Mary Barth began her career with the BHS drama club when she was 6 years old, performing as a clown in a Summer Family Theatre production of Barnum. During her high school years, Barth performed in many BHSDC productions, including: The Wizard of Oz, The Hobbit, My Fair Lady and The Music Man (just to name a few). After BHS, she traveled for a year with Up With People, earned a BFA in Musical Theatre from Emerson College, received her Actor's Equity card while performing for three years at Disney World in Orlando, FL, and earned her MM in Music Education from Boston University. She will be forever grateful to John Sullivan and to the BHSDC for introducing her to the magic of the theatre. Three years ago, when the opportunity presented itself to step into the role of director, she was excited to be able to give back to the current BHS community! During the day, Mrs. Barth teaches music and directs the chorus at Barnstable Intermediate School and when she's not in the theatre, you can find her having family fun with her husband and their two sons!

Matthew Kohler is a native to the Cape, former BHSDC member (Class of '08), and a teaching theatre artist year round. He is the current Technical and Facilities Director at Cape Cod Theatre Company | Harwich Junior Theater and the Stagecraft and Theatre Technologies Instructor at Cape Cod Community College. He is very excited to be a part of bringing Newsies to life and is grateful for the opportunity to give back to the drama club where he started his theatre career, as well as work with and teach such talented students here at the BHSDC.

Misao Koyama is a local pianist and accompanist. A graduate of the Berklee College of Music, she currently serves as the organist and music director at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Sandwich. She has worked on many theatrical productions and concerts, including appearances with Cotuit Center for the Arts (Piano Men I and II, We Are the Champions, to name a few), the Cape Symphony, Cape Cod Chorale, Cape Cod Community College, Cape Rep, Cape Cod Academy, St. John Paul II School, and several other local schools. Misao has been at Barnstable High for some time, history including “Into the Woods,” “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,” and "Mary Poppins." She would like to thank her friends and family for supporting her and cheering her on.

Kris has an extensive history with the BHSDC beginning way back in 1983 when as a naive freshman, she began her career as a shrieking head in the Annual Haunted House. She continues that role today as the Music Director for Newsies. Between then and now, Kris appeared on stage in various roles with BHSDC, Barnstable Summer Family Theater, Barnstable Comedy Club, and the Cotuit Center for the Arts. In the summer of 1990, former BHSDC Artistic Director John Sullivan handed Kris the baton for the Velveteen Rabbit, and she’s waved it a lot ever since. Notable shows for which she has been music director include The Hobbit, The Wizard of Oz, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Mary Poppins, and The Reluctant Dragon. Kris is an elementary music teacher in the Mashpee Schools. When not teaching, you’ll find her running ninja warrior obstacle courses with her son, Isaac. She is excited to be back with so many BHSDC alums on the creative team, two of her siblings in the pit, and her husband on stage!

Molly Shanahan is an English teacher here at BHS as well as a BHSDC alumni. She graduated from Dean College in 2017 with a Bachelor’s degree in Arts and Entertainment Management and an Associate’s Degree in Dance. Molly choreographed a tap number in last spring’s musical of Mary Poppins as well as the tap number in this show (King of New York). She has an extensive history with the BHSDC as both an actor and a member of the creative team. She is extremely excited to now be producing her first big musical! Outside of BHSDC, Molly also teaches tap at Arts Edge Dance Company. She is grateful to be back in her home away from home and have the opportunity to share her love of theater and dance with the newest BHSDC generation.

Brooke Styche grew up dancing on Cape Cod and is a graduate of Barnstable High School. After graduating from Trinity College with a major in Theater and Dance, she ran a dance studio in Pocasset. Realizing her love for academics was missing in her life, she went back to school for her MAT in English and has been an English teacher at BHS for 20 years. Never wanting to stop choreographing--one of her passions--she choreographed many musicals for Sandwich High School over the years (where she began her career as an educator) and then started assisting BHSDC with choreography for She Loves Me and Pippin and was back for Shrek and Mary Poppins. Brooke has had so much fun working with the student performers on Newsies. They are all so wonderful for trying every trick and learning every step and pushing themselves to take risks and have fun! That’s the most important part of this journey--the growing! Thank you for letting me be a part. It’s been a joy!

This is Kylee Youmans-Driskell's fifth musical working with BHSDC. Kylee has had a life-long passion for performing. She was a competitive dancer from age 11 through college, and has coached recreational and all-star competitive youth cheerleading on the Cape since 2012. A former employee of Barnstable High School, Kylee is now the speech-language pathologist at Gateway ABA Therapy LLC in Wareham, and lives in Plymouth with her husband, daughter and their four pets. She is so very proud of the notable growth the BHSDC thespians have had over the last few seasons, and is thrilled to be a part of Newsies!

