River Campus ramps up summer festival with 'Newsies' debut

With the help of Disney, the Southeast River Campus is presenting "Newsies the Broadway Musical," its largest summer production -- in the smallest playhouse on campus.

Thirty-six male and female performers will be singing while swinging from two steel "jungle gym" levels of 1899-era fire escapes through June 23 at the intimate Rust Flexible Theatre in Cape Girardeau.

Professor of theater, acting and directing Kenneth Stilson said people want comedies in the summer -- his reason for choosing the show. He said it also meets all of the criteria for what audiences want.

"Dramas don't play as well in the summer," he said. "This show is not a musical comedy, though. It's somewhere in between."

Based on the real-life Newsboy Strike of 1899, the performance tells the story of Jack Kelly, an unruly newsboy who longs for life as an artist away from the big city. But after publishing giant Joseph Pulitzer raises newspaper prices at the newsboys' expense, Kelly and his fellow newsies fight back.

Stilson said besides the "Jack Kelley love story," the show is mainly focused on the newsies. And the actors will be "all around you," enhancing the experience.

"It's probably one of the most physical shows you'll ever do," he said. "The dancing is very athletic and youthful."

Some Disney shows appeal only to females, Stilson said, but this one will appeal to everyone.

"Historically, most of the 'newspaper boys' were boys, but there were girls," he said. "So the way they have written it is they have allowed casting to be portrayed by male or female."

Performer Josie David, from the Chicago area, said she auditioned for a couple different professional productions this summer and "Newsies" was the one she got.

As reporter Catherine Plumber, David helps the newsies by writing articles about their plight. She said it's the story that plays into the show's greatness.

"You end up rooting for all of the characters that are in it," she said, "and Disney does a great job of making you want to see these people win."

"Newsies" features great numbers, David said, including "Seize the Day," "King of New York" and "Once and For All."

"All those songs are big, awesome dance numbers and music numbers that show off an ensemble in a way that is super special in the theater," she said.

Notre Dame Regional High School sophomore Elise Edwards has acted in Southeast productions since the age of 8, she said.

Edwards said she never expected to get the part of Les -- now Leslie -- "so that's kind of a surprise."

"I love working with older people," she said. "It sounds crazy, but I'd rather work with older people than my age."

Edwards said the experience is "just more fun."

But what puts this production over the top in Edwards' eyes is the portrayal of the story's "fight process."

"What they're fighting for is different from what you hear in most musicals," she said. "It's normally a fight between good and evil. But this is something that people actually went through and really did, and there were fights and wars about this issue."

Member of the ensemble and assistant choreographer Patti Meadors -- also from Chicago -- is embarking on her junior year at Southeast, with an emphasis on musical theater. She started dancing her junior year of high school.

She assistant-choreographed the River Campus' recent "Sister Act" production and was then offered her current position with "Newsies."

Meadors said, "I've gotten to create some of the dances ... I do a lot of cleaning; making sure all the choreography is super sharp, super precise, that everyone's doing the right thing at the right time."

The show's "back-to-back-to-back people doing back flips, front walkovers and round-off back handsprings," she said, also adds to the show's immense presence.

Cape Girardeau Central High School student Isaah Williams portrays various roles within the show. But Williams' main role, he said, is Brooklyn newsie, Jimmy.

The cast's passion is part of "Newsies" ambience, he said, "and this show, it calls for that."

"It just makes the audience want to get involved, and the set is amazing," he said.

He said once you get that many people in the theater -- with great acoustics -- "it's just powerful."

According to the show's wardrobe head, Baylor Massey, the nearly 70 costumes had to be tailored or custom-made from scratch for each performer.

"We have some pretty extravagant costumes since it's a period piece," she said. Several performers have multiple costumes, Massey added.

Andrew Freeland -- "Newsies" leading man Jack Kelley -- said the show is very vocally demanding.

"I kind of lost my voice just a little bit singing it, and I got it back," Freeland said. "So my big thing now is being able to sustain that throughout the entire run."

Freeland added, "This is some of the best music I've ever gotten to sing in my life."

Performances of "Newsies" are set for 7:30 p.m. June 13, 14, 15, 19, 20, 21 and 22, and two matinee performances at 2 p.m. June 16 and June 23.

Tickets may be purchased online at rivercampus.org.

Let's go back

You don't have to jump in a time warp to experience this: The "Back to the Future" musical is on its way.

Entertainment Weekly reported the show released its first original track this week, titled "Put Your Mind To It" and sung by the production's Marty McFly, Olly Dobson.

It's the second song that's been released ahead of the February 2020 production to be held at the Manchester Opera House in Manchester, England.

This week, age is only a number

• Donald Duck just turned 85.
• 42 years ago, the Apple II computer was released.
• "Father Knows Best" 65th anniversary marathon runs this weekend on Antenna TV.
• 37 years ago, moviegoers phoned home for the first time June 11, 1982, with the release of "E.T."

Just playin'

Justin Beiber backed down from his recent Twitter threat aimed at Tom Cruise.

USA Today reported Bieber told TMZ he "was just messing around" when he proposed a "fight in the octagon" with Tom Cruise via social media Sunday.

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