“Newsies the Musical”

[rating=5] Paramount Theatre in Aurora has done it again! They have taken a major show and with a local cast under the solid direction by Jim Corti have brought “Newsies the Musical” to their stage. I must tell you that the conversion from Disney film to musical theater production was not one that I was enamored by. I always thought they should have just called it “Newsies WITH music”, as for the most part, the songs in this show are limited  despite the music being by Alan Menken and the lyrics by Jack Feldman with a book by Harvey Fierstein. The original film written by Bob Tzudiker and Noni White was a huge hit for Disney and many of the young audience members in the Paramount tonight were there to see how what they knew was transformed on stage. Those youngsters I spoke with loved the show!

The story is a simple one . It is New York in 1899. The newspaper publishers in order to make more money, decide to raise the price of the papers to the young men who sell the papers on the street in order to increase their profits. The “Newsies” are young men of all ages trying to scratch out a living. They can be as young as 7 but most of them are teens or early twenties. Times are tough and the pennies they make are worth a lot more than today’s penny. Jack Kelly, who is the leader of the boys is fed up with the publishers and when the S__t hits the fan, thanks to the “new guy” Davey, they decide to revolt and strike against the publishers. The story shows the ups and down of politics and big business versus young people, who at the time were treated as :slave labor” in many ways. The movie opened the eyes to many, but this play has a cult following of its own, loving each and every character ( well, not the publishers).

I have seen this show on the larger Broadway In Chicago stage as well as the intimate Marriott Lincolnshire Theatre so having a third look truly made me believe the old expression “third time is a charm”. This production was brighter and I found the dance numbers ( Joshua Blake Carter, you nailed it!) even better than I anticipated. Oh, yes! For you tap number fans, you are in for a treat in this one. “King of New York” is worth the price of the ticket on its own and a tip of the hat to Joe Capstick, you are terrific!

This is a strong ensemble piece as the Newsies are of so much importance. Yes, they are led by Jack Kelly ( deftly handled by Alex Prakken) and his “best buddy” Crutchie ( a great job by Michael Kurowski) and of course, the two brothers, Davey (an incredible Koray Tarham) and his little brother Les (Nathieniel Buescher is adorable and on alternate performances this role is played by Daniel Font-Wilets), but without these Newsies there is no show or story:

Evan C. Dolan, Nich O’Neil, Christopher John Kelly, Jordan Deleon, Jonny Stein, Grant Carriker, Ivory Leonard IV, Anthony Avino, Tom Avery, Jarais  Musgrove, Joe Capstick, Travis Austin Wright, Drew Porrett  and Luke Halpern. These guys spend a lot of time on the stage and are involved in many numbers. They do almost every type and style of dance ( thanks to the choreography of  Carter), truly pleasing every audience member from the opening.

The rest of the brilliant cast. many playing several roles is composed of: Katherine (Justine Cameron, who is new to the scene, and the stage. Pay attention, we will be seeing more of her) Jack’s love interest, the incredible Jerica Exum as Medda Larkin, Jack’s friend in the burlesque house where he does some painting ,Kevin Corbett, Ken Singleton, Vasily Deis, Bret Tuomi, John Guardian, Ryan Dooley, Alan Delaney, Neil Lee Friedman, Michael Ehlers and  Ann Delaney. This is one of the largest casts I have seen on this stage and it shows just how much talent we have in Chicago’s theater scene!

The music is directed and conducted by Tom Vendafreddo ( as usual) and is sheer perfection to the ears. I for one, am not in love with the music with the exception of “Santa Fe”, “Carrying the Banner”, “Seize The Day”, “Watch What Happens” and of course “King of New York” and the love song between Jack and Katherine “Something to Believe In”. The music in this epic is designed to tell the story and several of them are repeated many times. In most cases, that would bother an audience, but in this sparkling story, it works!

On the tech side, the set (William Boles) is terrific andI truly loved that Corti had the Newsies” help with set changes that were choreographed rather than just lift and move! Adds some style to the production. ( Cori always adds style). Jordan

Ross’s costumes are very right and the sound ( Adam Rosenthal) and lighting ( Victoria Bain) are truly perfect. Jesse Gaffney handled the myriad of props and the electronic music was done by Ethan Deppe. The fight choreography was designed by Bobby Wilhelmson and they looked very real. In today’s theater culture, projections are a part of most and in this one Joe Burke did a great job.

Jim Corti and the Paramount crew have done it again Do I smell another Jeff Award nomination or two?

“Newsies” will continue thru October 20th with performances:

Show Type: Musical

Box Office: 630-896-6666

Tickets range from $36

The Paramount Theatre is located at 23 East Galena in downtown Aurora

www.paramountaurora.com/

Valet parking as well as street and public lot parking are available and several restaurants are in walking distance of the theater.

To see what others are saying, visit www.theatreinchicago.com, go to Review Round-Up and click at “Newsies the Musical”.                        photos by Liz Lauren