About

Denis Lawrence, Jr. Co-Director This is Denis’ eleventh season as co-director for DHTC. His DHTC credits include Murder at Luigi’s, which he specifically re-wrote for Dartmouth High School, The Odd Couple (Female Version), Elephant’s Graveyard, Seussical the Musical, Miracle on 34th Street, Legally Blonde, Return to Sender, A Christmas Carol: Scrooge and Marley, Chicago, Babes in Toyland, Disney’s The Little Mermaid, Fools, Elf, Jr. the Musical, Last Stop ‘til Christmas, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, A Christmas Story, Footloose the Musical, A Christmas Carol, A Charlie Brown Christmas, It’s a Wonderful Life, We Will Rock You- The Queen Musical, Christmas in New England, which he wrote, Shrek the Musical, Matilda, and Mamma Mia! Denis is the Co-Founder of SouthCoast Children’s Theatre (SCCT) and serves as its Executive Producer. For SCCT, he has directed Disney’s Alice in Wonderland, Disney’s Mulan, Dear Edwina, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, The Wiz, Peter Pan, Shrek the Musical, Annie, Seussical the Musical, Disney’s Mary Poppins, Disney’s The Little Mermaid, and The Diary of Anne Frank. He has directed Private Lives, Barefoot in the Park, Deathtrap, God’s Favorite, The Foreigner, and The Nerd regionally. He has also directed the child Munchkin Ensemble for the National Touring Company of The Wizard of Oz for the Zeiterion Performing Arts Center. Denis majored in Theater Arts at Bridgewater State College. He has performed with local and regional theater companies, such as The Gateway Playhouse, The Spouter’s Theater Company, Your Theatre, and the Little Theater Company of Fall River. Denis is the recipient of two Academy of Regional Theatre Arts Awards as Best Actor in the musicals West Side Story and Chicago. He is the recipient of a Drama Masque Award for his portrayal of Van Helsing in Dracula. Denis has successfully produced and directed live radio broadcasts of A Christmas Carol, It’s a Wonderful Life, Miracle on 34th Street, Auntie Scrooge and A New Bedford Christmas Story, which he wrote for WBSM.

Shirley Byers Co-Director & Musical Director Shirley’s DHTC co-directing credits include Murder at Luigi’s, The Odd Couple (Female Version), Elephant’s Graveyard, Seussical the Musical, Miracle on 34th Street, Legally Blonde, Return to Sender, A Christmas Carol: Scrooge and Marley, Chicago, Babes in Toyland, Disney’s The Little Mermaid, Fools, Elf, Jr. the Musical, Last Stop ‘til Christmas, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, A Christmas Story, Footloose the Musical, A Christmas Carol, A Charlie Brown Christmas, It’s a Wonderful Life, We Will Rock You- the Queen Musical, Christmas in New England, Shrek the Musical, Matilda, and Mamma Mia! Mrs. Byers is a music educator for the Dartmouth School System. She is a diverse musician and performs repertoire as an organist, pianist, and vocalist. She studied organ performance at the New England Conservatory and voice and music education at UMASS Dartmouth where she obtained a bachelor’s degree. She also holds a Music Education Certificate from the Massachusetts Department of Education. She obtained her master’s degree in music education from Rhode Island College in Providence, Rhode Island. She is the organist/music director at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Shirley was the SouthCoast Children’s Theatre vocal director for their productions of Disney’s Alice in Wonderland, Disney’s Mulan, Dear Edwina, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, The Wiz, Peter Pan, Shrek the Musical, Seussical the Musical and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

Kathy Gaspar  Choreographer Kathy has been involved with the musical and drama theatre companies at DHS for the past eighteen years serving as the choreographer for Bat Boy, Titanic, Smokey Joe’s Cafe, Gypsy, Midsummer Night’s Dream, Once Upon a Mattress, Twelfth Night, Grease, A Christmas Carol, Dracula, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Murder at Luigi’s, Seussical, Legally Blonde, Chicago, Disney’s The Little Mermaid, Young Frankenstein, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, Footloose the Musical, A Charlie Brown Christmas, We Will Rock You- the Queen Musical, Christmas in New England, Shrek the Musical, and Mamma Mia! She also choreographed many of the musicals at the middle school. Kathy graduated from UMASS Boston with a degree in health, physical education and dance. She taught for thirty-one years, twenty-nine of them being in Dartmouth and has been a fitness instructor at UMASS Dartmouth for thirty-six years. She has competed in collegiate gymnastics and has choreographed opening numbers for Mr. Dartmouth and Mr. Voke Tech. Along with her husband, she created the After Prom twenty-four years ago, an event which provides a safe place for our teenagers to have fun after their senior prom.