You don’t need to buy a chocolate bar to get in on the Straz Center’s upcoming presentation Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, but it wouldn’t hurt. You’ve grown up with the story, and now you’ll get front row seats (or still-decent back of the house views since we’re not all rich like Veruca Salt) to a world of imagination complete with Oompa-Loompas, classic songs and trippy stage props. Music from Grammy and Tony-winner Marc Shaiman should have you singing along, and award-winning set and costume design means it’ll all look tasty, too.
Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Oct. 8-Oct. 13. $41 & up. Carol Morsani Hall at David A. Straz Center for the Performing Arts, 1010 N. W.C. MacInnes Pl., Tampa. strazcenter.org.
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