Kathy Fink is small in stature but huge in personality, talent and determination.

A music center that began as a theory in her mind is now entering its second decade as a thriving arts school, and now the Bell Center in Dover has opened its doors to professional theater with the production of I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change.

Community theater productions of the not-for-the-weak tales Man of La Mancha and Carnival will follow (spring 2005), and their children's theater company is tackling the classic Godspell. Then the Bell Center will join forces with Boston Vocal Artists for Die Fledermaus.

These are ambitious goals for anyone, but they don't daunt Fink. She's used to seeing obstacles as challenges, and she's equally used to making things happen, and happen well. I caught up with her recently during a photo call for Perfect/Change to ask some questions about the organization's goals.

Fink, who grew up in Durham while her father was teaching at the University of New Hampshire, began the Bell Center after working at a community music school in Manchester. "I liked the idea of multiple teachers working together and sharing resources," she said. She took a gamble based on the firm belief that the Dover area was supportive of the arts and that the demand for good arts instruction was there.

There are many good arts organizations in this part of the state, Fink notes.

"It seems that each community-Portsmouth, Durham, Rochester, Concord, Manchester, etc.-has an arts center of some kind, although each is unique in its offerings. We also work together to support arts, share faculty and resources and referrals. I like to think that we are the arts education hub of Dover. There's no other studio or school in Dover that offers what we offer in music, art and drama under one roof."

The organization has always offered theater. The professional company marks a specific new purpose, though.

"We have, for 10 years now, done multigenerational community theater (kids and adults), which is a learning model that I support. We have also done youth production (kids only). In addition, we have always supported professional artists by being willing to bring in the occasional paid actor and to do Actors' Equity Guest Artist contracts," she said. "By adding the professional company, we can have an easier working relationship with the actor's union and produce small cast plays where everyone gets paid. There's a lot of talent in the area that needs to be supported. Theater is unusual in that many folks do it 'just for fun' and have to work day jobs to support themselves."

She chose "I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change" after a successful experience performing in it with current cast members Linette Miles and Jenn Batchelder at Seacoast Repertory Theatre in 2002. Fink says she thought that their first small cast play "should have broad audience appeal and be fun for us to produce."

Two weeks later, I sat down to watch the finished product of Perfect/Change.

It's sort of a cabaret, with its big showy songs and Broadway-esque attitude, but also with bits of meaningful dialogue and scenes. Actually, it's more like vaudeville-I almost expected the ladies in skimpy beaded outfits to come out and put placards on an easel so we could see the title of each skit. In place of a storyline, the show has a theme; it's all about moments that describe the messy and addictive business of looking for love, being in love and losing love. Four actors play who knows how many characters-I had to stop counting.

There are moments in the play when we are laughing so hard we fear we might hurt an internal organ (as with Jenn Batchelder's "Always a Bridesmaid" song and her closet full of hideous dresses to prove it). And there are moments when we're crying discreetly, peeking side to side to see if anyone can see us (see Linette Miles' "The Very First Dating Video of Rosie Ritz" and Robb Ross' "Shouldn't I Be Less In Love With You?").

Tommy Hensel took the helm of this ambitious project and brought it into port smoothly. There are comedic bits as well as poignant touches that I recognized as his trademark. Rather than bring his four actors into a formulaic translation of the piece, he found the thread that would tell the strongest story, wound up the actors, and let them go. They connected the dots themselves. The result is an evening of pure fun. His version of Perfect/Change doesn't reinvent the wheel, but he doesn't pretend to be trying for that. He's too busy enjoying himself, and so are we.

Robb Ross onstage is something anyone would pay money to see; the man is simply an unstoppable bundle of charisma. He steps into every one of his many characters fully formed and can switch to its opposite in record time. Lovely Linette Miles is a classically trained New York singer who put down roots in the Seacoast, bringing with her a breath of fresh air and refined talent gracing the stage. Brian Lovejoy has a voice so powerful he brings up images of Thor wrestling with thunderbolts, but his demeanor is pure teddy bear.

It's terribly hard to pull out a standout in a cast packed full of talent. But without fail, Jenn Batchelder stopped the show every time she took the stage. Petite but powerful, Batchelder has what a friend of mine calls "the face of an angel and the body of a centerfold." Put that together with a voice from the heavens and a comedic timing I haven't seen matched since my idol, Carol Burnett, retired, Batchelder makes up the total package indeed.

Lastly, I'd like to show my respect for-actually, amazement over-at the dressers backstage, getting four actors changed into dozens of costumes in sometimes only seconds. I've never seen anything like it.

The Professional Theatre of the Bell Center is off to a good start. It has hit the ground running with every bit as much force as its parent company did when it opened its doors 10 years ago.

"I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change" runs at the Bell Center for the Performing Arts through Feb. 27, on Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m. Tickets are $15. Call 603-742-BELL for more information.