Newsies Stop the World! The Sanford High School cast and crew of newsies gave six public performances last weekend at the Sanford Performing Arts Center. Photo: Brett Williams
By Lawrence Furbish
Wow, wow, wow. That’s the reaction to the Sanford High School Theater Company’s production of the Disney musical Newsies. A huge castprojected an incredible amount of energy on thestage and seemed to be having as much fun as the audience was watching them.
Set in 1899 and loosely based on actual events, Newsies tells the story of a strike organized by the youngsters who hawked newspapers on the streets of New York City. It’s the classic age-old story of the conflict between the big shot haves and the underdog have nots. Two of the biggest and flashiest numbers were “The World Will Know” and “Seize the Day.”
The show is a big time dance show and the kids were totally up to it, displaying great athleticism with cartwheels, front and back flips, pirouettes, and moves that can’t even be named. The big tap dance number “King of New York” was fabulous and a real crowd pleaser. Kudos to Kaylin Penley for her brilliant choreography that involved the entire cast at times kicking up their heels and having a great time doing it.
The principals were excellent actors and all fine singers. Jack Van Gieson as Jack Kelly and Morgan Bailey as Katherine Plumber were the romantic couple from opposite sides of the track. Anna Brown as Crutchie and Ryan Kane as Davey were two of the memorable newsies but there were so many others who were equally admirable that the whole cast could be listed. Another that has to be mentioned is Braeden Landry as Joseph Pulitzer, the show’s villain. And of course, Sanford High history teacher and trombone player Paul Auger was a perfect choice to play the cameo role of Teddy Roosevelt.
The set was striking, a series of large moveable structures made up of different levels and with ladders connecting everything. The cast scrambled up and down and from side to side utilizing all of it. It was a touch distracting to watch, hoping that no one would stumble. The set was rented from Amherst Community Theater and brought in early so everyone could have sufficient rehearsal time on it to be completely comfortable.
The large group of on-stage performers were backed up by a small army of stagehands, lighting and audio techs, event and house managers, and costumers. Speaking of costumes, Kristie Baker’s outfitting was excellent, colorful, varied and authentic looking. Congratulations and thanks to Brett Williams, Artistic and Managing Director of the Sanford Performing Arts Center and director of this production, and all of his staff and volunteers for bringing this very entertaining production to our community.
The post Extra, Extra. Read All About the SHS Production of Newsies appeared first on Sanford Springvale News.
