The young and talented cast of Musical Theatre West’s (MTW) “Disney’s Newsies” – a feisty, fun musical with a Marxist message – makes leaping across the stage seem like a walk in the park. Exhilarating choreography anchors this production, telling the suspenseful story of children selling newspapers on the streets of New York at the turn of the last century, and fighting to unionize against adults who exploit them.
If the plot seems political for family-friendly entertainment, well, it is. And that may not be a bad thing right now, with real-life union membership having decreased by half in the past 40 years and workers becoming once again susceptible to the whims of profit-driven corporations. With poor, mostly orphaned children at its center, “Newsies” brings home how unionizing helps vulnerable workers—and just how hard it is to do.
Along the way, though, humor, music and exuberant choreography (by Jeffry Denman, who also directs) helps the econopolitical medicine go down in the most delightful way, to paraphrase another musical featuring rich but still neglected children. Dancing especially delights here, as the children sing loudly of their defiance – fists in the air, cartwheeling, backflipping, kicking and otherwise moving in unison.
Based on Disney’s 2012 film – itself based on a real-life newsboy strike – “Newsies” is set in 1899 New York, about 100 years before mass internet access spawned a 24-hour news cycle and social media. The main way to distribute news is through scruffy “newsies” hawking newspapers, or “papes,” earning a few cents on each to buy food.
While the audience may end up coveting the kids’ cute newsboy hats and crossbody newspaper sacks (period costume design by Greer Gardener), the orphan newsies sleep on the streets and avoid a prison-type orphanage known as “The Refuge” that collects vagrant children just to get government funding.
Brash teenager Jack Kelly (Dillon Klena) is one such orphan and Refuge escapee. He sleeps on a rooftop he calls a penthouse, helping fellow newsie Crutchie (Tom Avery) – so named because he walks with a crutch – and longing to escape to Santa Fe, an idyllic place he’s never seen but sings about and also paints as a latent artist.
Jack, Crutchie and other children line up every morning to buy newspapers to sell, but when their purchase price suddenly goes up due to an exploitative plan by newspaper owners to force the kids to sell more to make up the difference and give the owners more profit, Jack decides enough is enough.
Unfortunately for Jack, it’s harder than it seems to get all the newsies in every New York borough on board to fight against a capitalist system with rich newspaper owners like Joseph Pulitzer (David Engel), dressed in a silver coat. Fortunately, though, Jack has friends who help – including Katherine Plumber (Monika Peña), a girl reporter he has a crush on who wants to write harder news than reviewing musicals (ahem) but also harbors a secret.
The story (book by Harvey Fierstein, based on the film by Bob Tzudiker and Noni White) is suspenseful with its ups and downs of unionizing efforts, and often harrowing with children chased and beaten by adults and each other (fight choreography by Kevin Matsumoto). Though overall exciting and well-paced, a few issues detract a bit.
Music (composed by Alan Menken, with lyrics by Jack Feldman) varies in style perhaps too much, unified mostly by the reprised newsies “theme” of “Seize the Day.” Lighting changes (designed by Paul Black) are sometimes sudden, and sound design (by Julie Ferrin) sometimes has the orchestra and singers competing. Dialogue is sometimes delivered flatly – or obscured by very thick New York accents – causing the first half especially to lack pop and some of Jack’s lines difficult to discern.
But the talented cast really turns up their energy for the choreography, with even the youngest members hitting their marks. The punchiness and verve of the ensemble numbers are infused with a rousing revolutionary fervor akin to Les Misérables. Though the entire cast excels at this, Taven Blanke as the cigar-chomping Race astonishes with a lithe dynamism throughout.
Colton Jackson Hutzler also shines as little newsie Les with a bright and clear delivery – and no doubt a bright future ahead of him as well. Avery as Crutchie delivers a poignant solo as he writes a letter to Jack from Refuge imprisonment, and the sweet-voiced Peña delights as Katherine, just as she did in MTW’s “Grease” two years ago.
“Newsies” is an entertaining musical with an inspiring message for young and old alike, a lesson in unionizing perhaps all the more important now. If you get to your seat early, you might even score a “pape” from one of the actual newsies – though it may help if you offer cash. These are no chumps.
Musical Theatre West’s “Disney's Newsies” continues through July 28 at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center at Cal State Long Beach, 6200 E. Atherton St., Long Beach, with shows Friday at 8:00 p.m., Saturday at 2:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m., and Sunday at 1:00 p.m. Tickets start at $28 and can be purchased by calling the MTW box office at (562) 856-1999 or visiting Musical.org. Run time is 2 hours and 15 minutes, including intermission.