Basically, Newsies tells a story, based on a 1899 historical situation, of down-and-out youth street-sellers of New York newspapers striking. They react against such various exploiters as publishers, jobbers, supposed social “refuge” operators, and even police. But as a musical, there have to be heroes who unionize, a love story, and both a mechanical and political male deus ex machina. Mainly, though, there’s dancing. Austin Greshem’s winsome Jack Kelly conquers not only the forces against the newsboys but also the heart of new journalist Katherine (enthusiastic, helping Savannah Sinclair). He’s backed to the hilt by Davey (Aaron Castle, giving staunch support), who with his young brother is helping their out of work parent, and by lame Crutchie (charismatic Alexander Zickafoose). Even a madam (Lavisha Strong) protects Jack as much as possible. Most of the older adults are villains most of the time. Chief among them: Cary Woomert’s Joseph Pulitzer. The others kind of blend in together; their black, big, buttoned-up garments help identify them. Ken Basque’s Governor Teddy Roosevelt is a big exception. It’s the Newsies themselves and their dancing that make up most of their namesake musical. There are so many of them that their families and friends alone should make the show a sell-out at MPAC. The dances are high-spirited and highly acrobatic with many a variation on a tapping chorus line or balletic leap across the stage. If they seem repetitive or lacking in variety, those performing them never look tired or miss a step. As might be predicted of a stage show by Disney, technological scenery abounds. There is a good basic cage that even serves as a scenic metaphor for the newsboys’ predicament, but there are often tricky projections on it and uses of side cage-like staircases that are ascended basically so that they can be descended. Like the acrobatics, there’s overkill in the changing of scenes, the microphoning, and sometimes the lights shining on the top of the central cage. Just as one usually goes to Disney films to see a lot of costumes, color. and cartoon-like art, and characters in stories that add up to a happy ending, one will find a happy experience seeing Newsies. There are a few good songs among the highlighted dancing, and there is good direction as well, at times, as its absence.
