Academy Players’ Stirring Newsies Is a Winner from Start to Finish

Academy Players officially opened the doors to the new James and Gloria Maron Cultural Art Center on September 13 with a foot-stomping, rafter-shaking and heart pumping production of Disney’s Newsies The Musical. The Tony-award winning musical is having its Rhode Island premiere under the direction of Academy Players artistic director Rita A. Maron, supported by the non-stop choreography of the fantastic Julia Gillis and pitch perfect music direction by Matthew Cunningham. The show’s substantial cast of more than four dozen energetic performers makes this historic tale of the newsboys’ strike of 1899 that changed child labor laws forever leap from the stage (often literally into the aisles) and into your heart.

Kudos to AD Maron for her savvy pick in Disney’s Newsies The Musical to kick-off their new season as the musical comes from fine Tony Award-winning stock with music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Jack Feldman and a book by Harvey Firestein. The show’s talented 51-person cast absolutely shines throughout this production – from knockout group numbers highlighted by back flips, cartwheels and high flying dance moves to the smaller, lush ballads with stirring pitch-perfect harmonies.

Inspired by a true story, Newsies is the uplifting tale of Jack Kelly (Kyle Buonfiglio), the unlikely leader of  a disheveled band of newsboys – or newsies – whose main goal in life is to escape the hardships of the street (as told in the heartbreaking song “Santa Fe”). Kyle has wonderfully strong stage presence and a solid singing voice, especially well-matched in later romantic duets with the character’s love interest, intrepid girl reporter, Katherine (Megan Mahoney)/ The two have a nice chemistry together and Katherine’s plucky character soon becomes a de facto “Wendy” to the lost boys who follow Jack’s lead.

The giant Goliath that these young newsies must face together is none other than publishing titan Joseph Pulitzer (the wonderfully cast Frank O’Donnell). Driven by the pursuit of profits, he covers the loss by pulling the extra money from the newsies’ already empty pockets. As one of the few more mature adults in the show, O’Donnell as the no-nonsense businessman driven by money makes for a proper heavy – all that was missing was a little moustache twirling. The plot quickly thickens after a brief lesson about the ins and outs of labor unions and Jack Kelly soon rallies the newsies to take a stand and strike against business behemoth Pulitzer.

And who are these newsies, this army of labor unity? Well there are scores and scores of talented young actors who make up the rough and tumble group of newspaper-selling orphans. Written in bold strokes, with shades of characters from Annie, Oliver and any of the Bowery Boys movies, this group of scrappy underdogs speak in the requisite strong New Yawker accent, complete with plenty of “muddahs and faddahs,” arm punching and cigar chomping. Turning in nicely rounded performances within the group are Zach MeGetrick as the crippled Crutchie, Alex LeBlanc as Davey, the “brains” of the group and Mathew Packard as Les, the “little guy” who can drop a wisecrack like the best of them.

The rest of the group are bursting at the seams with ebullient, energetic performances, making the complicated  choreography and both comic and dramatic scenes seem effortless. In addition to the seemingly endless bands of newsies from each borough of New York, there are 11 little nuns who also double as coquettish Bowery showgirls.

Sets and costumes for the production were top-notch and the 7-piece band was just perfection. The lighting design was a bit uneven with actors stepping in and out of the lights in some of the darker scenes. My main concern was with the sound mix, as the evening I saw the show the mics were overpowered at times by the sheer volume coming from the actors. While I understand the need for mics to hear the actors over the orchestra, I wish that either that the cast would lean back a bit on their volume and utilize the microphones a bit more or a technician actively monitor the sound mix to avoid feedback on high notes and extreme emotional scenes.

Kudos to all the 50+ members of the cast for their commitment to giving audiences the best show that they can muster. As I looked down the ever-changing line of young performers singing and dancing in such huge group dance numbers as “The World Will Know” and “Seize the Day,” there was not slacker in the group. These young performers were engaged, actively listening to each other and working together – three important things that more mature actors work for years to accomplish. You could see their belief in the material, their belief in themselves and their joy in the moment that they were creating for us – and it was stirring.

Disney’s Newsies The Musical. directed by Rita A. Maron with choreography by Julia Gillis, music direction by Matthew Cunningham runs through September 30 at The James and Gloria Maron Cultural Art Center, home of Academy Players, 180 Button Hole Dr.  Bldg. 2, PVD. AcademyPlayersRI.org, 401-830-0880. *As of this writing, most performances are sold out except for a few select seats. Follow the group on Facebook for any news or announcements.

UPDATE: A show was added! It will take place on Sunday, September 30 at noon.