Newsies

At Theatre Under the Stars until August 17, 2019
Tickets from $30 at ticketstonight.ca or 604-631-2877
Dress warmly for the evening. Take mosquito repellant – just in case

Posted July 18, 2019

The Newsies program indicates there are only three professional performers – out of almost three dozen – on the Malkin Bowl, Stanley Park stage, but this production would look right at home as is at the Stanley Theatre. Directed and choreographed by Julie Tomaino, with musical direction by Christopher King, this show is tight, dynamic, raucously physical and gutsy. And it’s a great story based, more or less, on fact.

In 1899, the newsboys and girls – the newsies who peddled the newspapers on the streets of New York – went on strike when Joseph Pulitzer (yes, that Pulitzer) upped the price the newsies had to pay for the papers from $.50 per 100 papers to $.60. While that may not seem a lot, the newsies had to absorb the cost of unsold papers. If the headline was dull, papers didn’t sell and the newsies didn’t make any money.  These paper peddlers were often street kids, orphans, kids from poor families so the slim profit margin was what put food on the table – if they were fortunate enough to have a table.

With music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Jack Feldman and book by Harvey Fierstein, Newsies is based on the 1992 Disney film of the same name. The stage version opened on Broadway in 2012, ran for 1000 performances before touring and surpassed by far the popularity of the film.

The story revolves around young newsie Jack Kelly (Adam Charles) who just wouldn’t take it anymore and who rallied the newsies from all over New York City to strike. They rally in Medda Larkin’s vaudeville-style theatre, a hotspot for seeing  scantily clad chorus girls, and where Jack occasionally paints scenic backdrops for the shows.

Newsies parts from historical fact with the introduction of Katherine Plumber (Julia Ullrich), a young reporter eager to break into the newspaper industry – a business dominated at that time by men. Romance, of course, ensues.

The newsies are always at risk of being scooped by Warden Snyder (Chris Coulter) of The Refuge, a juvenile detention centre, and in the course of the strike, Crutchie (Cole Smuland) is hauled away.

So, all the elements are here: a hero, a heroine and a bad guy.  Teddy Roosevelt – then Governor of New York – even wades into the fray.

Given the material, a lot of the songs are defiant and passionate: “The World Will Know”, “Seize The Day” and “Brooklyn’s Here”. Adam Charles, as Jack, packs a huge punch with every song and physically, he’s perfect: wiry and jumpy, tremendously charismatic in an angry young man sort of way. As Katherine, Julia Ullrich is outspoken, determined and smart and she delivers “Watch What Happens” with both the certainty and uncertainty that Katherine is feeling.

Cole Smuland’s Crutchie is a sweet-natured foil for Jack and, amazingly, he drags his character’s crippled leg around right up until the curtain call. Brothers Davey (Daniel Curalli) and Les (Jordyn Bennett) join the newsies when their father is laid off and give solid, reasonable support to the often off-the-rails Jack.

Moveable scaffolding dominates Francesca Albertazzi’s set design; costume design by Christina Sinosich relies on caps, suspenders and faded shirts tucked into knickerbockers plus a couple of serviceable – rather than elegant – long  skirts on Katherine and some glittery, shimmery costumes on Medda Larkin (Robyn Wong) and the chorus girls.

But the best part of Newsies is the dancing. Tomaino’s choreography is fabulously dynamic and these performers really do it justice: high, high energy. Great moves. Really, really giving ‘er. And when they come on with tap shoes, you know you’re in for a treat. Malkin Bowl seldom sees so many on stage at one time all working it together. And there are tumblers, too. So much energy compressed into one space. And to show how much they are appreciated, every one of them gets a signature curtain call dash across the stage – high-flying, somersaulting, cartwheeling. A very nice touch to celebrate such excellence.

Newsies is definitely one of the best shows TUTS has produced. I hope the show has legs and a way can be found to remount it somewhere, sometime. It’s too good to have it all come to an end  on August 17.