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.