56 | NOVEMBER 10 • 2022
ARTS&LIFE
THEATER
A
high school senior aiming for a
theater career and a high school
senior planning to keep theater
as an important activity appear together
in the musical Newsies set for Nov. 17-19
at Bloomfield Hills High School.
Rachel Berris of Bloomfield Hills
and Cameron Klein of West Bloomfield
are excited to be in the play based on
a newsboys strike of 1899
in New York City. Berris
portrays reporter Katherine,
who is writing about the
discord, and Klein takes the
role of Davey, the newsboy
at the helm of organizing the
strike.
Previously showcased
on stage and screen, the
storyline features 12 original
songs with music by Alan
Menken and lyrics by Jack
Feldman.
“Katherine is a feisty,
rebellious, young, aspiring
reporter who goes after the story of
the strikers on the front page of her
newspaper,” Berris explained. “She ends
up falling in love with the head of the
news strike, Jack Kelly.
“I like that the play shows an ambitious
and risky side of a young woman. I
relate to her and look up to that strong,
passionate ambition that she has in not
being afraid to stand up for what’s right.
I sing ‘Watch What Happens’ as a solo
and, throughout the song, the character
is trying to convince herself of what she
can do to be strong.”
Berris, active in Congregation
B’nai Moshe and B’nai B’rith Youth
Organization, developed her interest in
theater in first grade, when she attended
a two-week summer camp at the Roeper
School. In fifth grade, for the Farmington
Hills Youth Theatre, she became Dorothy
in The Wizard of Oz.
Cast in community theaters, Berris
recalled one of her favorite roles was as
Violet Beauregarde in Willy Wonka &
The Chocolate Factory. Last year, she was
a nominee in the Sutton Foster Award
competition for playing Lady Larkin in
Once Upon a Mattress.
“I’ve done gymnastics, ice skating,
softball and swimming, but the only
thing that really stuck was theater,” said
Berris, who takes private voice, dance
and acting classes and attended theater
intensives at Oklahoma City University
and Syracuse University.
“Theater allows a way for me to
express myself on the stage. With this
play, I think members of the audience
will see a reflection of themselves in
Katherine. I think it’s important for
women to have a strong role model to
look up to.”
Berris and Klein participate with the
leadership team at their high school,
where Klein devotes considerable time to
being co-president.
“Davey and his little brother Les come
in as newsboys because their dad just
got laid off from work,” Klein explained.
Bloomfield Hills High School to stage Newsies.
Teens Who
Love the Stage
Rachel
Berris
SUZANNE CHESSLER CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Details
Newsies will be performed at
7 p.m. Thursday-Friday, Nov. 17-18,
and 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday,
Nov. 19, at Bloomfield Hills High
School, 4200 Andover Road,
Bloomfield Hills. $16. Buy tickets
at bhhs.Iudus.com.
Cameron
Klein
PHOTO BY CHARLOTTE ROCKWELL
Cameron Klein, Nicky
Little and Rachel Berris
practice a scene from
Newsies.