Review: NEWSIES at Manatee Performing Arts Center

Newsies is Disney's fictional account of the actual Newsboys Strike of 1899 where paper New York hawkers, as they were called, banned together and formed their own so-called "union" to strike in protest of their distribution centers whose publishers raised the cost of the newspapers they bought and sold in Manhattan in order to earn a living. The 1992 Disney film starring Christian Bale was not a commercial success although the film carried a large home base audience, making it a cult classic. The 2012 Broadway musical version, book by Harvey Fierstein and starring Jeremy Jordan met with more acclaim. Any ensemble attempting to produce this high energy, fast-paced, testosterone-packed production better have their act together in more ways than one. Manatee Performing Arts Center came prepared and delivered.

Besides the great song and dance numbers, there's actually a heartwarming story the audience gets to follow throughout the production. The first few minutes will draw you in as you meet "the boys" and get to know them a little better. Many are orphaned or homeless. Jack Kelly (Austin Greshem) is their leader and he has his heart set on Katherine Plumber (Savannah Sinclair) and his eyes set on moving to Santa Fe. His buddy, on crutches, Crutchie (Alexander Zickafoose) believes in everything Jack stands for. When picking up papers for their daily sell, Jack meets Davey (Aaron Castle) and his little brother Les (Asher Woomert) who have a home and family and want to sell "papes" to help out their family. Jack takes note of how educated Davey is and how adorable and precocious Les is and takes them under his wing figuring they can help turn a profit. Soon the publisher of their paper Joseph Pulitzer (Cory Woomert) increases the cost of the newspapers to the delivery boys, hoping to outsell his competitors. He also will not buy back any unsold papers the boys couldn't sell. This is causing a major hardship for the boys when times are at their toughest. They boys get chased down buy a warden from a detention home but find refuge and support at a Vaudevillian club run by Jack's friend Medda Larkin (Javisha Strong). There Jack meets Katherine who is reviewing the show for the newspaper. When Jack organizes a protest Katherine decides to cover the story and they end up on the font page of a competitor's newspaper. Jack and Katherine then join the newsies in printing their own paper. The newsies' paper is sent to Governor Theodore Roosevelt (Ken Basque) who arrives in full support of the their cause. There are several twists and turns and a good deal of great singing and tough dance numbers that caused the audience to break out in applause several times throughout this production. I was particularly taken by the passion each member of this very large cast brought to their characters. Their faces and calibrated actions said it all.

Mr.Greshem was perfect in the role of Jack who rallied the troops and lead to the call to victory. He had the vocal ability and dance moves to pull off his character. Ms. Sinclair also had the chops to tackle her role of sweetness with a backbone. Her solo. "Watch What Happens" was delightful. Mr. Zickafoose was charming as Crutchie and sported the most luminesce smile. Ms. Strong embodies the correct name for her vocal prowess in her solo "That's Rich". She portrayed Jack's friend Medda as a kind woman, looking out for him with compassion. Cory Woomert played Pulitzer with pride and tenacity. Mr. Castle and Asher Woomert made a great brotherly duo, allowing precocious Asher to shine. Director Rick Kirby had his hands full with this big production and kept his actors on point. Set designer Donna Buckalter outdid herself with an amazing constantly moving, interchangeable set. Kuods to Joseph P. Oshry, lighting design, costume designer Matt Myers, projection design, Jay Poppe, and Kristin Ribble, production stage manager for bringing it all together, befitting of a Broadway stage. Musical director/conductor/keyboard Rick Bogner and his crew, 2nd keyboard Christine Allen-Bruno, reeds Terri Booth, trumpet Victor Mongillo and percussion John Januszewski, brought some big sounds to a show that needed a band that could keep up with them. Touché!

This is a feel good, uplifting show that is done the way it is supposed to be produced. You will be thinking to yourself, am I in New York? Is this Broadway? These kids are not amateurs. Don't miss it!

Newsies runs through August 26,2018. For more information on Manatee Performing Arts Center visit www.manateeperformingartscenter.com.

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