapted the orchestrations and Isaac McCullough is musical director. Olivia Laydon, for Jill Green Casting, is casting director. Ollie Khurshid and Jordan Isaac are associate directors, with Dale White as associate choreographer.

Curve first announced CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY as its 2026 Christmas musical on 20 April, when the published season ended on 9 January 2027. On 24 August it completed the casting and moved the closing date to 16 January. Curve has attributed the extra week to demand, but has not released ticket-sales figures.

The musical is based on Roald Dahl‘s novel and has a book by David Greig, music by Marc Shaiman and lyrics by Scott Wittman and Shaiman. The score combines material written for the stage with songs by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley from the 1971 motion picture, including The Candy Man and Pure Imagination.

Curve’s official production page recommends the show for ages eight and above. It lists an approximate running time of two hours and 30 minutes, including a 20-minute interval.

The access schedule includes BSL interpretation on 4 December; captioned performances on 12 and 17 December; a dementia-friendly performance on 16 December; and audio-described performances with touch tours on 19 December and 6 January. Relaxed performances are scheduled for 3 and 7 January.

Curve is also preparing an education pack and school workshops. A Theatre Day is scheduled for 10 December. Tickets are on sale through Curve’s official production page, which lists performances through the evening of 16 January 2027.

For Australian readers, CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY is already familiar through the separate Australian production previously covered by AussieTheatre, including its 2018 principal-cast announcement, 2019 Melbourne transfer and later Brisbane developments. AussieTheatre’s archive contains no indexed report on the 2026 Leicester staging. This Made at Curve production is a regional Leicester engagement, not a West End season. No tour, London transfer or further destination beyond the 16 January closing date has been announced.