Once upon a time in a faraway land, a very handsome but unkind Prince lived in a magnificent castle.  One winter's night, a hideous beggar woman came to the castle and offered him a single rose in return for shelter from the bitter cold.  Repulsed by her ugliness, he refused her request.  Suddenly turning into a beautiful Enchantress, she transformed him into a hideous Beast and cast a spell over all who lived within the castle.  The rose would bloom for many years but gradually the petals wold fall off.  If the Beast could learn to love another and be loved in return before the last petal fell, the spell wold be broken.  If not, he would be doomed to remain a Beast for all time.

The tale now turns to Belle, a gentle and sweet girl lusted over by Gaston, a vain and crude lout, who has vowed to make her his wife,  Her father, Maurice, off to the Fair, is attacked by a pack of wolves and saves himself by escaping into the Beast's castle only to be thrown into a dungeon.  Belle begs the Beast to release her father and volunteers to take his place.  The Beast tells her she will never be free to leave.  But the Beast is intrigued by her; gradually, this intrigue turns to admiration, and admiration to love.

Meanwhile, Gaston gathers a mob and they set off for the castle, ready to kill the Beast and rescue Belle.  In a thrilling fight, the Beast defeats Gaston but is stabbed in the back when he turns away to find Belle.  Mortally wounded, the Beast manages to thrown Gaston to his death.  Belle pleads with the Beast not to die as she loves him.  With these words, the spell is broken and the Beast is transformed into a handsome Prince.  And, like in all fairy tales, they lived happily ever after.

Artistic Director: Richard Elichuk

Musical Director: Drummond Hudson

Choreographer: Debbie Miller