‘Willyfest – A Musical Parody’ Turns Sour Glasgow Immersive Disaster Into Sweet

A team of top film, television and stage songwriters have joined forces to create a musical satire inspired by the recent, ill-fated Willy Wonka knockoff fiasco in Glasgow, Scotland that became a social media phenomenon.

Produced by Kraft-Engel Productions, WillyFest – A Musical Parody is to premiere in late 2024.

The creative team behind the parody musical is comprised of Emmy-nominated Riki Lindhome (Garfunkel and Oates, Another Period) Emmy winners Tova Litvin and Doug Rockwell (High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, Julie & The Phantoms) Broadway songwriters Alan Zachary and Michael Weiner First Date, ABC’s Once Upon a Time) and TikTok songwriter Daniel Mertzlufft (Ratatouille: The TikTok Musical, Grumpy Monkey: The Musical).

“From Broadway to street corner pop-ups, audiences have become obsessed with immersive experiences that enable them to be a part of the story,” said a statement from songwriters Alan Zachary & Michael Weiner. “But it takes a special kind of magic to devastate children and adults alike – and it feels like the only way to find meaning in this chocolate-less catastrophe… is to sing about it.”

“While it is quite common for there to be writers’ rooms in television, taking that approach with theatrical songwriters is fairly unique and likely to produce amazingly satirical and unexpected results,” said producer Richard Kraft of Kraft-Engel Productions (Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas in Concert at the Hollywood Bowl, ABC’s The Little Mermaid Live) of the creative team behind the new parody musical. “If Ed Wood and P.T. Barnum got into ‘environmental experiences’ fueled by a million dreams and zero dollars, it might turn out like this. While most see nothing but wreckage in a disaster of this magnitude, we all think it screams out: Musical!!”