TUTS presents Disney’s Newsies – Hope for the Future – a review by Sylvia Pritchard

Be prepared for a memorable evening of stellar entertainment at Newsies through songs written by Alan Menken and Jack Feldman’s with such rousing titles as “Seize the Day” and “Something to Believe In” and epic dances and amazing gymnastics that make you leave hopeful, energized, and optimistic in spite of the seriousness of the topic. 

This true story is both old and new. When Big Business wants to increase profit, their first thought is to reduce expenses at the bottom, and not try thinking outside the box or all of the possible implications of their actions. 

Newsies is the story of a rag tag group of kids who took on a group of newspaper tycoons including Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst and won. It’s the ultimate story of the underdog beating out corporate greed. This event paved the path for the first child-labour laws in the early 20th century.

Newsies, a musical about this historical event came to life as a 1992 Disney movie, and then as a rambunctious Broadway stage adaptation.  Now, Theatre Under the Stars is presenting it for the first time.

It seems an appropriate time as the world needs more of the idealistic leadership that young people offer. They are successfully joining forces against everything from gun violence, children in cages to climate change as modern equivalents to the newsies’ strike.

What a one cent cut per newspaper sold represented to the orphans and children of the poor, and new immigrants in 1899, was the difference between eating or starving.  The newsies organized and went on strike, rallying on New York’s newspaper row, pelting delivery wagons with fruit, stopping traffic, and successfully cutting circulation within days.

The story features an extensive cadre of enthusiastic newsies, that includes young men and women.  It focusses on one, Jack (Adam Charles), the outspoken strike leader, a tenacious female reporter, Katherine (Julia Ullrich), Davey (Daniel Curalli) who offers a calmer approach to the issue and Crutchie (Cole Smuland), a physically challenged newsie. 

The villains are Pulitzer (Jovanni Sy) and his staff of goons and Snyder (Chris Coulter), who runs a “for profit prison (home)” for any youth that he can catch, especially Crutchie.

The passion of the newsies spreads to other boroughs, and together with the help of a theatre owner, Medda (Robyn Wong) who eventually brings the President (James T. Walker) to help end the struggle in their favour. A romance between Jack and Katherine, a new work agreement, and Crutchie released ensure a happy ending.

The biggest strength of this production, directed and choreographed by Julie Tomaino, is the cast of extremely talented, athletic masterful dancers who move enthusiastically from one scene to the next. The dancing ranges from huge phalanxes of kids coming at the audience, and there are spring-loaded leaps and back flips galore. The fight scenes are set by Ryan McNeill Bolton and Mike Kovac and blend in seamlessly with the dances. Together, it is non-stop movement.

This is definitely a production on your Must See List!

Theatre Under the Stars presents Newsies at Malkin Bowl in Stanley Park from Wednesday (July 10) to August 17.

Review by Sylvia Pritchard for MyVanCity

Images provided by Ines Min, Murray Paterson Marketing Group. Feature image: the Cast of Disney’s Newsies Photo credit: Lindsay Elliott

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