People – little girls, in particular – might come to Westchester Broadway Theatre’s production of “Disney’s Beauty and the Beast” wanting to see Belle, the pretty bookworm who yearns to escape her provincial little town.

And they will.

There’s the blue dress, then the yellow dress. Look! She has a book just like in the video!

Rena Strober is excellent in the role, a sweet presence at the heart of this story of love, loss, sacrifice and redemption. Her voice is clear, pure and unadorned. In short, she’s every bit of what the part demands.

Joseph Mahowald as the Beast – an actor practically invisible under wigs and prosthetic makeup pieces – also sings loud and clear. His Beast runs the gamut of emotions, anger to confusion to vulnerability. Yes, this Beast has feelings.

Still, there’s not much singing for the Beast, which makes Mahowald’s Act 1 closer – “If I Can’t Love Her” – all the more of a revelation.

After covering a lot of ground – from his lair through the castle to a parapet on the castle’s roof in Peter Barbieri Jr.’s lovely set – he covers just as much emotional ground. And his final note, held for what seems an eternity, had a preview audience chatting in wonder through the intermission.

But the performances of the title characters are really just the start: Enchantment lies behind the thick glass doors of the dinner theater.

Take a memo.

Dear White Plains Performing Arts Center:

Loved your first season of classic musicals, from “Man of La Mancha,” to the splendid “Ragtime,” to the finger-popping “Ain’t Misbehavin’.”

The emergence of your professional theater has been a happy development, giving theatergoers yet another alternative to high-priced Broadway shows and the attendant headaches of parking and traffic.

The final musical of your first season is a personal favorite: “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.” The Pulitzer Prize-winner, and Tony-winner for Best Musical, has some wonderful numbers and opportunities for fine performances, and it skewers corporate America in a clever but not malicious way.

Your director, Eleanor Reissa, has a first-rate cast, from Matthew Wilson as J. Pierrepont Finch (“that’s F-I-N-C-H”) to longtime Westchester resident Nick Wyman as the blustery but decisive J.B. Biggley, to the women in their lives: Patricia Noonan as secretary Rosemary Pilkington and the hilarious Jill Abramovitz as Hedy, Biggley’s girl on the side. The ensemble is noteworthy, each helping to create that corporate world of which Finch wants so desperately to be a part.

And it was a great touch to have the voice-overs of Finch’s guidebook done by Tony-winner David Hyde Pierce.

Playwright Howard Meyer says he tends to ruminate with his plays, drawing on experiences he’s had and people he’s met over the course of years.

He’ll work on them for a few months and shelve them and then come back at them with new eyes.

For his latest play, “AngelBeast,” which gets a gala Opening Night tonight for a four-weekend run at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Pleasantville, Meyer – co-founder and artistic director of Pleasantville’s Axial Theatre – drew on two experiences he had while teaching.

For a couple of years, he taught playwriting to inmates at Sing Sing prison. Under the auspices of the Rehabilitation Through the Arts program, Meyer met with small groups of men in the maximum-security prison in Ossining, teaching them to express themselves through writing, plays in particular.

Setting foot in the prison scared him at first, he says, but over time his attitude changed.

“It was a profound experience of getting to know these guys and coming to like a lot of them and having a connection with a lot of them,” he says.

“We looked at their writing but also got to talk about their pasts. And often (their behavior was shaped) because of abusive homes or broken homes or falling into gang situations.”

“Pure Heaven: A Party with Kay Thompson,” the spring mainstage production at Mamaroneck’s Emelin Theater, has been through the theatrical equivalent of pure hell — and has been postponed till next fall, a representative for the theater said today.

According to publicist Brian Shimkovitz of Manhattan’s Sacks & Co. — which represents the theater — playwright and actress Ruth Williamson did two preview performances last week but then suffered nerve damage to her vocal chords that forced the postponing of last weekend’s performances.

illiamson had hoped to rally for tomorrow night’s gala opening, but a second medical opinion ordered the actress into six weeks of voice rest. Director Michael Bush, who is the theater’s artistic director, remains committed to the project, Shimkovitz said, and plans to present it in the fall.

“Pure Heaven” was to run through May 18 at the theater on Library Lane. It tells the story of Kay Thompson, the singer, actress and composer who is best known as the creator of the “Eloise” books.

