Plot

Things are not going well in the depression-era town of Castle Gate. Mr. Ribaldi, a mysterious rich man with a disfigured face and an abrasive personality, has just bought and moved into a long-vacant mansion. Bonnie, an adolescent girl who loves to sing, ends up working for Ribaldi so that her family can stay in their house. But Ribaldi is quite an accomplished musician himself, and he is soon giving Bonnie voice lessons. Meanwhile, local businesses are being shut down by foreclosures, and the townspeople suspect Ribaldi is responsible.—Joe McCauley <mccauley_je@lfs.loral.com>

Set during the Depression-era is a retelling of the famous opera 'Rigoletto', putting one into the mind set of Beauty and the Beast with almost biblical undertones. In Rigoletto, a reclusive and wealthy man with a disfigured face named Ari Ribaldi moves into the old and long time abandoned mansion on the hill. The people of the city of Castle Gate below are suspicious of him because many of the area stores have been foreclosing recently, but when 13-yr-old Bonnie Nelson goes to work at the mansion in efforts to prevent her own home from going into foreclosure, she discovers that he is a musician, singer, and even a voice coach. She eventually convinces him to teach her to sing better, as singing is her talent and passion. As he does, Bonnie sees true beauty beneath his horrible face and posture; meanwhile, her friendship changes his angry and unapproachable nature. Through befriending Ribaldi, she learns not to judge him, or any other person, by their appearance. When strange, unexplainable things begin happening in Castle Gate, rumors begin to circulate that Ribaldi is somehow responsible for not only the foreclosures, but the strange happenings as well. The townspeople's distrust grows into prejudice and even hatred, and the situation slowly grows to a head...—ToAtone