'Beauty and the Beast' Opens Thursday at Lake Fenton High School

Thursday is opening night for Lake Fenton High School’s production of the Walt Disney classic “Beauty and the Beast.” 

Fifty-four students have been rehearsing for opening night of the district’s big 2014 musical production,  the Tri-County Times reports.

The curtain rises at 7 p.m. at the high school auditorium, 4070 Lahring Road in Fenton township. Additional shows are Fridays and Saturdays, Jan. 24-25, and Jan. 31-Feb. 1, and Sundays, Jan. 26 and Feb. 2 at 3 p.m. Tickets are $8 for adults and $5 for senior citizens.

Based on a classic French fairy tale, it is the story of Belle, an intelligent young woman scorned by townspeople for her bookish tendencies, who tires of fighting off the advances of suitor Gaston and reams of escape. When her father is captured by the Beast, a once-handsome prince turned into a monster by a witch, Belle sets out to rescue him. Initially repulsed by the “Beast,” Belle agrees to stay with him forever in exchange for her father’s safe release, and the two eventually fall in love.

The complex story is told in 18 scenes and lasts 150 minutes. As many as 120 costumes were required at a cost of about $500. The expenditure could have been greater, but some costumes were borrowed from nearby Fenton and Hartland high schools, as well as from Costume Rentals by Judy of Fenton.

Rights to the music and script from Disney cost about $5,000.

Drama Director Brenda LaBonte says students have rehearsed for about 150 hours.

“We have also had great support from our parents who have come in to work with us in painting and preparing the many sets and props as well as arranging dinners for us while we ‘burn the midnight oil,’”  LaBonte told the newspaper.