The Terrible Catsafterme

I think I sort of know how the Wonka kids felt as they waited to get inside Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory. It’s roughly the same way that I felt as I waited in the nearly one-hour-long line to get into the tiny room to see the five actors who had portrayed those very kids: Augustus Gloop, Veruca Salt, Violet Beauregarde, Mike Teevee, and of course Charlie Bucket. This reunion of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory kids was the clincher that solidifed my resolve to get to the Chiller Theatre show in Parsippany, New Jersey, on Saturday, April 30, 2011.

Even though my friend Peter and I entered the show at 11am when it opened and went directly to the hallway where the line was forming, it still took nearly an hour to get into the small room that had been set aside for the Wonka reunion. This was partially because fire codes prohibited a large number of people from being in this room at once. But mostly it was because every single one of the five kids were so incredibly approachable and nice, that they would spend quite a bit of time with each fan.

Each of the kids in the room (along with the bonus celebrity), was charging $25 for one signature and $40 for two. This was pretty fair, although they each typically signed for $20 straight-up under normal circumstance. But to be in the room with this reunion, I wasn’t going to argue. I did criticize the show a bit for not arranging some sort of picture opportunity to get all five in one shot together.

Eventually, Peter and I got into the room. Although he had never seen the film, meeting the kids and seeing how nice they were may have just inspired him to do so. Our first stop was with Paris Themmen, who had played Mike Teevee. I had met Paris twice before, and he has always been quite nice. In fact, he saw that I had his signature already on the cast shot below, and noted that I had already met him – professing to actually recognize me from earlier encounters. From him I purchased the nice color photo at the top of the posting – one that I had always wanted to own. I mildly regret not having them all sign it in silver though.

Paris had a replica of Willy Wonka’s hat with him, and there was little doubt from either Peter or me that I was going to have to put it on for at least one picture with him.

Next in line, was Michael Bollner, the former German child actor who had portrayed Augustus Gloop. This was a first time meeting with him. He too was extremely friendly, although his english speaking was minimal. In fact he had only spoken english phoentically in the film. Peter did most of the talking with Michael, some of it in German, discussing Michael’s hometown of Munich. I had him sign not only the cast shot above, but the one at the bottom of the posting which had been previously signed by Paris, Denise Nickerson, and Leonard Stone.

Next up was the bonus Willy Wonka celebrity, one who had been added at the last minute. In my wild and wooly drinking days, I would often initiate a wobbly conversation starter by randomly asking people if they always fast-forwarded past the song Cheer Up Charlie in the Willy Wonka film. The consensus was generally yes. But that notwithstanding, it was a thrill to get to meet Diana Sowle, who as Charlie’s mother had crooned that very song to her sad little boy.

Although she had rather low-quality photos and was charging the same as the other cast members, there was again little question as to whether I would be getting this. As you can see, she tried to add as much information on the photo as she could, and in addition fulfilled my request to add the title of that notorious song. She had flown in from Washington D.C. – where I had had my flight layover, so we spent some time discussing the airport of all things.

Then it was on to Charlie himself. This was more than a casual thrill for me. I had always heard that actor Peter Ostrum really didn’t much embrace his role as Charlie Bucket and had spent his adult career as a veterinarian in upstate New York. So I thought it was very unlikely that I would ever get to meet him.

My friend Steve Cox had cheaply sold me the autographed photo directly below of Peter Ostrum, so I was thrilled just to have his signature in my collection, never dreaming I’d get the chance to add it to the picture at the bottom of the page that I’d been assembling – as well as the great color cast shot at the top of the posting.

Like the others, Peter was incredibly nice and friendly. We discussed his veterinary practice and others asked him how his children felt watching him in the film. Basically he said that he had never earned any extra brownie points in their eyes and that he just lived an ordinary life. Still, it’s great that he is finally getting out for a few more events to celebrate his cherished role. He told me that they had tried to get Gene Wilder for this event. Obviously he wasn’t available – but that they might try to line him up for some future appearances.

Notably absent in the room at the time was Denise Nickerson, who had played Violet Beauregarde in the film. I had met her in Chicago previously and she was one of the nicest and most generous of all celebrities I have met at these shows. But unfortunately, she had recently had knee surgery, so she had quickly had to retire back to her room to take some medication and get a bit of rest. They gave us a special ticket (not a golden one) to get on the fast track back into the room when she came back. So we moved on to Veruca.

This was the third and final ‘new encounter’ with a Wonka kid, another one that I had wanted to meet for many years. Who could ever forget this British gal Julie Dawn Cole who brattily crooned I Want it Now! before being deposited down the garbage chute with the other ‘bad eggs’. Although we didn’t have any lengthy discussion, she became the final one (so far anyway) to sign the photo at the bottom of the page.

Over the next couple of hours, Peter and I periodically checked to see if Denise Nickerson had made it back into the signing room. It was about 1:30 when she did, but by that time a second line had formed for the fans who had only missed her. Since there was a fire code limit as to how many people could get into the room, there ended up being a room full of people only needing her, with me among them needing her to sign my color photo. It was rather disorganized as the poor fans in the ‘second line’ who hadn’t been in the room yet had to wait until the ‘Violet’ people all got in. The other five celebrities basically sat idle for the entire time.

But in the end, I got them all. This experience alone was worth the price of the trip. In the past, opportunity had only existed in my pure imagination, but now if I wanted to view paradise, I simply looked around and viewed it.

Celebrities of the Spring 2011 Chiller will continue…

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 22nd, 2011 at 6:38 am and is filed under 2010's - Early, Autographs, Celebrity Encounters, Movies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.