Rock Candy

UPDATE: Organizer Blake Rutherford says despite the clouds, the show goes on.

'WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY'
Sundown, Riverfest Amphitheatre. Free.

We had already written a fairly cool assessment of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” Tim Burton's hyperactive Johnny Depp vehicle, when we learned that Movies in the Park is actually showing the 1971 original, “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.” A good choice, we say. The remake is eye candy, but it mainly seems geared to give Depp another offbeat character to add to his resume. The old edition can't match the new for spectacle, but it compensates with its focus on character and plot. By balancing the sentimental tale of impoverished Charlie with the sardonic ramblings of Gene Wilder's hermetic confectioner, “Willie Wonka” manages both pathos and humor. Plus, the original has the superior music: For better or worse, it's impossible to forget the Oompa-Loompa theme. —John Williams