How did you like the chocolate factory, Charlie? Instead of the most wonderful place in the whole world, angry customers and event participants from a botched “Wonka World” immersive experience held this weekend in Glasgow, Scotland, are angry and seeking a refund.
Today, a cast member from the show took to social media to explain his role in the fiasco and apologize for his part in it. Paul Connell admitted the attendees wanted Timothée Chalamet and instead got Timothée Charlatan.
Connell said he was given the Wonka role just days earlier and handed a “gibberish” script and told to “do whatever you want.”
Connell told BBC Radio’s Good Morning Scotland program: “It was very disappointing to see how many people turned up at this event and found basically me dressed up as Willy Wonka in a half-abandoned warehouse.”
The event, billed as “Willy’s Chocolate Experience,” promised attendees chocolate fountains, performances by Oompa Loompas, and “a celebration of chocolate in all its delightful forms.”
Instead, they received a sparsely decorated warehouse featuring two women with green wigs playing the Oompa Loompas, and Connell, whose red hair and beard made him less Willy Wonka and self-admittedly more like an Oompa Loompa.
“I feel for anyone who bought tickets to this event, people who were expecting a magical chocolate experience and got me in a top hat in a dirty warehouse in Glasgow,” said Connell.
Connell said he and the other actors “were furious.”
“We’d been conned as well, and it did turn quite scary at one point, because people were angry,” he said. The actors gamely pressed on, but “There was lots of shouting and groups of people getting very, very irate,” he said.
Eventually, the event was shut down and the organizers refunded tickets and apologized for the “very stressful and frustrating day,” The Guardian reported.
The event promoters issued a statement of apology.
“Unfortunately, last minute we were let down in many areas of our event and tried our best to continue on and push through and now realize we probably should have cancelled first thing this morning instead,” the company statement said.
See Connell’s social media and a shot from the event below.
