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Pure Imagination: April Drake is Mrs. Gloop in CHARLIE & THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY


Charlie Bucket and his family live in poverty. But their fortunes change for the fantastical when a coveted Golden Ticket gets Charlie inside the factory of candy inventor Willy Wonka. A new musical adaptation of Roald Dahl’s masterpiece, CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY is a sweet and salty fable of about doing what's right with life's opportunities. It plays in the Jeffers Theatre at HCT November 29th through December 14th.


Say "Guten Tag!" to April Drake, who is making her Hickory Community Theatre debut as the dependably doting mother to son Augustus: Mrs. Gloop.


A resident of Icard and teacher at St. Stephens Lutheran School, Drake holds two degrees from Western Carolina University: a Bachelor of Science in Education, and a Master of Arts in Teaching Gifted/Talented students. She is a member of the North Carolina Association for the Gifted and Talented, the Washington Association of Educators of the Talented and Gifted, and the Lutheran Women's Missionary League. But Drake's commitment as an educator isn't only found in the classroom: she is also currently playing host to an international exchange student from Poland.


Drake's previous acting credits include SHREK THE MUSICAL at Old Colony Players, and the appropriately adjacent KIDNAPPED: A CHOCOLATE WHODUNIT for Mystery Dessert Theatre. She is effusive about the quality of shows she enjoys at HCT, her affinity for this production's original novel ("I love Roald Dahl."), and her delight in playing the role of Mrs. Gloop. "It's fun, funny and fitting of my body type."


Performances of CHARLIE & THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY are Fridays and Saturdays, November 29th through December 14th at 7:30PM; Sundays, December 1st and 8th at 2:30PM, and, Thursday, December 12th at 7:30PM. Tickets are $18 for adults, $12 for youth and students.


Tickets are available online at hickorytheatre.org, or by phone at 828-328-2283. The theatre box office is open from 12-5 PM Wednesday through Friday, or one half-hour before a performance.


CHARLIE & THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY is rated PG. Some material may not be suitable for children. Parental guidance is suggested.


CHARLIE & THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY is produced in association with Catawba Valley Health System. The Hickory Community Theatre’s 76th season is sponsored by A Cleaner World, Protection Products, Inc., Shurtape Technologies, Bella Age, Covington Dental, and LifeRootz. HCT is a Funded Affiliate of Arts Culture Catawba and receives additional support from the North Carolina Arts Council, a division of the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.


(Photo by Eric Seale)

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