Oct. 26 saw the opening of Encore! Theater’s sweet and lively production of “Metaphasia.” Billed as a “musical thriller,” the story centers on Angie Anderson (Sarah Best), a pre-adolescent girl who is resistant to the changes that threaten when her family’s old house is sold.

The old house is subject to the mystery that each morning there are 12 pairs of dancing shoes on the floor of the room that Angie shares with her little brother Howie (Michael Beu).

When Angie goes to her closet to investigate this mystery, she is pulled into a fantastical realm, Metaphasia, in which the dolls in her collection live an existence as 12 princesses. One of these, the delightfully wicked Princess DeVilla (Kelsie Abel), exercises a puppet master’s control over the others and seeks to have Angie crowned the 13th princess, thus trapping Angie in the lifeless fantasy realm of dolls and making herself the new queen of a world that knows no divide between the worlds of fantasy and reality.

Howie, Angie’s brother, is commissioned as the hero of the tale. With his blanket as a cloak of invisibility he is sent into Metaphasia to prevent Angie from being crowned as the 13th princess.

The instrumental music for the show is piped in via a sound system that at times threatens to overwhelm the voices of the more tentative members of the cast.

The production includes some spectacular lighting effects. “Beware of the Milk,” for example, is a surreal strobe-lit scene in which Howie must confront larger-than-life sized versions of his own broken toys.

Musically the show reaches its high points during numbers like “Thirteen” and “DeVilla’s New World Order” in which Abel, as DeVilla, is supported by an ensemble of all the other princesses.

The show is also kept in motion by a dynamite trio of singer/dancers called Synchra (Samantha Lobberegt) and the Synchrettes (Brittany Johnson and Faith Higgins). Wearing exaggerated 1960’s hairdos (Marge Simpson beehives on the two Synchrettes) and flashy outfits accented with go-go boots, it is Synchra and the Synchrettes who function as the Greek chorus and disclose vital bits of the plot line to the audience. It is also Synchra who sends Howie on his mission with his magic cloak and the advice that he should “not drink the milk.”

It is Able as DeVilla, however, who steals the show vocally and theatrically. She prowls hither and yon across the stage and raises a jaded eyebrow at the humble woodcutter’s plan to bring order to Metaphasia.

Strong vocal performances are also put in by Lobberegt and Mary Scrifes-Beu (who plays Queen Cachet as well as Sue Anderson). Michael Beu, as Howie, also turns an admirable performance.

Among the many princesses, Emma Riker as Princess Gretta, Megan Fisher as Princess Layla and Casey Dickason as Princess Brahma Bonnie all enliven the mix.

With “Metaphasia,” the very young cast and their crew have managed to put together a very entertaining production.