Broadway's Charlie And The Chocolate Factory Has One Incredible Cocktail Menu
"Candy is dandy, but liquor is quicker," as Willy Wonka once said.
By Candace Braun Davison
Christian Borle may play Willy Wonka on Broadway, but behind the scenes at the Lunt-Fontanne theater, the real candy man — at least as far as cocktails are concerned — is bar manager Andrew Benvenuti. He dreamed up the seven specialty drinks on the menu, all of which pay homage to the story in the sweetest way possible.
The riff on Roald Dahl's classic novel — about a boy who gets one of five golden tickets into the famed-yet-fictional Wonka chocolate factory — has been on Broadway for months, but its Chocolate Bar (AKA concession stand) is the hidden gem people have totally overlooked. Until now. The entire menu seems guided by one oh-so-quotable line from the 1971 movie: "Candy is dandy, but liquor is quicker." There's the Golden Ticket, a mix of rum and bubble gum frozen mix; Violet's Revenge, a blend of gin, blueberry monin, and club soda; even a Wonk-Rita, a riff on a marg that tastes more like a spiked Peppermint Mocha Frappuccino.
None mess with your head quite like the Chocolate Schnozzberry, a nod to the flavored wallpaper everyone licks in the Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory. (Though, in the film, it's a "snozzberry," which some say is a euphemism for 'penis,' based on a one-liner about grabbing a man by his snozzberry in a book Dahl wrote in 1979.) This one looks like a typical vodka cranberry, only it has a smooth chocolate aftertaste, thanks to the Creme de Cacao and chocolate vodka used.
BOOK YOUR TRIP: Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, New York; TripAdvisor
With a drink in hand — and plenty of candy, ranging from classics like Kit-Kats and giant lollipops, to fantastical fare, such as bacon candy bars and birthday cake crunch popcorn — you're ready for the show. Thankfully, the play doesn't just rehash the book verbatim; nor does it try to copy the Gene Wilder classic. (And, perhaps even more thankfully, the only hint of the Johnny Depp-helmed movie is Violet Beauregarde's velour tracksuit.)
In the play, the children's demise isn't sugarcoated — Veruca Salt is ripped limb from limb by dancing squirrels — giving it the dark humor Dahl intended. But the characters themselves are a little different: Veruca's a Russian ballerina (who happens to keep a grenade in her purse, just in case), Mike Teavee's a hacker, and Violet's an aspiring pop diva.
Joan Marcus
The producers understood you couldn't try to replicate the original — as any "the book was better!" rant for any movie or play, ever, would tell you — so they leaned into these riffs on the characters, including a scene-stealing "gently used vegetable" dealer, who sells protagonist the cabbage for his family's dinner. And the chocolate bar that nets him the golden ticket into Wonka's factory in the first place.
If you want to sample the drinks — and check out the show — you'll have to act fast: Its last show on Broadway is Jan. 14.
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Candace Braun Davison Deputy Editor Candace Braun Davison writes, edits, and produces lifestyle content that ranges from celebrity features to roll-up-your-sleeves DIYs, all while relentlessly pursuing the noblest of causes: the quest for the world's best chocolate chip cookie.
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