MANSFIELD — Local audiences are invited to watch what happens on the stage of the Renaissance Theatre this weekend with the opening of “Newsies: The Broadway Musical.”
Directed by Michael Thomas, “Newsies” tells the tale of the 1899 New York City newsboys strike. Led by the rebellious Jack Kelly, the newsies decide to take action against publishing giant Joseph Pulitzer after he raises newspaper prices to beat the competition, taking away what little profit the newsboys made.
Thomas noted that “Newsies” is a “Disney-fied” version of real-life events that took place, also following the romance of a poor boy falling in love with a rich girl as they go through an adventure together.
“It mirrors the ongoing story of anybody who has been put down or had their rights taken away, and they have to fight or die,” Thomas said. “It really is life or death for these guys.”
Played by Renaissance veteran Ryan Shreve, Jack Kelly is a 17-year-old newspaper boy who lives on the streets with his best gang of friends, many of them orphans and working on the streets because it’s all they know how to do in order to survive. The character has a few striking similarities to the first summer show Shreve performed in at the Renaissance, “Peter Pan.”
“In terms of leadership and being the head of the boys and taking them on this journey together, it’s really been very similar,” Shreve said. “But there’s a totally different energy to it; this one is really about a boy who needs to become a man, and ‘Peter Pan’ was all about a boy who doesn’t ever want to become a man.”
Joining Shreve as part of the newsies gang is Zack Pytel playing Davey, a newcomer to the gang who starts selling papers with his brother after both their parents lost their jobs. New to the Renaissance stage, Pytel is a high school choir teacher and resident of Medina, but couldn’t pass up the opportunity to join this cast.
“‘Newsies’ is one of those shows where there’s no driving I won’t do to be a part of it,” he said.
The most enticing part about “Newsies” for Pytel was the wealth of roles available for men.
“There’s not a lot of shows out there that feature guys in the musical theatre realm, especially high-singing guys,” Pytel said. “And the dancing – guys don’t get a chance to do everything on the stage, usually it’s come out, do one song and leave.”
The sheer volume of dance numbers in the show was a bit intimidating for Hailey Noll, an acting student at Wright State University and another first-timer at the Renaissance. Noll plays Katherine, a quick-witted writer trying to find her voice among the male-dominated newspaper world.
“I saw ‘Newsies’ forever ago when it was on tour and I loved it, but I never thought I would be able to be in it because I’m not necessarily a dancer,” Noll said. “I figured I’d never get cast, but I came here on a whim because I heard about it at school, and then I was cast.”
In fact, the only character that doesn’t do much dancing in “Newsies” is Jack Kelly – a fact that frustrates Shreve, who has an extensive dance background.
“I will tell you what, I am mad about it because Jack doesn’t actually do a lot of dancing, and I love dancing,” he said with a laugh. “This one has so many great numbers, and everybody is wonderful, but I don’t get to be in them. I’m very jealous.”
Shreve, Pytel and Noll are backed by a cast of 50 people on the Renaissance Stage bringing “Newsies” to life. In addition to cast, the creative team includes music director Kelly Knowlton, choreographer Shannon Maloney, scene designer Jason Kaufman, lighting designer Brad Cronenwett, sound designer Aaron Nicolas, costume designer Dauphne Maloney, stage manager Abe Swanger, and assistant director Nikolas Demers.
Kaufman and Swanger were instrumental in creating perhaps the biggest set the Renaissance stage has ever seen.
“I went to Jason and I said, ‘We’ve done two stories on stage before but can we do three?’ ” Thomas said. “I think he was a little worried because it’s a long way to fall from the top, but they ended up building this set that is absolutely amazing. And when you’ve got 50 people crawling all over it, it looks like a beehive.”
“Newsies: The Broadway Musical” opens on Saturday, July 28 at the Renaissance Theatre, and continues through July 29, Aug. 4 and Aug. 5. Tickets start at $15 and are on sale now at the Renaissance Box Office, via phone at 419-522-2726, and online at MansfieldTickets.com.
Some of the running themes throughout “Newsies” include strength, perseverance and finding your voice. For Thomas, it was important for Mansfield’s version of “Newsies” to find its own voice as well.
“When I first suggested doing ‘Newsies’ everybody fought me on it, because they said we could never do it like they did in New York,” Thomas said. “But I think what’s important is doing it in your own voice; that’s what makes this unique, it’s a completely different retelling of this story and it still maintains all the excitement.
“I think people will be amazed by what we’ve put on stage here in Mansfield.”
