Peach State Summer Theatre will kick off a 15-performance run of Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, June 3, at Valdosta State University’s Sawyer Theatre. Tickets are on sale now.
 
Based on the Academy Award-winning animated feature released in 1991, “Beauty and the Beast” is the story “of Belle, a young woman in a provincial town, and the Beast, who is really a young prince trapped under the spell of an enchantress,” according to a synopsis provided by Music Theatre International. “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. If the Beast does not learn his lesson soon, he and his household will be doomed for all eternity.”
 
Featuring music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice, and a book by Linda Woolverton, Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” has been performed for more than 35 million people in 13 countries and was previously presented by Peach State Summer Theatre in 2006. It opened on Broadway at the Palace Theatre on April 18, 1994, and closed at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre on July 29, 2007, following a 5,461-performance run, making it the ninth longest running production in Broadway history. The original Broadway production earned a Tony Award for Best Costume Design.
 
Individual admission is $31.28 for adults and $25.93 for students and senior citizens, including taxes and fees. A discount is available for groups of 10 or more.
 
Season memberships are available through Friday, June 3. The cost is $89.67 for adults and $73.62 for students and senior citizens, including taxes and fees. Each season membership includes three admissions to be used as desired by the member with advance reservations.

Patronages are also available at a variety of levels.
 
The Peach State Summer Theatre Box Office is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sundays. It is located on the first floor of the VSU Fine Arts Building, at the corner of Brookwood Drive and Oak Street, and can be reached by calling (229) 259-7770. The online box office at www.valdosta.edu/psst is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.