Way to Go: Declan Byrne

A Huntington High School junior recently stepped his way into a role in an Off-Broadway show.

Declan Byrne, an Irish step dancer, was cast earlier this year as an actor/ dancer in a two-week run of "McGoldrick's Thread," a musical about immigrants who settled in New York in 1995.

The show had 17 performances last month at Theatre 80 in Manhattan.

"I was a little surprised, because I didn't have as much acting experience as some other people," Byrne, 15, said of being chosen for the show. Of his passion for performing, he said: "I've always found it very exciting to be on stage and entertain people."

He heard about the opportunity to audition for the musical through an Irish step-dancing message board, he said.

Byrne has been step dancing since the age of 4 and currently studies at the Donny Golden School of Irish Dance, which has classes on Long Island and in New York City. He has danced in performances at Hunter Mountain, Carnegie Hall and Eisenhower Park in East Meadow.

Byrne is a member of Huntington High School's drama club and has performed in the school's productions of "The Sound of Music" and "Lady Windermere's Fan."

He also is a member of the chamber choir and the Key Club.