Stained Glass Theatre put on "Beauty and the Beast" as its seventh annual C.A.M.P. show Friday.
The Christian-based theater in Jefferson City hosts a weeklong camp - Creative Arts Ministry Program - during the summer that ends with a performance. Children in second through seventh grades come on the first day without having seen the script, then audition the same day.
Throughout the week, the children rehearse their roles and attend classes in acting, staging and set design, and costuming. They have a different clothing theme each day - like crazy socks and mismatched clothes - to keep things fun.
Camp Director Beth Vossen said they chose "Beauty and the Beast" because it would draw a lot of children and appeal to an audience along with the message of the musical they could tie into Christian teachings. The children also participate in worship time each day.
"We love the message about beauty within and that it looks beyond superficial features," Vossen said.
The message ties in with the Bible verse Samuel 16:7, which reads: "But the Lord said to Samuel, 'Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.'"
Hayley Lale, who played Mrs. Potts, said she really liked the message.
"It means a lot to me because it is true that everyone is pretty on the inside," Lale, 13, said.
Lale has been acting for three years after spending years watching shows and finally deciding she wanted to be in them.
Rhett Withers, 10, got into acting through encouragement from his mother, who thought he would be good in drama. He played Gaston, the villain in "Beauty and the Beast."
"My mom thought I would be perfect to play the bad guy, and that's who I came in wanting to be," Withers said.
The C.A.M.P. participants performed "Beauty and the Beast" twice Friday - once for students from local child care centers and again for families.