MANILA, Philippines — Karylle describes her Mrs. Bucket role as a beautiful one, as the actress-host plays a mother on stage as part of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” musical.
The “It’s Showtime” host was part of the panel of last Wednesday’s media call for the musical running at The Theatre in Solaire until July 26.
Karylle plays Mrs. Bucket to the titular Charlie, a boy obsessed with chocolate based on the classic children’s book by Roald Dahl. The touring production follows the hit Broadway and West End productions With music and book by David Greig, music by Marc Shaiman, and lyrics by Shaiman and Scott Wittman.
“I get to become a mom for the first time and on stage. I mean I’ve been a mom before, for roles but not like this. There are certain scenes where they really melt my heart, so I don’t know. The journey is new to me and it’s beautiful and it’s something that I never even had the courage to take, so it’s quite beautiful,” Karylle said.
In the musical, she plays a widow who provides for her son Charlie, her parents and in-laws. She tries hard to earn for their little family, including a bar of chocolate for Charlie’s birthday every year. Charlie, meanwhile, has long dreamed of visiting the famed chocolatier Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory, which sits atop a hill overlooking the village. Charlie gets the opportunity of a lifetime when he gets his hands on one of the five golden tickets that give access to Wonka’s chocolate factor for a tour.
The story is tweaked to relate to modern and relatable concerns and the market the musical is being staged. She, along with the cast, teased about moments in the show that most Filipinos will instantly recognize as inherently Filipino in value and custom.
‘Super moms’
Karylle did her due diligence in preparing for the role. She particularly looked into the plight of single and widowed women, and she could only surmise that they are “superwomen.”
“I think it’s because she just really takes her strength from her very cute son. She’s such a good person, good natured, and, you know, like hindi na kapani-paniwala ‘yung kabaitan niya. It brings strength in her heart no matter the hardship… I think all those little things just bring to mind ‘yung plight of a woman who has so many mouths to feed and ‘di ba siyempre kasama niya parents and in laws so ang dami niyang pagsubok sa buhay,” Karylle shared.
The actress caught the musical and Singapore, admitting that she was left in awe and dreaming big of doing more musicals, even joining an original play or a tour.
“It’s a very unique time in our lives, and I think when I first watched the show and it was in Singapore, sabi ko, ‘ito ang kailangan ko today.’
“Ito ang kailangan ko right now, and it felt great, stepping into a world of pure imagination because there was a unique time also when we had COVID and they were saying, you know, the creatives will find a better way and we will find a new hope and all these things, and I think this is exactly what I needed when I watched it and stepping into the role even more exciting because you get to live as Mrs. Bucket,” she shared.
As a teaser for Filipino theater fans, Karylle and the cast said a singalong closes the show.
“I think we could do better in the sing-along. There’s a singalong in the end, so maybe we could do a really loud one tonight,” Karylle said.
RELATED: ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ musical makes Philippine debut this July
