What happens when a young boy plants magic beans in his own backyard? For Jack, it is the beginning of a great adventure.

Audiences are invited to come along this weekend when the Missoula Children's Theatre (MCT) and more than 50 local students present "Jack and the Beanstalk" at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 16, and 3 and 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 17, at Southern Pines Elementary School Auditorium.

The local cast features Cooper Wrona as Jack; Amanda Dworak as Mother; Julia Neveu as Milky White; Kathryn Doolittle as the Magic Harp; Hayley Avendutti as Jill and Tyler Garner as the legendary Giant. Adding a unique twist to the story will be an unusual mix of characters including Lauren Butler, Ashtyn Clark, Catherine Clark, Mary Furby, Emily McMurray, Kara O'Mahoney and Rebecca Sawyer as the Farmers; Eliana Colletti, Micah Cravell, Cassie James, Isabel Guevara and Alexis Wrona as the Merchants; and Emory Bradley, Madelaine Bradley, Rebecca Brock, Alexa Castrogiovanni, Ella Clark, Clay Cooper, Isabel Friesen, Cayleigh Ruggiero, Emma Wooten, Madeline Wooten and Lily Sawyer as the Circus Performers.

William Brock, Matthew Butler, Mickayla Martin, Winston Pound, Chad Sawyer and Emma Sikes will appear as the Magic Beans.

Tickets are $5 for Arts Council Members $8 for nonmembers and are available at the Campbell House on 482 East Connecticut Avenue in Southern Pines and at the door.

The Missoula Children's Theatre residency in Moore County is brought to the community by the Arts Council of Moore County, with support from Time Warner Cable and a grassroots grant form the North Carolina Arts Council.

For more information, call Shanon Sheppard Venable, youth program director for the Arts Council of Moore County at (910) 639-2920.