“Newsies” is the “Law and Order” of Broadway musicals.
Based on the 1992 musical film of the same name, the Tony Award winner is ripped from historical headlines and inspired by the true-life newsboys’ strike of 1899, when newsboys Kid Blink and David Simons led a band of orphan and runaway kids on a two-week movement against newspaper publishers Pulitzer and Hearst.
The show premiered on Broadway in 2012 with music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Jack Feldman and book by Harvey Fierstein, and chronicles the tale of Jack Kelly, a composite of a few real-life historical leaders in the strike, primarily Kid Blink, who leads a group of kids as they help spotlight the child labor movement in the U.S. The movement compelled a number of organizations to acknowledge and change the exploitation of children.
Rise Christian Arts will mount the musical Thursday through Saturday at Ent Center for the Arts.
“I grew up with the movie version, being a teen girl and being fascinated with the male characters,” said director Ashley Bazer. “As an adult I can more appreciate this is a group of young kids who feel marginalized and they’re passionate about having their voices be heard. It’s an important message for kids.”
The nonprofit Rise began 18 months ago when its founders relocated to the Pikes Peak region from Chicago and wanted to start a faith-based theater company that was affordable and would cast anyone who wanted to perform in a show. The company’s inaugural production, “Peter Pan Jr.,” debuted last year.
Rise offers theater classes, though kids aren’t required to take them to participate in a show. Cast members pay production fees, and parents are encouraged to volunteer on committees to help with costumes, props, sets and other tasks.
Bazer has wrangled a cast of almost 90 kids, ages 10 to 20, since auditions in August. As a longtime actor, with roles in such shows as “The Addams Family: A New Musical” and “Mamma Mia!,” both with Sunrise Players, directing is a relatively new experience. She started with Rise a year and a half ago.
“Theater builds confidence and creates community,” said Bazer, a Rampart High School graduate. “It increases discipline because they need to memorize things and know where they need to be. It develops the team player concept because every part is important, no matter if it’s a walk-on role for two seconds or a lead.”
Being a faith-based company, staff and kids spend a portion of rehearsals talking about the messaging in each show.
“Injustice is a huge message we‘ve talked about,” Bazer said. “We look at Scripture and talk that through and how it relates to the show and the different characters and the things they stand for and their actions.”
