For anyone who's ever made a wish, believed in a fantasy or had a dream, Stageworks Entertainment presents "The Neverending Story," a stage production based on the 1984 adventure film. Performances will be held at The Colonnade Aug. 17, 18, 24 and 25 at 7:30 p.m. and a matinee Aug. 25 at 1 p.m.

Hollie Baranick, Stageworks Entertainment producer and director, said the story involves magical and unique characters like dragons and "The Nothing," and took a great deal of creativity, but was well worth the effort.

"I chose it ('The Neverending Story') because it was one of my all-time favorite movies as a child," Baranick said. "I have the whole thing memorized. It was a real challenge, and I couldn't have done it without my costume designer Elisa Curole. She was incredible. I had so much support from a lot of talented people."

Along with Baranick, set design was done by Willie Brogdon, Mark Curole and Jaime Ogdon.

Based on the German novel by Michael Ende first published in 1979, the movie was billed as "an epic adventure where vivid reality and fantasy collide." Young Bastian, the lead character, hides in the attic of his school and begins to read a story aloud from a book he finds.

Unbeknownst to him, the magical land of Fantastica in the book, which is in grave danger from The Nothing, comes to life through the power of his imagination. The Nothing represents lack of imagination in the real world.

Other characters include the warrior boy Atreyu and the happy dragon Falkor. Together, they travel through the Swamp of Sadness, the cave of a giant spider and the maze of the Southern Oracle in search of the Childlike Empress. As the adventure unfolds, Bastian discovers his imagination is the key to changing the fate of both Fantastica and his own world.

Ticket prices are:$11 adults, $9 seniors (age 55 and older), $9 students and $8 for groups of 15 or more. For more information, call 706-935-9000, ext. 103, or go to colonnadecenter.org. Interpretation for the deaf available for the August 24 performance.