Sandra Dietel has been teaching theater and directing plays at BHS for the past 13 years and has been a Thespian since her high school days. She holds degrees from the University of Florida (BS, Psychology) and the University of South Carolina (MAT, Theatre concentration). In her time at BHS, Ms. Dietel has directed four plays that placed in the top two at the SC Association’s High School Theatre One-Act Play Festival with A Midsummer Night's Dream (2nd, 2015), Scenes from Metamorphoses (1st, 2016), Growing Up Wonderland (1st, 2017), and Elephant’s Graveyard (1st, 2018). These plays were chosen to represent South Carolina at the Southeastern Theatre Conference High School One-Act play, a competition that includes the top two plays from ten states in the southeastern United States. Four of the plays she has directed, The Worker (2020), Girl in the Clouds (2021), Almost, Maine (2022) and Anon(ymous) (2023) received Superior ratings at the Palmetto Dramatic Association’s One-Act Play Festival. Ms. Dietel is honored to have been named the 2018 High School Theatre Teacher of the Year by the South Carolina Theatre Association (SCTA) and the recipient of the F. Loren Winship Award by the American Alliance for Theatre and Education (2021). Ms. Dietel is thrilled to have co-directed Peter and the Starcatcher with Ms. Kara Hynes and all the students in the Musical Theatre class! This is the first time that every student in Musical Theatre has directed a scene in a major production. Ms. Dietel would like to thank Matt Sherman for his strong support of the arts programs at BHS and she is especially grateful for her BHS colleagues who have supported Bengals OnStage for years and her hardworking theatre students. Enjoy the show!

Ms. Hynes (Assistant Director) is a second-year MAT in Theatre student at the University of South Carolina. She is a graduate from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where received her BFA in Theatre Studies and minor in Public Relations. Ms. Hynes is an alum of the Walt Disney World College Program where she studied live entertainment through the role of Character Attendant. She herself was a theatre kid back in the day, performing from middle school through college. She’d like to thank Sandra Dietel for taking her under her wing and teaching her so much during her time at Blythewood this semester! To the dazzlingly talented PATS Cast & Crew… this was one awfully big (awesome, fun, exciting, wonderful) adventure!

Katie Webster is a Junior at Blythewood High and has lived in South Carolina her whole life. Katie got her start in Blythewood’s theatre program by playing Mauve in Dystopia! The Hungry Maze Game of Divergent Death. Katie’s first show as a techie was A Christmas Carol. Peter and the Starcatcher is Katie’s first show as stage manager and had really enjoyed the learning process this year. Katie wants to thank her family and friends for supporting her and the rest of Blythewood‘s theatre program for welcoming her with open arms.

Kailee Aiken is a senior. She was in a play in 5th grade called Good Morning Ms. Fogle. She has lived in multiple places, She also works with animals every Saturday and Sunday. She has a tortoise named Pickles.

Roselyn Cruz is a senior. This is her second year in Technical Theater. She worked backstaged in last year's musical, You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown.

Eliana Farrell is a junior at Blythewood High School. She decided to join theater to learn more about acting and everything behind the scenes. Eliana took Theater 1 in her freshman year and Theater 2 in her sophomore year, where she acted in The Greek Mythology Olympiaganza. In her junior year, Eliana decided that she wanted to learn more about tech theater to appreciate all aspects of theater. Being in theater has helped her confidence grow throughout the years and she is grateful to Ms. Dietel for pushing her to always put her best foot forward in everything she does. She is especially grateful to her family for supporting her throughout high school and coming to her theater events.

Viktor Galloway is a Sophomore. This is his first year actually working in theater but has loved to watch theater and see what happens behind the scenes. He has always wanted to get into theater but never got the chance to. He likes to do art and make things. He lived in Germany before moving to South Carolina and settling here.

Tajaye Gerald is a sophomore in her first year of Technical Theatre. She has never been in any theater or drama class before so this is a very new experience for her. She really likes the fine arts and hopes that theatre will get her more in touch with them. She looks forward to having many more opportunities to be able to help behind the scenes on productions and hopes to meet new people that share common interests with her.

Peyton Gleaton is a junior, born in Columbia, SC. This will be his second year with the theatre department! His theatre career began in second grade when he was an actor in The Wizard of Oz and Alice in Wonderland. He later took Theatre 1 here at Blythewood High, but soon realized his role in theater would be in the tech booth! Peyton enjoys being a part of Theater Production and has met so many great people during his time. He wants to continue to be a part of this class for the rest of high school and is excited for upcoming productions and a great year in theatre!

Kailyn Goodwin is a junior. She worked on her first production last year as spotlight operator in You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown. She has a fond memory of going to Blythewood High when was young to see her sister’s work on the set for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. This sparked her interest in wanting to do theater production when she got to high school. She has always been creative all her life and has a love for the arts and drawing. She has an admiration for the behind the scenes crew and their work and hopes that her skills show in her own work on this show.

