Located on the Southwest coast of Florida nestled next to Lemon Bay and half way between Fort Myers and Tampa is a very small town with one high school and less than 1400 students. The town is a melting pot of transferred families, retirees, multi-generational "locals," working class, the extremely impoverished, and the exceptionally wealthy.
Englewood is almost two hours from an airport, a major theatre, or metropolitan area, and the largest single employer in town is Walmart. Englewood has been hit particularly hard by the recession and the real estate bust since a large majority of the town consists of blue collar workers and realtors. Almost every student that attends the school has at least one family member unemployed or living on subsidized income. And yet, out of the ashes, a phoenix has risen.
Within Lemon Bay High School sits a powerhouse theatre program run by one full time theatre teacher, a young woman in her early thirties named Jennifer Kelly, and backed by a phenomenal community that surges together for every show, digs deep into their wallets, and help make the dreams of their local thespians come true. Due to budget restraints and the local economy, the program is completely self sufficient and relies completely on donations and ticket sales. And yet thousands stop what they are doing every time the high school puts on a show, drag their friends, call their neighbors, and purchases tickets in bulk. They brag to family and friends up north that "their kids are better than Broadway!" That "their kids are phenomenal and they never miss a show!" And somehow these kids, most of who have never performed until high school, few that have taken any type of musical theatre training, and even fewer that come from families who could never have financially supported their artistic aspirations were recently selected by International Thespian Society judges as one of the "Top Seven" high school theatre programs in the world!
How does talent spring from this little town? How did this small town in Florida far from the artistic support and energies of big cities position itself as one of the best high school theatre programs in the world?
Here is the story of their journey. In 1980, a young woman named Sherie Ragan moved to Englewood, FL with her husband and two small children. The eldest of her two children was five year old Jennifer, the future director of Lemon Bay High School Theatre. Sherie was an aspiring actress, and dreamed of performing and directing despite earning a more "credible" degree in English from Muskingum College in New Concord, Ohio. Sherie started the program at Lemon Bay High School, teaching mixed days of English, Speech, Reading, and Theatre, slowly convincing administration and the School Board to expand the theatre program. Productions started slowly, first in the cafeteria, then the gymnasium where audience members dined on the basketball court while watching performers grace them with songs of Gershwin and Rodgers and Hammerstein. In 1990, Sherie's dream came true and the county finally built a beautiful, large auditorium in support of the arts in Englewood. Her program grew and the caliber of her productions soared. Among her biggest fans, was her eldest child, Jennifer, who imitated her every move walking around with clipboards, writing little plays for her Sunday School, and eventually directing her first musical, "The Wizard of Oz" in ninth grade. In 1998, Sherie's husband, Walt Ragan (the former math teacher and wrestling coach at Lemon Bay High School), took a job in St. Louis and they relocated. A mere two years later, Sherie's daughter, Jennifer Kelly, was all grown up and moved back to Englewood to take over at the helm of the theatre program.
As soon as Jennifer took over the program, she hit the ground running. Growing up the daughter of two teacher, training with the great Richard Morse for her undergraduate work at Principia College in Elsah, Illinois, her time studying in England, and specializing in Educational Theatre for her Masters in Curriculum and Instruction at Colorado Christian University set her up for the years to come. Jennifer considers herself a unique teacher, and uses eccentric methods to inspire her students.
Jennifer Kelly is quoted as saying: "I saw their brilliance deep within them and pushed them to believe in themselves and each other. I encouraged them to take ownership of their program, to feel pride in their efforts, and to bless their audiences. I reminded them daily that the only thing in their way was themselves, and to come together as a family! I implored them to dream big, act even bigger, and reach every day for greatness. Well- greatness has arrived at our door step, their big dreams came true, and they have "acted" bigger than anyone else in the world!"
The Lemon Bay High School Theatre students performed their production of "The Wedding Singer" in November 2008 for a panel of state judges, and were selected in early January as one of the "Top Eight" to Mainstage at the State Festival. This is their fourth time winning this honor having taken "Seussical: The Musical" in 2005, a workshop performance of "Swing" in 2006, and "Thoroughly Modern Millie" in 2007. The day of reckoning finally arrived this past Saturday when Lemon Bay performed two back to back performances of "The Wedding Singer" to roaring crowds. Amidst the adoring teenage fans, were three International judges secretly watching the 6 PM performance, clip boards in hand. The cast and crew went on to finish the 6 PM showing with a standing ovation, took a twenty minute break between shows while another thousands eager Florida Thespians raced to their prime seats, and they did it all over again...no surprise...receiving another standing ovation!