He has written music and lyrics for theater, film, television and pop records. His vast number of works include: Broadway and Off-Broadway: The Madwoman of Central Park West; Isn’t It Romantic, by Wendy Wasserstein; Beyond Therapy, by Christopher Durang; Coming Attractions, by Ted Tally; Miami (book by Ms. Wasserstein). Regional: Music for Mr. Durang and Albert Innaurato’s Idiots Karamazov at the Yale Repertory Theatre. Film: Oliver & Company; Tribute; Thumbelina; Newsies; Home Alone 2: Lost in New York; Used People; Life with Mikey; A Goofy Movie; The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride; and102 Dalmatians. TV: Music and lyrics for the PBSTheatre in America production of Eve Merriam’s Out of Our Father’s House; The Magic Hat; The Little Mermaid(TV special); Polly; “Sesame Street;” “Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss;” and “Out of the Box.” Also many pop songs, including the Grammy Award-winning “Copacabana,” the top-10 hit “I Made It Through the Rain,” and songs and special material for Sarah Vaughn, Carmen McRae, Liza Minnelli, Lily Tomlin, Dionne Warwick, and the Muppets.

Harvey Fierstein is a four-time Tony Award-winning writer and actor. His Broadway writing credits include Kinky Boots, Torch Song Trilogy (Tony, Drama Desk, Dramatists Guild Awards), Casa Valentina, Safe Sex, Legs Diamond and A Catered Affair (12 Drama Desk nominations and the Drama League Award for Best Musical). His La Cage Aux Folles is the only show to ever win Best Musical and 2 Best Revival Tony Awards. Other plays include Spookhouse, Forget Him and Flatbush Tosca. His teleplays include Tidy Endings for HBO (ACE Award), and On Common Ground for Showtime. His children's HBO special, The Sissy Duckling, won the Humanitas Prize and the book version is in its eighth printing. Other honors include the Drama League Award for Outstanding Performer of the Year, a special OBIE award, NY Magazine Award, and nominations for The Olivier Award and an Emmy. His political writings have been seen on PBS' series “In The Life” and published in The NY Times, Huffington Post and Hartford Courant. He was inducted into The Theater Hall of Fame in 2008.

Legendary composer Alan Menken has created some of the most beloved songs and musical scores of our time. His unique voice, as a composer, a lyricist and a musical theater dramatist has captured the imaginations of audiences for over 35 years. Alan's stage musicals include God Bless You Mr. Rosewater, Patch Patch Patch, Atina: Evil Queen of the Galaxy, Real Life Funnies, Little Shop of Horrors, The Dream on Royal Street, Kicks, The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, Beauty and the Beast, A Christmas Carol, Weird Romance, King David, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Little Mermaid, Sister Act, Leap of Faith, and Newsies. He has also contributed to such revues as Personals, Diamonds, and On the Record. His film musicals include Little Shop of Horrors, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Newsies, Aladdin (1992 and the 2019 live-action remake), Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hercules, Home on the Range, Enchanted, and Tangled. His dramatic underscores for films include Life With Mikey, Noel, The Shaggy Dog, and Mirror Mirror. He has contributed songs to such films as Rocky V, Home Alone 2 - Lost in New York, Life With Mikey, and Captain America - The First Avenger. Alan's television credits include writing numerous songs for "Sesame Street", composing the score for the ABC mini-series "Lincoln", contributing songs for the musical Polly, the Hallmark adaptation of his musical of A Christmas Carol and the songs for an episode of the ABC-TV series "The Neighbors". His songwriting collaborators have included Howard Ashman, Tim Rice, Stephen Schwartz, David Zippel, Jack Feldman, David Spencer, Lynn Ahrens, Dean Pitchford, Glenn Slater, Chad Beguelin, and most recently Benj Pasek and Justin Paul for the 2019 live-action film remake of Aladdin. Alan won the 2012 Tony and Drama Desk Awards for his score to Newsies. He currently has more Academy Awards than any other living individual, including four for Best Score (The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and Pocahontas) and 4 for Best Song ("Under the Sea", "Beauty and the Beast", "A Whole New World" and "Colors of the Wind"). He has earned 11 Grammy Awards (including Song of the Year for "A Whole New World"), 7 Golden Globes, London's Evening Standard Award, the Olivier Award, the Outer Critics Circle Award, and the Drama Desk Award. Other notable achievements include induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and Billboard's number one single ("A Whole New World") and number one album (Pocahontas). In 2001 he received the distinction of being named a Disney Legend. He has also been awarded two doctorates in Fine Arts from New York University and the North Carolina School of the Arts. In 2010 he received his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.