As the title character of “Willy Wonka,” Steve Tipton takes center stage bathed in the spotlight. Garbed in a sweeping purple cape, he grabs the imagination of every child in the audience as he urges, “Come along with me.”

Wide-eyed, perched on the edge of their seats, they follow Augustus Gloop, Veruca Salt, Violet Beaureguarde and Mike Teevee through Wonka’s chocolate factory. They chortle at the merriment on stage as each obnoxious candidate fails the tests for character and honesty, but the moment their hero, Charlie Bucket, emerges triumphant, they dissolve into boisterous glee.