Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Legally Blonde The Musical to alternate at Theatre Under the Stars for summer 2025
Subscription packs on sale today for Stanley Park stage series that runs June 27 to August 16

Theatre Under the Stars at Malkin Bowl. Photo by Shawn Bukhari
THEATRE UNDER THE STARS has just announced the two musicals that it will stage outdoors at Stanley Park’s Malkin Bowl this summer.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory will alternate with Legally Blonde The Musical from June 27 to August 16.
TUTS is launching its two-show subscription packs today, followed by early-bird single tickets on May 22; more information is here.
Based on the beloved children’s classic from author Roald Dahl, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory will be directed by Peter Jorgensen and choreographed by Keri Minty. Sean Bayntun will return for the third year in a row as a TUTS music director, following his work on The Prom in 2023 and CATS in 2024.
Legally Blonde The Musical, meanwhile, is making its third return to TUTS due to its popularity. Telling the story of the hit Reese Witherspoon movie of the same name, it follows sorority girl Elle Woods, who is determined to win back her college sweetheart after he dumps her on the eve of her graduation—following him all the way to Harvard Law School. It will be directed by Jayme Armstrong and choreographed by Lyndsey Britten, with music direction by Eliza De Castro, TUTS’s 2023 Music Directing Fellow for The Prom and music director for School of Rock in 2024.
Theatre Under the Stars is celebrating 85 years of staging theatre at the historic spot.
Janet Smith is cofounder and editorial director of Stir. She is an award-winning arts journalist who has spent more than two decades immersed in Vancouver’s dance, screen, design, theatre, music, opera, and gallery scenes. She sits on the Vancouver Film Critics’ Circle.
Related Articles
As if haunted by centuries of hits and flops, the three figures in this Bard on the Beach comedy take jabs at the self-consciousness and shaky footing of being an actor
Lineup also includes an offering from South Korea, an adaptation of The Paper Bag Princess, and a family-friendly drag show
Poetic flourishes and strong characterizations bring compelling charge to imagined story of Shakespeare and the woman who inspired and challenged him
Comedy with Charlie Demers and Jacob Samuel and a remount of Wakey, Wakey are some of the offerings onstage before renovations and a time of internal review in 2026
More mainstage offerings include love story Gertrude & Alice, video-game-style production 2021, and solo show Danceboy
Facilitated conversations with directors take place before matinee showings of four Bard on the Beach productions this season
Core elements of this audience favourite remain in a production full of touches that feel unmistakably contemporary
Vancouver’s Neworld Theatre is producing and administering nationwide initiative in search of experienced arts writers who are IBPOC or face other barriers
This year’s event, on from August 7 to 17, also features a standup comedy show by YouTube star Manpreet Singh and all-ages dance workshops
Young cast fuels this new production of the Roald Dahl classic with over-the-top silliness and sheer song-and-dance talent
New production of Jessica B. Hill’s witty play reclaims the lost history of poet Emilia Bassano
From revealing performances to spot-on costumes and sets, this new production conjures all the atmosphere of the play’s old London home
Western Gold Theatre fundraiser features the U.K.–born Canadian artist in an intimate, informal setting
In Bard on the Beach’s new production, retro pastels and power suits map surprisingly well onto the chaos of Shakespeare’s sometimes troublesome original
Neworld Theatre in collaboration and SFU’s School for the Contemporary Arts humanizes the issue by drawing on real, lived memories of fires, floods, and heat waves
With audiences sworn to secrecy over a decades-long run, the mystery at the heart of author’s most famous whodunit endures
With modernized touches and strong performances, this adaptation renews the wit and scheming of Shakespeare’s classic comedy
Rachel Drance’s poignant performance mixes well with choreographic and design innovations in new rendition of musical at the Stanley
Sean Bayntun and Eliza De Castro sound off on bringing to life the bold characters of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Legally Blonde: The Musical
Kat Sandler’s Wildwoman and Axis Theatre’s Where Have All the Buffalo Gone? round out the stage offerings
The first female published poet in England interacts with Shakespeare in Jessica B. Hill’s witty, complex love story
Designer Carmen Alatorre draws on old photos, film stills, and her own pastel-hued memories for Shakespearean comedy’s retro setting
An energized live band accompanies the new rock musical, but the songs don’t always serve the storytelling
Creator of Arts Club hits like A Closer Walk With Patsy Cline, Red Rock Diner, and the Stanley-opening Swing passed away at 87
Johnna Wright directs the idyllic, Mediterranean-set Shakespeare play that revolves around two vastly different couples
Vancouver-raised performer pours her heart and soul into hit Arts Club musical about women supporting one another and the healing power of pies
Directed by Mark Chavez, a rotating cast of hilarious theatre artists act out all of the Bard’s comedies, histories, tragedies, and sonnets
Documentary-style production creates call to action by integrating lived experience of climate disaster into an innovative hybrid of theatre and journalism
The overall effect is a bit like Zoolander crashing into a circus sideshow with an apple cart full of gaudy fabric
Multimedia rink show gets its glide on when it mixes surreal imagery with innovative skating and high-flying choreography