Photo Credit: Mark Frohna
Newsies, the 1992 Disney film turned 2011 Broadway musical, opened at Skylight Music Theatre last weekend. The spectacular production energized the stage—and audience—with its nonstop, high-flying energy featuring a very talented cast of young people. They sing, dance and tap their way across the stage, moving Newsies in joyful leaps and bounds, defying gravity.
Newsies is based on a real-life event: the 1899 newsboys strike in New York City. The newsboys or “hawkers” that sold newspapers on the street fought back against wealthy publishers Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst. The publishers’ attempts to raise prices for the “newsies” failed, thanks to a unified strike that brought traffic to a standstill for days on end.
The stage musical features music by Alan Menken (The Little Mermaid, Beatty and the Beast), lyrics by Jack Feldman (Isn’t It Romantic) and book by Harvey Fierstein (Torch Song Trilogy). Under the terrific direction of Molly Rhode, this very large of cast of 29 completely fills the stage and brims over the edge with talent—left to right, top to bottom, with laser-like precision in the telling of the story.
Newsies focuses on orphan Jack Kelly (Marco Tzunux), who becomes the de facto strike leader standing up to Pulitzer (Lee Palmer) as the street urchins try to support themselves, making their fellow newsies their family. As we watch the kids exploited by the powers that be (a major social concern of the late 19th century), Jack runs across a number of characters as they figure out how to band together and unionize. Along the way, there’s tough female reporter Katherine Plumber (Rachael Zientek), theater owner Medda Larkin (Natalie Harris) and even Teddy Roosevelt (Christopher Elst), then-governor of New York. But it’s the fierce, independent spirit and courageous determination of Kelly and the boys (and girls) that give this production a rough-hewn polish and professionalism that shines throughout the show.
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And there are some truly incredible numbers: Harris’ sassy, belting tune, “That’s Rich,” gives her a well-deserved star turn, while the anthemic “Seize the Day” is a haunting refrain by the newsies themselves as they muster the strength to fight back and defend what little they have to survive on. There’s also on-the-mark choreography courtesy of Molly Rhode and David Roman. It’s truly impressive to see such a large, youthful cast work in unison within the tight confines of the stage and steel metal gated set. But make it work they do, and the opening number at the top of Act Two, “King of New York,” showcases just how talented the entire company is when it comes to sleek moves and fancy footwork.
Newsies is a real-life story that made front-page news at that time; now, it comes back to life on the Skylight Stage—a hit for all ages.
Through Dec. 29 in the Broadway Theatre Center’s Cabot Theatre, 158 N. Broadway.
