More than four dozen children will take the stage Friday as “The Lion King Jr.” opens for a two weekend run at Leeds Center for the Arts.

In all there are 55 children in the cast from ages 8 to 18, Winchester Council for the Arts President Tracey Miller said.

After seven weeks of rehearsals, there will be three shows this weekend and the following weekend, with Friday and Saturday shows at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday afternoon performances at 2:30 p.m.

“Young people never cease to amaze me with how quickly they learn and how eager they are to create art,” Miller said. “It happens every time they get on stage.”

The play is based on the Disney animated musical “The Lion King,” which tells the story of the young lion Simba and his journey to succeed his father Mufasa as king, who was killed by his brother Scar.

Miller said the play contains much of the content from the 1994 film.

“It’s a little more abbreviated show,” she said. “It’s about an hour and 20 minutes, but you can’t tell. It’s still great content.”

Most of the lead characters are played by high school students, she said, with younger students filling other roles in the production.

“Our kids show is probably our favorite thing to do each year,” Miller said. “We get to see them grow … and they rise to the occasion of what we want them to do.”

Tickets are available online at www.leedscenter.org. Tickets are $8 for children ages 2-12, $14 for adults and $12 for seniors.

IF YOU GO

“The Lion King Jr.” will be performed at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2:30 p.m. Sunday. Additional showings are 7:30 p.m. Nov. 17-18 and 2:30 p.m. Nov. 19. Tickets are available at leedscenter.org.