Funny how musical theater has evolved. It used to be that musicals would find success on the stage before being adapted into films — but now things more often move in the opposite direction. Films become Broadway musicals.
One of the more unlikely success stories among them is “Newsies.” The 1992 Disney musical is widely regarded as a cinematic bomb, only pulling in a fifth of its cost at the box office. Perhaps the timing just wasn’t right for a dance-filled musical about mostly-homeless young newspaper sellers pushing back against exploitative tycoons and lighting the fuse on a movement against child labor in America (which is making an unfortunate comeback).
But composer Alan Menken, lyricist Jack Feldman and playwright Harvey Fierstein reworked it as a stage musical that hit Broadway 20 years later and became a surprise hit, running for over two years. Now it’s been revived in a tremendously entertaining production from Bloomington’s Artistry Theater that should satisfy any summer cravings for high-energy dance numbers, passionate ballads and inspiring triumph-of-the-underdog stories. The skillfully rendered production keeps the physicality flying at you and the story clipping along at a pleasant pace.
And it’s all sold with such enthusiasm by its 27-member cast and nine-piece pit orchestra that you’re unlikely to be able to resist its appeal. Its story is based in fact, as young New York newspaper peddlers did go on strike in 1899, reacting to what was, in effect, a cut in their wages. In “Newsies,” the strike is the brainchild of a streetwise teen, Jack Kelly, and the story becomes front-page news courtesy of a savvy young woman reporter.
As was customary with strikes of the era, the moneyed used violence as a tool, but this tale has some intriguing twists that lead to a considerably happier ending than most labor history of the era would offer. Director Ben Bakken clearly loves the magic that an old-fashioned song-and-dance-driven musical can create, and choreographer Renee Guittar is clearly on the same page, as this “Newsies” is bursting with movement and overflowing with youthful vivacity. It’s all served well by Michaela Lochen’s versatile set, Kyia Britts’ lovely lighting (those skies above the Brooklyn Bridge are gorgeous), and the period costuming of Meghan Kent.
While all of Artistry’s leads shine brightly, Will Dusek commands the stage as our worldly protagonist, Jack. Following up a show-stealing turn as Frankie Valli in Chanhassen Dinner Theatres’ “Jersey Boys,” Dusek proves as skilled with a spirited dance number as he is belting a heart-on-his-sleeve ballad like “Santa Fe.” Dusek’s Jack meets his match in more than one regard in Audrey Parker’s Katherine, the confident young journalist who becomes a love interest.
Parker’s patter-driven “Watch What Happens” is a standout tune, as are Bri Graham’s torchy “That’s Rich” and Tyson Insixiengmai’s forlorn “Letter from the Refuge.” Magnetically holding down the villain role is Charlie Clark as a devious Joseph Pulitzer (and we journalists have awards named after this guy?), while Pierce Brown and Maddox Tabalba provide believable inspiration for the strikers. Yet this is a show in which the dance numbers make the most indelible impression, the waves of energy so relentless as to leave an audience exhausted, but with full hearts.
Rob Hubbard can be reached at [email protected]. When: Through Aug.
11 Where: Bloomington Center for the Arts, 1800 Old Shakopee Road W., Bloomington Tickets: $56-$18, available at 952-563-8575 or artistrymn.org Capsule: Everything you’d want in an old-fashioned, triumph-of-the-underdog musical.
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