If you live in, or have recently visited, Milwaukee, Los Angeles, Salt Lake City or St. George, chances are you may have had the good fortune to catch a glimpse at one of Summer Naomi Smart’s many critically acclaimed performances.

But you don’t have to step outside your house to catch a performance by this prolific young actress. In fact, you may be hearing her voice every day on your television screen as your children play the Liken the Scriptures story of Esther and the King. Summer plays the role of Queen Esther in that production.

She also played the role of Belle in Beauty and the Beast: A Latter-day Tale, a movie that opened in theaters in March of this year and was released on DVD last month.

Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, Summer is the youngest of seven girls. “My mother said whenever she took to the movies, from the age of three, I would sit still and watch. For hours, I would take in everything.”

While attending junior high school, Summer became involved in acting. “I thought I would eventually get acting out of my system, but instead my desire for acting grew.”

Summer received her BFA from Brigham Young University in 2005, majoring in music dance theatre. While there, she performed and toured internationally as a three-year member of the BYU Young Ambassadors. Her theater credits include three seasons at Southern Utah's Tuacahn Center for the Arts, Lagoon Entertainment, Robert Redford's Sundance Theatre, West Valley's Hale Center Theatre, and Disneyland Entertainment.

A professional stage-performer since the age of 16, her first film-acting role came when she took on the lead character, Kerra, in Chris Heimerdinger’s soon-to-be-released film, Passage to Zarahemla. This film, set in a small town in southern Utah, follows the story of Kerra and Brock McConnell, who flee state authorities following the death of their mother and inability to locate their father.

Seeking refuge at the home of the only relatives Kerra remembers from her childhood — an LDS aunt and uncle who reside at the an intriguing place where parallel realities once collided for Kerra as a child and where ancient Nephites still cross paths with modern residents of this sleepy Utah town. Caught in a trap of what to do next, a gang’s invasion, along with the arrival of some Gadianton Robbers, lead Kerra and Brock to an unexpected surprise.

The film is set to open on June 8 in Utah.

“My fondest recollection of Passage to Zarahemla is that I learned a lot about myself,” she says. “One of my favorite parts about performing is making a connection with people. Performing is a very intimate thing and you feel a different energy with every audience.”

With Passage to Zarahemla containing an unprecedented 185 special effects, Summer says, “Working with special effects was also very new for me. I was told, ‘Put your hand here, and move forward here,’ and then I had to hope it would turn out like they wanted. It was cool.”

While filming Passage to Zarahemla, Summer was involved in two other stage productions. In regards to this, she says with a laugh, “I prayed a lot. To be honest, a lot of it is a blur. I was just exhausted all of the time.”

In regards to her dedicated performance in the film, Chris Heimerdinger says, “Summer really shined on the screen. We auditioned more than 600 different girls and picked Summer. I am of the opinion now that this is because no one else but Summer could have performed this role.”

Summer has recently appeared in “Hollywood Sings,” a musical review at the Fireside Theater in Wisconsin, where she performed nine shows a week. The show, which paid tribute to the movie musical, was filled with singing, dancing, comedy, and great music from the era of Hollywood musicals.

Of her talent, Smart says, “Basically, if I have talents I want to use them how He (God) wants me to — to follow what He would want me to do. What a blessing it is to work in LDS cinema and non-LDS film as well. I have learned so much. In fact, in Hollywood Sings, there was a group of very strong Christians. We got together every Friday. It was interesting to see the differences and the similarities. I try to be a good LDS person.”