Claire Hammond is a junior with an affinity for everything art related. Although this is her first time participating in a Bengals OnStage production, Claire has seen four shows. Her interest in theatre greatly stems from her love of musicals and she is glad to have the opportunity to work on one. She hopes that her love of the arts is shown in her work and that the creativity of the tech is appreciated. Claire thanks Ms. Dietel for her guidance and authenticity and the crew for being so welcoming.

Sophia Hammond (senior) is excited for her last year of theatre at Blythewood. She was homeschooled from 3rd grade through 9th grade. When her love for theatre was awakened in her Theatre 1 class during the fall semester of 2021, she discovered it was what she wanted to pursue. Her previous theatre experiences include acting in A Christmas Carol, The Greek Mythology Olympiaganza, and 60/20. In her junior year, Sophia discovered her love for tech theatre and has enjoyed broadening her knowledge of tech theatre. After high school, she hopes to go to college to study theatre design and pursue a career in costume design. She is grateful to Ms. Dietel for her kindness and every opportunity she’s been given to be a part of the theatre program at Blythewood. She would also like to thank her family for picking her up and driving her to rehearsal and her classmates for being welcoming.

Addison Otto is a freshman this year. She moved from Germany to Blythewood, SC and has only lived in those two places. She was an actor in Peter Pan Jr in second grade and helped run the sound for the Blythewood Middle School’s production of Shrek Jr. At BHS, she is in the Theatre 2/3 class this Fall where she is an actor in their production, This is a Test. She is also in the Technical Theatre class and will be working in a technical theatre capacity on different Fine Arts performances this school year. She looks forward to learning more about the acting world and the tech world in the future.

Carter Peterson is a freshman this year. He was born in Illinois but moved to South Carolina when he was four. He decided to help out with the theatre program at his middle school because all his friends were in it. While he has never been the actor type he loves helping with the tech aspect of shows. He helped with Blythewood Middle School’s production of Shrek Jr. and thought it was amazing. His schedule consists of only school, theatre, and swim, so he enjoys the little free time he has. Carter loves being in Technical Theatre and wants to do it all four years of his high school career.

Corey is a senior whose first taste of theatre was in Theatre 1 in their freshman year, but their official theatre debut began in the T&G 2021 production, Almost, Maine as Assistant Stage Manager. After getting a taste for acting in Theatre 2's 2022 production of Dystopia! The Hungry Maze of Divergent Death and comparing experiences as techie and actor (and therefore becoming more involved in the dramatic arts), they continued theatre that year with Wizard of Oz as a techie and part of the Yellow Brick Road. Their junior year featured work on Greek Mythology Olympiaganza, Christmas Carol, (Anon)ymous, and You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown. Now, in the 2023-2024 school year, they are a Thespian leader, an actor and tech in Peter and the Starcatcher, an actor in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and a stage manager for This Is A Test. They would like to extend a special thank you to Ms. Dietel, their family and friends, the rest of the leadership team, and the Parent Boosters for all their help and support!

Caitlin Richardson is a junior born and raised in Columbia, SC. She has been taking theatre classes since freshman year. She performed in the Theater 2 production of Hard Candy in her freshman year and in the Theater 3 production of 60/20 in her sophomore year. She is currently taking her first technical theatre class this year and finds it very intriguing. She is very excited to start working on more productions. Cailtin would like to thank Mrs.Dietel and her other classmates for inspiring her and being accepting to everyone who wants to join theatre.

Eniya Simon is a senior, born in Hampton, Virginia, and raised in Columbia, SC. She had always enjoyed being in the spotlight when she was younger, frequently participating in her sibling's Talent Shows and even putting on performances for family. She began taking Theatre classes in the 7th grade and has participated in one every year since. She performed in the Theatre 2 production of Hard Candy her sophomore year and the Theatre 3 production, 30/20 her junior year. She decided for her last year of high school to take her first Technical Theatre class and is looking forward to experiencing productions from behind the scenes!

Gavin Smith is a junior. This is his second year in theatre and would like to stay in tech theater. He operated one of the spotlights for last year’s musical, You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown.

Julius Spells is a Sophomore in the Technical Theatre class this year. When he was in the 6th grade, he was on the backstage crew for Alice in Wonderland. After helping with that show, he took a chance by deciding during his freshmen year to join the Theatre 2 class where he acted in The Greek Mythology Olympiaganza in four different speaking roles. Now he’ll be backstage again and be Assistant Stage Manager for This is a Test.

Savannah Teague is a senior in high school this year. When she was in elementary school she was a part of the school’s drama club as well as their choir program. This is her first year working on a show in the Technical Theatre class, but she has gone and helped paint sets for shows in the past. Her love for the arts started at a young age when she first started in her choir program. She has since been given many opportunities to be on stage with choir and wanted to be able to help out on stage with theatre.