The Holy Family Theatre Department has worked tirelessly to put together the performance of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory since September. I interviewed Eric Olson, an English teacher at HF and director of the play, to share his thoughts on the making and performing of the play this weekend.

The work on the production started in September. Mr. Olson said that every weekday after school members of the cast worked on the acting, and parents and students came in the school on the weekends to work on set pieces and extra rehearsals. He wants to keep the high standards that past shows have set and he has no doubt that they will pull through. “These are the hardest working kids I know” he said, “I am super proud of them”.

There were over 70 people who worked with the production, including 30 student cast members. Willy Wonka will be played by a sophomore currently attending St. Thomas University. There are also elementary and middle school students participating in the cast. Mr. Olson was excited to welcome younger members to the cast to “expose them to theatre and arts at an early age, and showcase the incredible school that Holy Family is in the hope that they would love to come here some day.”

The biggest challenge of the production was the performance date being moved up by half a month. Mr. Olson said it was hard to coordinate that move with 30 cast members, “But I loved it!”. He said, “Life always throws you challenges, and this one showed us how much more we can get accomplished in the more time we have next year”.

Mr. Olson hopes that students, parents, and classmates will support all the hard work put into the production by everyone involved to keep building the successful theatre program.

Here are the list of times to see the show at Holy Family:

Friday 11/22 – 7:00pm

Saturday 11/23 – 2:00 and 7:00pm

Sunday 11/24 – 7:00pm

Tickets can be purchased at the door or online at hfchs.org, or free with a booster club pass.

Students- Free admission

Adults- $7

Kids (ages 0-12)- $5