The Denver Center for the Performing Arts has been host to many Disney Theatre Productions, (upcoming guests being Beauty & the Beast & the Frozen pre-Broadway previews) but Newsies is an example of Disney’s gems that shimmer without a large promotional market, inescapable coveted merchandise, and hype from the silver-screen to cause the fans to flock to the lice theatre’s box office.
The historically based, uproar-driven plot definitively separates itself from the typical fantasy-packed plot lines that are consistently included in Disney’s infamous entertainment show casings; in contrast to Newsies recounting an event that rattled New York City’s corporate giants and and their terms for child labor, spurring a reform that invaded multiple other fields that manipulated the desperation of street youths who sought money from work.
Photograph by ©California Musical Theatre
The original firebrand, Kid Blink, was the mold for the indignant Jack Kelly, a passionate, righteous fighter that leads the singing and dancing children of New York into a war fought peacefully. Kid Blink led the bands of mistreated children into an uproar that extracted a treaty from Joseph Pulitzer, the oppressive owner of The World.
Although many chunks of Kid Blink’s work towardsjustice are missing, Newsies draws from the atmosphere of unrest at the time and crafts a vivid story of the spontaneous actions that quickly escalated to a needed rebellion with a suspenseful narrative that includes high-energy songs and dances.
The musical numbers in the show effectively inspire the characters they are targeted at, simultaneously kindling the audience’s empathetic anger that the plot and actor’s performances stir up. Whether Davey’s voice is representing a welcoming shoulder to lean on in Seize the Day or Jack is enlightening Crutchie with aspirations of escaping New York in Santa Fe, the steady heartbeat of the orchestra, mainly comprised of wood winds, floods your hearing with emotions conveyed by the crooning of trumpets and trombones as they sustain moving notes or add a sense of urgency with the ragtime-induced adrenalin spikes, along with the actor’s compelling voices.
Photograph by ©California Musical Theatre
The phenomenally sharp choreography and impeccable execution also accomplish the task of punching the tone of the show with accentuating mid-air kicks and flawless bursts of turns. Disney’s Newsies is the banner reading the definition of teamwork, from the synchronized dancing, United voices, decisive score of instruments, the combination of characters that back Jack Kelly’s operation, or the scurrying management team of Joseph Pulitzer. Newsies melds the terms ‘history and armies’ and ‘musical theatre and newspapers’ in a shocking, coherent way. Families and friends exit the Buell Theatre with a stronger sense of unity and faith after the invigorating Newsies experience.