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TO GO

Who: Lemon Bay Performing Arts Academy

What: "Snow White" and "High School Musical 2"

When: Saturday, Aug. 1, 7 p.m. and Sunday, Aug. 2, 3 p.m.

Where: Lemon Bay Performing Arts Center, 2201 Placida Road, Englewood

How: Box Office, 473-0952, Monday to Friday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

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Theater students from Lemon Bay High School just a few weeks ago returned from the 2009 International Thespian Festival in Nebraska where they had the distinct honor of giving the final performance of the festival. Chosen as one of the top high school theater programs in the world, Lemon Bay was invited to close out the festival with their award-winning production of "The Wedding Singer."

The Performing Arts program at Lemon Bay High School has been led by Jennifer Kelly since 2000. Kelly, who studied at Principia College and earned her master's from Colorado Christian University, got her start at Lemon Bay where her mother, Sherie Ragan, started the theater program. Ragan is now associate producer of the program.

For the last two weeks, Kelly has been passing on her love of theater to children at the Lemon Bay Performing Arts Academy -- a summer theater camp for children in kindergarten through 12th grade. This weekend they will be presenting two plays, "Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs" and "High School Musical 2."

Performances are at 7 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 1, and 3 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 2, at the Lemon Bay Performing Arts Center, 2201 Placida Road, in Englewood. Tickets at $10 for adults and $5 for students and children are available from the box office, (941) 473-0952. Box office hours are Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Some of the cast and crew members from "The Wedding Singer" are helping out as counselors at the summer theater camp. Dylan Proffitt, who had the lead male role in "Wedding Singer" also plays the lead in "High School Musical."

Dylan's mother Rita manages Island Bike 'n Beach on the island.

Also helping out at the camp is Joan Carroll of Boca Grande, whose grandchildren are attending the camp -- Maggie Mayhew, age 12, and her brother, 10-year-old Ben.

"I'm a little bit of a gopher," said Carroll. A former elementary teacher in her native Canada, Carroll admits she has no background in theater. "I can't sing. I can't carry a tune in a basket. I have two left feet.

"I'm here because of Ben and Maggie."

"I can't say enough about what they learn here in two weeks," Carroll went on. "It's amazing what Jen Kelly pulls together in two weeks."

Ben and Maggie, both students at St. Charles Catholic School in Port Charlotte, were in the bar mitzvah scene in "The Wedding Singer" but didn't go to the International Festival because Maggie was at another camp in Colorado Springs.

Carroll did accompany them to the state contest in Tampa and was impressed with the students in the program.

"They're all good kids. Jen Kelly respects them, and they respect her."

Maggie, who has been going to theater camp for three or four years, this year is a CIT -- a counselor in training. Ben and Maggie are both in the Tech Camp as well, where kids learn about lighting, scenery and props.

This is the fifth play for Maggie, who first performed on stage in the Royal Palm Players' Christmas Show in Boca Grande when she was 3 or 4 and was in the Christmas Pageant at Our Lady of Mercy.

Maggie, who also rides horses, took dance classes at 5-6-7-8 Studio on Dearborn Street in Englewood. Sarah Baer from 5-6-7-8 is the choreographer at Lemon Bay.

"I started singing, and I also was dancing," Maggie said, "and I thought, 'I like this.' My brother got started when he saw me doing it and having fun."

Ben is playing one of the seven dwarfs in Snow White. "He's Happy -- because he's a happy kid." Maggie is a Sharpet in "High School Musical" and is the understudy for Gabriella.

"It's such a fun thing," Maggie said about the camp. "It brings kids together. You can be yourself and act out your part. The whole atmosphere is really friendly. It's a happy place."

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