A mouth-watering new advertising campaign from AKA NYC promotes next year’s premiere of CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY The New Musical as bringing a special excitement to New York City. In the first of three teaser spots breaking online this week, the show’s arrival in Manhattan is heralded by a thick bank of purple clouds that spreads over the city, and the appearance of a mysterious figure in white spats and a purple coat.
Rolling out over the next several weeks, additional spots depict a city increasingly electrified by Wonka magic. The campaign’s climactic ad is a visual effects tour de force as the eccentric candy maker works his magic on some of New York’s most familiar landmarks…with spectacularly sweet results.
“We want people to know that a big event is coming to New York, a landmark for New Yorkers and tourists,” says AKA NYC Content Director Jamaal Parham.
The familiarity audiences already have with the CHARLIE story, through the Roald Dahl books and movie versions, allowed AKA’s creative team the freedom to take the campaign in an innovative direction. “People love CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY,” says Creative Director Ryan Cunningham. “The education you have to do with most new shows is already built in. That allowed us to focus on the excitement of this beloved story coming to our city as a musical.”
Written and directed by AKA’s in-house creative team, Jamaal + Bashan, the campaign involved shoots at 22 sites across the city, including the Brooklyn Bridge, Dumbo, the Staten Island Ferry, Times Square, Central Park’s Bethesda Fountain and Grand Central Station. The campaign’s climactic ad features more than 30 visual effects shots.
“We romanticize New York,” Parham observes. “Our city is a little more fantastical than what you experience in daily life, but it’s also very authentic. The Bethesda Garden is a magical place; the Flat Iron Building is an icon. We picked the city’s best locations and we transform them.”
The concept for the campaign was born out of extensive research conducted by AKA’s Show & Tell Research. The broadcast campaign will be accompanied by print, outdoor and online advertising and marketing elements, as well as a number of surprises. “It’s uncommon to use teasers in the rollout of a new Broadway musical,” notes Cunningham. “We took this approach because it gave us the opportunity to capitalize on the built-in anticipation and convey the emotion and magic of CHARLIE coming to New York.”
CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY The New Musical
Performances begin Tuesday, March 28, 2017
Opening Night Sunday, April 23, 2017
at Broadway’s Lunt-Fontanne Theatre
General On Sale begins Friday, September 16, 2016
A Wonka-sized everlasting showstopper
based on the best-selling novel by Roald Dahl
Warner Bros. Theatre Ventures, Langley Park Productions and Neal Street Productions announced Roald Dahl's CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY starring two-time Tony Award winner Christian Borle, begins performances Tuesday, March 28, 2017 and officially opens Sunday, April 23, 2017 at Broadway’s Lunt-Fontanne Theatre (205 West 46th Street).
Tickets for the Broadway premiere of Roald Dahl's CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY will go on sale for the general public beginning Friday, September 16, 2016, and be available at www.CharlieOnBroadway.com or www.Ticketmaster.com (877.250.2929).
Directed by three-time Tony Award winner Jack O’Brien, Roald Dahl’s CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY features music by Grammy, Emmy and Tony Award winner Marc Shaiman, lyrics by Grammy® and Tony® Award winners Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman, a book by Artistic Director of Edinburgh’s Royal Lyceum theatre David Greig and choreography by Tony Award nominee and Emmy Award winner Joshua Bergasse.
Additional songs included by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley from the 1971 Warner Bros. motion picture.
Five-time Tony® Award nominee Mark Thompson returns to Roald Dahl’s CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY for the Broadway production as scenic and costume designer.
Roald Dahl’s CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY will also feature lighting design by four-time Tony Award nominee Japhy Weideman, sound design by Andrew Keister, puppet design by Obie and Drama Desk Award winner Basil Twist, and orchestrations by three-time Tony Award winner Doug Besterman.
For more than 50 years Roald Dahl's story of CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY has captured imaginations around the world, and now for the first time Broadway audiences are invited to experience Willy Wonka’s delightful and semi-dark chocolate world first-hand. Willy Wonka, world famous inventor of the Everlasting Gobstopper, has just made an astonishing announcement. His marvelous—and mysterious— factory is opening its gates…to a lucky few. That includes young Charlie Bucket, whose life definitely needs sweetening. He and four other golden ticket winners will embark on a mesmerizing, life-changing journey through Wonka’s world of pure imagination. Get ready for chocolate waterfalls, exquisitely nutty squirrels and the great glass elevator, all to be revealed by Wonka's army of curious Oompa-Loompas.
Additional casting by will be announced shortly. Casting is by Telsey + Company/Rachel Hoffman, CSA.
The Broadway production of Roald Dahl’s CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY is produced by Warner Bros. Theatre Ventures (Mark Kaufman), Langley Park Productions (Kevin McCormick) andNeal Street Productions (Sam Mendes, Caro Newling).
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About AKA
AKA is a global, full-service advertising agency with offices in the US, UK and Australia. The AKA Group, including Digital Media Services and the film advertising agency The Creative Partnership, delivers creative, strategic and insightful campaigns to the entertainment and culture industries worldwide.
The New York office, led by Elizabeth Furze and Scott Moore, delivers innovative solutions across media, marketing, partnerships, interactive, creative, broadcast content, insights and campaign management, with a proven record for producing sales-driven campaigns for premium, must-see productions, venues, exhibitions and events.
Current and recent NYC clients include: A Bronx Tale, Anastasia, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Fiddler on the Roof, In Transit, Les Misérables, Matilda The Musical, Miss Saigon and Stomp.
For more information, visit http://aka.nyc
