Mendes Brings Charlie & the Chocolate Factory Musical to London???

The Tony award-winning songwriting duo Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman – perhaps best known for smash-hit musical Hairspray – are working on bringing Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to the stage, telling Broadway World they will bring their new musical to the West End “in about a year and a half”. The 2012 production could be the second Dahl adaptation playing in London with the RSC yesterday (19 May 2011) confirming that they will bring Tim Minchin‘s adaptation of Matilda to the Cambridge Theatre from 22 November 2011 (previews from 18 October). The pair go on to say the production will be helmed by stage and screen director Sam Mendes who will start work on the project after completing the next instalment of the James Bond franchise. Discussions for who to cast in the all-important role of Willy Wonka are apparently already underway, with Mendes and the songwriting team already being approached. Shaiman and Wittman’s work can currently be seen on the Broadway in screen-to-stage show Catch Me If You Can.