A High-Energy Musical Labor Strike

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Sunset Playhouse 'Newsies'

Sunset Playhouse 'Newsies'

A powerfully influential labor strike makes an energetic splash across the stage this month as Sunset Playhouse presents a production of the beloved musical Newsies. Director Tommy Lueck cleverly directs the flow of energy from a large ensemble on a dramatic journey through Sunset’s main stage. With a large cast overwhelming the scenery, the focus of the production lands unwaveringly on a mass of people singing and dancing their way through the newsboys’ strike of 1899. Choreographer Abby Rasmussen sculpts the movement across the stage in a way that amplifies the ensemble while somehow managing to make the stage seem twice as big as it actually is.

Jacob Cesar serves as a charismatic center to the action in the role of labor leader Jack Kelly. Cesar is impressively grounded as an earthbound dreamer who is thrust into a position of authority when he rallies a group of paper carriers to stand-up against an unfair price hike. A deeply engaging Megan Rose Miller conjures smart emotional energy on stage as Katherine Plumber: the aspiring journalist who is hoping to tell Jack’s story in print. The chemistry between Katherine and Jack slowly coalesces into a very compelling and believable romance in the margins of the labor drama.

Lueck works with an impressive range of different personalities in the ensemble. There’s so much of interest around the edges of the central cast that it feels like any one of the characters could be the lead. Lueck really allows each individual in the periphery to carve out his or her own space onstage. The production has a big feel that still manages to find a very intimate heart.

Sunset Playhouse’s production of Newsies runs through Aug. 7 at Furlan Auditorium, 700 W. Wall St, Elm Grove. For tickets, visit sunsetplayhouse.com.