Lehighton Area Middle School Theatre students will present Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast Jr.” on Thursday and Friday. The shows will take place in the Lehighton Area Middle School Auditorium and begin at 7:15 p.m.

The show is under the direction of Laura Welkey.

Reserved seating is available in advance online at https://lams.booktix.com. General admission seats may be also be purchased at the door, beginning at 6:30 each night.

The classic story tells of Belle (Allison Foeller), a young woman in a provincial town, and the Beast (Waylon Bodisch), who is really a young prince trapped under the spell of an enchantress (Jaclynn George).

If the Beast can learn to love and be loved, the curse will end and he will be transformed to his former self. But time is running out, as he and his castle servants are all slowly turning into objects.

If the Beast does not learn his lesson soon, he and his household will be doomed for all eternity. These well-loved characters are: Lumiere (Isaac Carpenter), Cogsworth (Zane Zimmerman), Mrs. Potts (Kathleen Lindenmoyer), Chip (Andrew Hrusovsky), Babette (Lorah Thomas), Madame de la Grande Bouche (Jocelynne Begley).

Belle’s slightly kooky inventor father, Maurice, is played by Tyler Pickett.

Anxious to capture the hand of beautiful Belle is the bullishly brawny Gaston (Connor McClure), with his faithful companion Lefou (Timmy Arace) always by his side.

Three Silly Girls (Elizabeth Buffington, Lauren Frantz, Kylie Bishop) and a large ensemble of villagers and narrators (Natalie Blair, Sarah Schlough, Trevor Pickett, Jalysa Bermudez) round out the cast.

Based on the original Broadway production that ran for over 13 years and was nominated for nine Tony Awards, and the Academy Award-winning motion picture, Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast Jr.” is an adaptation of the story of transformation and tolerance.

Disney’s “Beauty and The Beast Jr.” features some of the most popular songs written by Alan Menken and the late Howard Ashman, along with new songs by Menken and Tim Rice.