The high school shows opening in the PG East region this weekend offer audiences two love stories featuring monsters: Disney's enchanted Beast, and the carnivorous plant of "Little Shop of Horrors."

"Little Shop of Horrors," which will open at Serra tonight, represents a fresh beginning of sorts for the school's musical program as Jeanie Pass-Werner takes the helm as director.

New directors have been the rule in recent years at Serra.

"We've had a new director every year since I can remember," said Nathan Sudie, who was the King of Siam and the student producer of last year's production of "The King and I."

He said he believed the constant changes had made it more difficult to maintain the quality of the productions.

Now a freshman at Community College of Allegheny-South, Mr. Sudie is a production consultant on "Little Shop" and said he hopes Ms. Pass-Werner can restore some continuity to Serra's musical program.

For her part, Ms. Werner-Pass said, "I'd like to be here more than just this year."

She added that because Serra Catholic's enrollment has recently increased, the time might be right to form a drama club at the school.

A Serra alumna, Ms. Pass-Werner teaches music at St. Bede School in Point Breeze and has directed children's theater at Bethel Park Community Center.

She said she wasn't sure what to expect for "Little Shop" auditions, but was pleasantly surprised when more than 50 students turned up.

"Pretty amazing when you consider the school only has 300-some kids," she said.

Written by Howard Ashman and Alan Menken, the duo responsible for Disney's "Little Mermaid" and "Beauty and the Beast," "Little Shop" tracks the rise of nerdy Seymour Krelborn, a skid row flower shop assistant, when he discovers a strange, fast-growing plant he calls Audrey II.

The songs "Suddenly Seymour" and "Somewhere That's Green" pay tribute to doo-wop and Motown songs of the 1960s.

Freshman Joe Penzelik plays Seymour, Megan Piplica plays Audrey and Jeff Rodgers plays florist Mushnik. Tesa Gould plays Chiffon, Brooke Perkins plays Ronnette and Jordan Oeler plays Orin the dentist.

Mr. Sudie said although he would miss it, he won't be assisting with Serra's musical next year. After five years of involvement, he said, "I'm going to let others take over. But I wish them the best."

Musical director Thomas Crone said the hardest thing about putting on a big, technically demanding show like Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" -- based on the award-winning 1991 film -- isn't the elaborate sets it requires, although he said moving things around "is like a chess game."

And it isn't the special effects, including the rigging by international flying company ZFX.

"It's a challenge," said Mr. Crone of the extensive training and rehearsal required by the company for safety. "But it's important that it look magical, especially for the kids in the audience."

It's not even the scores of rented costumes he and his crew have to juggle. Although he said Woodland Hills students prefer to make their own costumes, the special outfits required by the enchanted objects in the show would have meant starting costume construction last summer, making renting the only option.

No, the biggest challenge is the hard work he and his students put in just before opening night, he said.

"They've been here two or three nights a week for a long time," Mr. Crone said of his cast and crew. "And, lately, it's been five nights a week."

And, he added, his hard-working students have talent enough for two casts. Cast A will perform Saturday night, April 25 and in the April 26 matinee. Cast B will perform tomorrow, the Saturday matinee, next Thursday and the night of April 26.

Cast A stars Maura McDaniel as Belle, Lauren Migliozzi as Mrs. Potts and Raimon Avant as Lumiere. Cast B stars Sarah Chybrzynski as Belle, Hannah Belmonte as Mrs. Potts and Nick Rushe as Lumiere.

Korey Angelo will play the Beast and Donovan Smith will play Gaston all nights.

Although audiences will probably best know "Be Our Guest," Mr. Crone said his favorite is "Beauty and the Beast."

Both our Mrs. Potts sing it so well," he said, and the starlit backdrop is "simple, but very beautiful."

"We try to push the envelope," Mr. Crone said. "And this show has gone far beyond my expectations."