Pastor Preston Bayless came to BCS in the fall of 1991 teaching a number of classes including high school speech class. His first production with BCS, The Mousetrap by Agatha Christie, was in the spring of 1999. He chose this show because it was one he was a part of while in high school (playing the part of Christopher Wren). That experience fostered in him a love for theater that he desires to pass on to students whether they work on stage or behind the scenes. Over the years, he has directed several other plays including Black Coffee (Christie), And Then There Were None (Christie), Arsenic & Old Lace (Kesselring), and Murder on the Nile (Christie). Wait Until Dark is his ninth production with BCS.

Candace is a graduate of our school who’s love for drama began in 7th grade when her English teacher, who at that time was Preston Bayless, asked her to do a speech for a state competition. Once she started acting, she never stopped. She was in our school’s first ever stage production her senior year. She played the role of Molly in Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap. She studied acting in college and is now living her dream of being our school’s speech/drama teacher! She loves working with student’s on developing their acting skills and watching them grow in their confidence before an audience! After graduating from college, she has helped direct most of the productions here at Bethany. This production marks the seventh production she has been a part of at BCS.

Emilia is a senior this year and enjoyed working on stage crew for our last production so much that she is returning this year as our stage manager. Her careful attention to detail, and good work ethic make her a very valuable asset to the directors! She was also on the stage crew for a local community’s production of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. Emilia plays the bassoon in our school band, and is very talented in many different forms of art. Her current craft hobbies are making wire trees and tiny beaded turtles. She plans to go to Macomb Community College after graduation and major in Biology. She hopes to become a medical lab technician. The thing that she is most excited about with this production is “seeing how we started vs. how we will end.”