MHS Visual and Performing Arts Students Bring Disney’s “Newsies” to Founders Hall Stage

Fans of high-energy musical theater should “Seize the Day” by dancing into Milton Hershey School’s Founders Hall this weekend to see the Visual and Performing Arts production of Disney’s “Newsies.” Student actors, technicians, and musicians have been working hard for several months to bring the Disney musical to life.

Senior Bethany Trakney, who plays Catherine, says the role arrived at the perfect moment in her life. Like Catherine, an ambitious young reporter determined to make her mark, Trakney is navigating her own next steps as she prepares to graduate in June.

“Catherine is confident, but she’s also unsure of herself,” Trakney said. “I feel like I’m in that stage too—knowing what I want, but still asking, ‘Is this really where I’m meant to be?’”

Through months of rehearsals, Trakney learned how each line and lyric contributes to who Catherine is and what she brings to the newsboys’ strike. Her favorite part of the show, though, is teamwork. The MHS Sacred Value of Mutual Respect is key to making a production featuring a cast of 46 students a success, she said.

“There’s a lot of support here,” she says. “We all know mistakes happen. If you mess up, you just get back up and keep going. Everyone understands. That’s what makes it fun.”

Looking forward, Trakney hopes to study interior design in New York, earn her cosmetology license, and one day work in Broadway‑adjacent fields—dance, music, or theater. For her, “Newsies” has reinforced the power of storytelling and the joy of stepping into someone else’s shoes.

For junior Ocean Traver, one of the show’s two stage managers, “Newsies” marks her biggest leadership role yet. After working backstage last year during the 2025 production of Rodger and Hammerstein’s “Cinderella,” she has learned that leading a 21-person technical crew requires confidence, communication, and a knack for problem‑solving.

“It was tricky at first,” she admits. “There are so many people looking to me for answers. But I like leading.”

Traver has been part of the crew building the show’s impressive industrial New York City set. She remembers when the design was “just pen and paper,” and says watching it materialize has been rewarding.

Using headsets to coordinate with her team, Traver has learned to keep the production running smoothly—from scene changes to timing to ensuring the cast is exactly where they need to be.

“It takes amazing communication skills,” she says. “There are so many moving parts.”

Meanwhile, senior Kasie Burkhart and eight other student musicians, alongside professionals, bring the show’s energetic score to life from the pit. This is the clarinetist’s third musical at MHS, and she says “Newsies” has been both challenging and exciting.

“It’s very intense,” Burkhart says. “You don’t always know exactly how it’s going to go each time, because every performance is a little different.”

Rehearsals for the pit began in December, and Burkhart and her fellow musicians spend each week working through complex rhythms, fast-moving passages, and shifting key signatures. One of her favorite parts is learning from the adults who play alongside the students.

“They give such good pointers,” she says. “It’s great to work side by side with them.”

Burkhart participates in several other musical groups on campus, but she says a full theater production is a different kind of challenge—one that pushes her musicianship to new levels.

Across all three students’ stories runs a shared thread: teamwork, growth, and the thrill of contributing to something bigger than themselves. The students are led by professional directors, vocalists, choreographers, and musicians.

The Milton Hershey School Visual and Performing Arts program’s production of Disney’s “Newsies,” the smash-hit musical, will play at Founders Hall from March 5 to March 7. The musical features a score by eight-time Academy Award® winner Alan Menken (Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Sister Act) and Jack Feldman and a book by four-time Tony Award® winner Harvey Fierstein (La Cage aux Folles, Torch Song Trilogy).