By LOUISA DANIELON

For the Northwest News

Fire and Light Productions will present “Beauty and the Beast Junior” at the University of Saint Francis Robert Goldstine Performing Arts Center, 431 W. Berry St., Fort Wayne, in four performances March 23-25. Shows are 7 p.m. Thursday, 7 p.m. Friday, and 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Saturday.

Tickets can be ordered on the website at fireandlightproductions.com for $13 or purchased at the door on the day of the show for $15. Group rates are also available.

It’s a production that has been in the works for quite some time, said director of the show, Sara Scantlin.

“We purchase it the year before (and start) rehearsing in January,” she explained.

This is a junior musical, meaning that “you don’t have the entire story,” said Scantlin. Not to say that pivotal moments are missing: instead, there will be segments where a narrator explains the details, rather than having everything presented by the actors on stage.

This rendition of Beauty and the Beast is “perfect for families,” noted Lisa Ellis, the executive director of Fire and Light. She explained that any scary parts — such as the scene where Beauty is attacked by wolves in the movie — is turned into a dance with a narrator explaining the situation.

If families are familiar with the Disney movie, Scantlin said that the Junior rendition of the play is even milder. “There is nothing that will be frightening,” she said.

With a cast of 54 actors, at least 45 of those players will have one costume change. There are 150 costumes lined up for this production, and that includes the “human again” outfits for the Beast’s castle staff, who will change from being furniture pieces to regular people at the end of the story.

“Our goal is for parents to walk out of the theater and say, ‘I can’t believe kids did that,’ ” Ellis said.

“We try to put it on very professionally — as best as we can,” Scantlin added.

And the actors, who are all between the ages of 7-14, have really impressed the director of the production. “They’re fantastic kids — they will often come in with their lines memorized before I (request it),” Scantlin said.

In addition to acting, the youth onstage will also sing and dance in a variety of styles. “Jazz, ballet, and (theatrical) dance,” Ellis elaborated. “The Beast and Belle do a ballroom dance — a waltz,” Scantlin added.

Words are a major part of acting, but in a production like this, actions are also important. “When your words aren’t telling the story, your movements are,” Ellis concluded.