SCHUYLKILL HAVEN - The Penn State Schuylkill Nittany Players will take its audience to a world of pure imagination when it presents "Willy Wonka" next month in the Morgan Auditorium on campus.
"This has really grabbed a lot of public attention," Cathy Fiorillo, assistant professor of theater and speech at Penn State Schuylkill and director of the production, said Wednesday.
The play will be presented at 7 p.m. April 11 and 12, at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. April 13 and 2 p.m. April 14. Tickets are already sold out for the Thursday performances and only a few are left for Friday night.
Fiorillo said that for the earlier performances Thursday and Friday, the Pottsville Area School District is coming.
"We like to reach out to the community," she said.
The campus' goal is to eventually have a larger auditorium to be able to accommodate more school districts.
The play is based on the 1964 children's novel, "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," by British author Roald Dahl. It was adapted into film as "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" in 1971, and follows a poor boy named Charlie Bucket who wins the chance to tour the universally celebrated candy factory owned by the famous Willy Wonka in his hometown.
While Charlie gets a golden ticket in the story, Fiorillo said that one child at each performance who is sitting in a lucky seat will win a prize and get his photo with Willy Wonka after the show.
The Nittany Players has 150 members, making it the largest club on campus.
Fiorillo said that Nittany Players is a class as well as a club, and the students in it had to audition in the fall. The class began during the spring semester. Once the show is over, the class is done for the semester.
Students get three credits for the class and participate either on stage or backstage.
This is also the 11th season for the Nittany Players' spring theatrical performance.
Fiorillo said another great thing about the play is that it has a diverse cast.
Some are theater minors and may even go on to major in theater, while others are in majors such as Information Sciences and Technology, communications and other unrelated majors, plus the students also come from all over as well, not only locally.
In next month's show, playing the part of Willy Wonka is Nick Shugars, Pine Grove, a sophomore majoring in film and video and minoring in theater.
"Last year was my first show here with 'Hairspray,' " Shugars said. "It's fun and it's so amazing here, especially at Penn State Schuylkill, because I'm a commuter from Pine Grove, so just getting to meet everybody from New York, Philadelphia, New Jersey and just mixing with all types of people and actors is an amazing experience."
Pablo Lopez, Minersville, a sophomore majoring in communications, will be playing the part of Charlie Bucket.
"I've been involved in theater for a while so I just kind of gravitated toward it as soon as I found out who the theater director was," Lopez said. "I just thought it would be fun to do while I was getting my communications degree."
Fiorillo said the assistant director for the play is Marjorie Cotler and it will also feature a professional orchestra, headed by musical director Kim Miller.
In addition to many props made for the play, there will also be special effects with a green screen.
The public is encouraged to attend and tickets are $10 for adults and $8 for senior citizens and children under 18.
For tickets, call 570-385-6049.