"At the Art Fair, we try to do something that is interesting and plays well to a changing and noisy crowd. These are our most elaborate and visually interesting costumes, created new each year," co-Executive Director Robert Salberg said.

Rachel Duncan, the director for this production, has taken the popular fairy tale "12 Dancing Princesses" and added quirkiness (and another princess) to it. They are the opening act of Salem Art Fair stage every day at 11 a.m., July 20 through July 22.

CET celebrates its 33rd season this year. It began in 1975 when a group of McKinley grade school parents approached Phyllis Quanbeck, then the drama director at South Salem High School.

They were concerned that there were no theatre opportunities for students prior to high school, and asked if she would consider creating a summer program designed to teach students about theatre. They wanted a strong educational component, with as much emphasis on learning about the process of theatre as on performance.

Under Quanbeck's direction, CET became a Salem institution. Hundreds of Salem-area children have grown up in the CET program.  Although she retired after summer 2000, it has continued to grow.  

"There was a lot of anxiety when Phyllis retired," Salberg said. "I was named as co-executive director with Malie Mahoney.  I was only 23 years old!  But seven years later, we are stronger than ever."

What do the students think?  Jonathan Thorpe is a multiple year participant and lead in last years' "Wind in the Willows."

"I like being able to do theatre in the summer," Thorpe said. "I meet new friends and I learn new skills from set building to acting."  

His experience has been very positive.  

"I like that everyone works as a team. It's never about just one person, it's about everyone working together."

What else does CET have in store this season? "Love for Three Oranges" is an Italian farce directed by Greg Bowers. It features funny, larger-than-life characters that children can relate to, both as performers and as audience. This comedy plays July 23 at South Salem High School's Rose Auditorium (6:30 p.m. curtain) and July 24 at the Salem Public Library (1:30 p.m. curtain).  

There are two productions geared for younger CET students.  

"These are our newest kids -- 4th and 5th graders.  These productions are not as complex as our Rose Theatre play.  They are wonderful for younger children!"  

"Theseus and the Minotaur" is directed by Lucas Hill and is a Greek myth retold as a musical. It is paired with "The Tremendous Traveling Melodrama" and "Vaudeville Show" written by director Marian Scadden, who also owns Cwerks Live Theatre.

CET's full-length offering this year is "Tom Sawyer," a Broadway adaptation of Mark Twain's novel. This musical version is set in 1840 in St. Petersburg, Missouri, a busy town on the Mississippi River. With all the characters we know and love including Huckleberry Finn, Aunt Polly and Becky Thatcher, and even the famous whitewashed fence, this production is "a good family show that has a nostalgic Americana feel to it," says Salberg, who also co-directs the piece.  

Salberg, with co-director Cherie Ulmer and music director Michelle Pedersen, looked at many scripts before settling on this one.  

"It is tough to find a large musical that students can play and relate to. We found this one and loved it. The music is wonderful, the story is sweet, the characters are ones that young and old can both relate to, and the adult characters are larger than life, making it fun for the children to perform."

"Tom Sawyer" runs July 26 and 27 at South Salem High School's Rose Auditorium. Curtain is 7:30 p.m. both nights. For more information, contact Children's Educational Theatre.