What: Beauty And The Beast

Who: Alyssa Curto and Malakai Arnel

Where: Theatre Ancaster, Ancaster High School Auditorium, Jerseyville Road

When: Nov. 21 through Dec. 6

Tickets: 905-304-SHOW (7469)

When Beauty And The Beast comes to visit, you pay attention. The attractive young couple playing these roles for Theatre Ancaster are quite a pair. For one thing, they talk your ear off. For another, they're decent, charming young folks with a fresh-scrubbed sort of innocence that tickles your fancy.

She's dark and beautiful in a perfect Disney way. He's cute and cuddly, with a blush that sends shades of pink across an animated face.

Together they suggest the sort of buoyant energy that sometimes leaps off local stages.

Alyssa Curto is a thoughtful 17. A student at Westmount Secondary School, she has already played important roles in Godspell and Grease. This past summer she strode onstage in a form-fitting bikini in Theatre Aquarius Performing Arts School's production of Miss Saigon. As you might expect, she sent a ripple of excitement through the front rows.

"When I was a little kid, I put on plays and dances in my back yard. All the local kids came, whether they liked it or not.

"I loved it. Being in a costume, maybe looking like a goof, was the sort of fun I enjoyed. I just felt so free being someone else."

Malakai Arnel, 21, is a student at Wilfrid Laurier University. "I fell in love with Disney movies when I was just a little kid," he says. "My mom and I would sing along to all the songs. Later, when my father left us, I wanted to do something he wouldn't really like. He wanted me to be this big athlete. Instead I went into musical theatre. I hated the competition of team sports.

"I mean, I had braces and glasses. In a small community, you learn to hate yourself early. In Ingersoll, where I grew up with braces on my teeth and glasses, you were just out of luck. I learned to love myself by playing other characters.

"At Theatre Aquarius I learned how much I didn't know about musical theatre," Alyssa says. "I learned how to make the most of my assets, how to invest total commitment in what I was doing. I also learned this is what I'd like to do with the rest of my life."

More than 200 performers, not including children, auditioned for Theatre Ancaster's Beauty And The Beast.

"Not surprising, really," Malakai says. "I saw the movie thousands of times. I just love the story."

"Me too," chimes in Alyssa. "It's like I've known these songs since childhood. And I really identify with Belle. She loves to read, and so do I. She has such optimism. I hope I can find that in myself. And you know, she's the only brunette princess in any Disney tale -- I kinda like that, too.

"If she's a princess, she's a princess with a backbone," Malakai says. "She has such a stubborn streak, a real get-ahead personality."

Both Malakai and Alyssa like the way Beauty And The Beast evolves, the way each character takes a journey.

"And there are big numbers, too, like Be My Guest, that send you out humming," adds Alyssa.

"Another thing," says Malakai. "There's moral value here. The musical asks you to look behind the outside layer and see what is there within."

Neither of these young talents likes the idea of reality show auditions for stage roles.

"It's not the right way to get a part," Malakai says. "I mean, take the search for Maria on TV. They had those girls singing songs that had nothing to do with The Sound Of Music. Ridiculous."

Alyssa agrees: "It's just all about publicity. I don't know why people fall for it."

As for shows such as High School Musical and other gimmick musicals, neither Malakai nor Alyssa is too interested.

"I love Phantom and Les Miz -- shows that have an edge and a sense of romance," says Malakai. "Alyssa is a more Legally Blonde and Rent sort of girl. I'm a sucker for cheesy cornball endings. What can I say?"

Both should get their wish with Beauty And The Beast. It can be both cheesy and romantic.

Gary Smith has written on theatre and dance for The Hamilton Spectator for more than 25 years.