“Matilda Jr.” is set to hit the stage at Lehighton Area Middle School’s auditorium later this week as the Pale Moon Players bring its popular summer musical back to Carbon County.

Performances are scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, with doors opening at 6:30 p.m. each evening. Tickets, which cost $10 for adults and $5 for students, can be purchased at https://thepalemoonplayers.ludus.com, or by calling 610-905-5481.

“The kids have been working super hard,” said Laurel Long Zimmerman, who co-founded the Pale Moon Players theater group in 2011 with her husband, Dave, and Bob Fatzinger. “They’ve done a lot of memorization things on their own. We’ve been focusing on doing the songs and choreography. Our main characters, the Wormwood family especially, has really done a lot of work on their own building those characters.”

“Matilda Jr.” is adapted from the full-length musical, which was based on the book by Roald Dahl, and features a book by Dennis Kelly and music and lyrics by Tim Minchin. It tells the story of an extraordinary girl who, armed with a vivid imagination and a sharp mind, dares to take a stand and change her own destiny.

Matilda, played Vivian Zimmerman, has astonishing wit, intelligence and special powers. She’s unloved by her cruel parents, played by Aiden Wowk and Sophia Wentz, but impresses her schoolteacher, the highly lovable Miss Honey, played by Hannah Smith. Matilda’s school life isn’t completely smooth sailing, however, as the school’s mean headmistress, Miss Trunchbull, played by Annabel Pyne, hates children and just loves thinking up new punishments for those who don’t abide by her rules. But Matilda has courage and cleverness in equal amounts, and could be the school pupils’ saving grace.

“It has some dark humor in it,” Laurel Zimmerman said. “And it has things that are more of a lesson for us as a society. It balances good comedy with some really touching moments. It has a little bit of everything for everyone.”

Rounding out the cast are Annaliese Remmel, Delia Keiser, Wesley Tkach, Kendall Kosko, Lila Cremeens, Daisy James Dougherty, Freyja Marks, Aiden Dugan, Josh Slaby, Breanna Demage, Zane Zimmerman, Lilly Andreas, Hunter Andreas, Madison Brown, Bella Eckhart, Avery Snyder, Charlotte Tkach, and Ella Wise.

The summer production, Laurel Zimmerman said, helps to build the school drama club programs that take the stage each year.

“It’s not just kids from Lehighton who will be in this show,” she said. “We also have kids from Palmerton, Jim Thorpe and one from Northampton. It’s a great way for kids who are interested in theater to stay active.”