Productions in area tell well-known tales

Candy Man Steve Tipton in Willy Wonka is surrounded by, from left, Eric Thompson, Roe Kizeik, Rachel Brennan, Matthew A. Anderson, Jeffrey Scott Bailey, and Tara Garwood.

Two children's productions and a Gilbert & Sullivan operetta will grace stages in the region this week.

Kennedy Center Imagination Celebration on Tour, a professional troupe based in Washington, uses live action, puppetry, and music to bring Willy Wonka to life on Sunday in Tiffin and Wednesday in Sylvania.

The show, based on the book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl, revolves around Charlie Bucket and four other children, who win a chance to tour a candy-maker's fantastical manufacturing plant. What the children don't know is that factory owner Willy Wonka is looking for someone to take over when he retires.

When it travels to Sylvania, the show will be part of the Franciscan Theatre & Conference Center's Theater Vision program, which serves school field trips and offers excess tickets to the public. A limited amount of tickets are available for the 10 a.m. show, but the 12:15 p.m. show is sold out.

"Willy Wonka" is scheduled at 3 p.m. Sunday in the Ritz Theatre, 30 South Washington St., Tiffin. Tickets are $11 for adults and $6 for students. Information: 419-448-8544.

It is also scheduled at 10 a.m. and 12:15 p.m. Wednesday in the auditorium of the Franciscan Theatre & Conference Center of Lourdes College, 6832 Convent Blvd., Sylvania. Tickets are $7. Information: 419-824-3986.

Caryl Crane Children's Theatre at BGSU Firelands in Huron, Ohio, opens its season today with the musical The Emperor's New Clothes, an adaptation of the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale.

The story about a vain ruler who is duped into believing that he is wearing fabulous attire that only the worthy can see features a cast of 34 young people from a three-county area. It is directed by Ronald Ruble, artistic director of the CCCT and a member of the emeritus faculty at BGSU Firelands.

"The Emperor's New Clothes" is scheduled at 7:30 p.m. today-Saturday and 2:30 p.m. Sunday in McBride Auditorium at BGSU Firelands, One University Dr., Huron, Ohio. Tickets are $8 for adults, $6 for seniors, $5 for schoolchildren, and $4 for BGSU students. Information: 419-433-3820.

It's not for children, but they might like it anyway.

The Pirates of Penzance, one of W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan's great comic operettas, is coming to the Sandusky State Theatre.

Written in 1837, the show features a convoluted plot involving a pirate king who doesn't want to be a pirate, a band of pirates who are distinctly bad at being cutthroats, and some lovely maidens who change their world.

Presented by the London-based Carl Rosa Company, this production won awards at Gilbert and Sullivan festivals in San Francisco and Philadelphia.

"The Pirates of Penzance" is scheduled at 7 p.m. Sunday in the Sandusky State Theatre, 107 Columbus Ave., Sandusky. Tickets range from $10 for students to $25. Information: 877-626-1950.

Contact Nanciann Cherry at:

ncherry@theblade.com

or 419-724-6130.