Shimkovitz said the “box office is calling anyone who bought tickets and offering a refund and letting them know they will honor their tickets in the fall.”

Got a great note from Diana Green at the Children’s Shakespeare Theatre in Palisades. Sometimes, despite the elements, outdoor Shakespeare must go on. At least this weekend and next, it’ll be indoors:

“Despite muddy feet and frozen fingers, The Rogue Players enchanted faire audiences this past weekend with their presentation of “The Taming of The Shrew” at The Hudson Valley Mayfaire. Their boundless energy, precision timing and ease with the wonderful words left a bleacher-full of patrons laughing and applauding heartily.

“These kids speak the text like well-trained college theater students!” – TJ Glenn, fight choreographer for the Mayfaire.

“Their movement and focus as a group was amazing!” – Annmarie Uhl, South Orangetown School Board President.

“For those of you who missed the Mayfaire, do not despair!

“TAMING OF THE SHREW” OPENS FRIDAY!! at the Palisades Presbyterian Church Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. – May 9, 10, 16 & 17 and matinee on Saturday, May 17 2 p.m. also at The Hopper House on Friday, May 30 7:30 p.m. For tickets and info, call: 845-365-9709.”

The Armonk Players present “A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC,” with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, a book by Hugh Wheeler, direction by George Puello and musical direction by George Croom.

Performances are May 30 and 31 at 8 p.m., June 1 at 4 p.m., June 5 at 7:30 p.m., June 6 and 7 at 8 p.m.

The cast includes: Lynne Robyn Barasch (South Salem), Beth Brandon (Bedford), Daniel Carlino (Pleasantville), Christine Colangelo (Thornwood), Christine DiTota (Harrison), Aaron Dworetzky (Armonk), Hillary Ginsberg (Chappaqua), Kat Hughes (Pleasantville), Maia Katz (Armonk), Kathryn Kitt (Sleepy Hollow), Judith Pennyfeather (White Plains), Lisa Pierce (Harrison), Davina Porter (Westport, CT ), Larry Reina (Port Chester), and Anthony Valbiro (Rye).

Performances will be at Whippoorwill Hall, in the North Castle Public Library, on Whippoorwill Road, Armonk
Admission: $15 for Adults, $10 for Seniors and Students
For tickets, call 914-273-2165 or at Framings, 420 Main Street, Armonk. Call 914-273-4242.
The Armonk Players are sponsored by The Friends of the North Castle Public Library Inc.
For more information visit www.armonkplayers.org or contact Anne Nisenholtz at 914-273-0011.

The Village of Briarcliff Manor Recreation & Parks Department presents the 2008 Summercliff Players in Les Miserables.

The production is directed by Kathleen Donovan-Warren with musical direction by Nadia Rizzo and technical direction by James Britt. Tuition is $400 and registration is not limited to residents of Briarcliff Manor and Ossining.

The program is being offered to middle- and high-school students. Interested parties for tech crew are also welcome. Auditions are June 1 at 1 p.m. and June 2 and 5 at 6:30 p.m. at the Briarcliff Manor Recreation Department, 48 Macy Road, Briarcliff Manor.

Rehearsals begin June 23 and performances are Friday, Aug. 1 and Saturday, Aug. 2 at 7:30 p.m.

What are the odds?

Two local theater troupes mounting the same musical on the same weekend? Actually, it happens more than you might think.

The latest coincidental bit of stagemanship comes in a couple of weekends, when Byram Hills High School and Irvington’s Clocktower Players each present the Broadway musical “Swing!”

In Armonk, at Byram Hills High School, the show is May 15 at 7:30 p.m. and May 16 at 8 p.m. (Call 914-273-9200 ext. 460, or e-mail stagetkts@byramhills.org.)

In Irvington,  performances of “Swing!” are at the Irvington Town Hall Theater, 85 Main St., on May 16 at 8 p.m., May 17 at 2 and 8 p.m. and May 18 at 2 p.m. (Call 914-451.6602 or go to www.irvingtontheater.com.)

Wherever you see it — and you can catch it at both venues, if you’re in the mood — you’ll hear some great tunes, from “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” to “Stompin’ at the Savoy” and “In the Mood.”