The Rexburg Community Theater's youth acting camp will be presenting three performances of "The Lion King Jr." at Sugar-Salem High School on July 17 and 18.

Performances will take place at 7 p.m. on both July 17 and 18 and at noon on July 18. Tickets are available on the theater's website.

Community members ages eight to 17 years old, will perform the show after two weeks of rehearsals. MaKayla Daybell, the group's director, said auditions were held a month ago and the cast have two weeks to practice the show before their first performance on Friday.

Daybell said that all of the children and youth in the show are talented and could definitely take on the parts of the main characters, but that she likes to cast her older and more seasoned actors in those lead positions.

"I try to make sure my older kids get some of the bigger roles because they've been doing it longer, and then they can be great examples for the younger kids," Daybell said. "And it was really hard because I had a lot of really good kids ... just watching them and seeing their potential just showed me that they could do it and give me their all.

One of the older actors is Mordecai Janke a sophomore in high school, portraying the show's antagonist, Scar. Mordecai Janke said taking on a bigger role has taught him how to be humble and he has loved being able to befriend and lead his younger castmates.

"You have to have a lot of dedication to memorize the lines and the songs and be that example," Janke said. "I know when I've been in ensemble, I look up to the leads and everything they do."