Disney’s Newsies at Theater Wit thru August 2nd

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Seize the Stage: Newsies Finds Grit and Heart in an Intimate Chicago Revival at Theater Wit - Review By: Paul Lisnek  

**1/2 /4

Seize the Stage: Newsies Finds Grit and Heart in an Intimate Chicago Revival at Theater Wit.

The scrappy revolution of Newsies lands at Theater Wit with more heart than square footage—and that’s exactly its strength. In a venue better known for intimate, actor-forward work than splashy musicals, this production leans into its constraints and turns them into storytelling fuel. The production is from Surging Films & Theatrics a relatively new company around since 2014 with productions around the Chicagoland area, but not yet with a permanent home. For Newsies, they’ve selected an unconventional space in Theater Wit.There’s something to be said for selecting your production and then finding the theater where it can thrive.

The Story: It’s 1899, and the streets of New York City are filled with the voices of newsies, peddling their “papes” published at that time by Joseph Pulitzer, William Randalph Hearst, and other giants of the newspaper world. They were in every borough, on every corner and selling you the daily news for a penny. Mostly these were poor orphans, runaways, and a few from households with two parents. But they were subject to the whim of the publisher and they hung on struggling as a group without a leader, until one day all that changes with the charismatic leader Jack Kelly taking the helm of a newly forming Union. Based on a true story, it’s a captivating musical with music that will ring in your head long after you leave the theater.

From the first rallying cry of “Santa Fe,” we get full harmonic pleasure and voices; it is clear that this production is not seeking to replicate Broadway scale, it’s about capturing the underlying and driving pulse of the show. The cast moves are smartly choregraphed and the dance moments use the small space surprisingly well high kicks, cartwheels and all. Indeed, the choreography is tight, inventive, and occasionally rough around the edges—feeling more realistic than polished. You can see the effort and feel the urgency made by this mostly young cast. In a show about exploiting young labor, its rawness reads as truth.

When the ensemble is on stage together, these are the shining moments. Indeed there are some very fine dancers and strong ensemble harmonies in this cast.

Declan Durr as the leader Jack Kelly, and Nikki Holladay as Katherine (I’ll leave out any further description to avoid spoilers) are strong anchors of this cast. At the center, Jack Kelly carries both swagger and strain, grounding idealism in something that reads more human than it does heroic. His “Santa Fe” isn’t a showstopper in the Broadway sense—rather, it’s more intimate, personal, almost confessional—which better fits the performance space. Katherine, often played as secondary, here emerges with intellect and an edge befitting who we learn her to be. 

And the character Crutchy always one of my favorites is done justice here by Max Trotter with his sense of empathy and undying faith that Jack will save the day. 

If I have an issue with the cast, it’s some actors’ choice or more likely direction to play their roles (sometimes voice, sometimes gestures) as cartoonish rather than realistic. I found those moments less humorous and more a distraction; I won’t name cast members to whom I refer because this is a very young cast just starting to build their performance resumes and they all show great potential; I trust they may learn from the experience to understand that every character has its place in the overall ensemble and must fit like a puzzle piece. Like George Seurat’s A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte featured in Sondheim’s Sunday in the Park, every character has its place in relation to all the others and stepping out pulls the focus. 

There are also some rough vocal moments in the second act suggesting to me that the cast take more care in preserving and training their voices. 

This production isn’t spectacle. It has physical limits. Those expecting high-flying acrobatics and precision tap lines of larger productions wont’ get it, but will find this version delivers at a level higher than you might expect. You’re close enough to see sweat, to catch breaths, to feel the collective inhale before a leap that may or may not land cleanly on a particular night.

What ultimately makes this Newsies sing is its refusal to pretend it’s bigger than it is. Instead, it asks a more interesting question: what happens when a story about collective action is told collectively, without illusion? The answer, here, is invigorating, heartfelt and alive. This Newsies may not blow the roof off, but it absolutely raises it.

Newsies has a running time of 2 hours and 15 minutes including one intermission; and runs through August 2nd; tickets can be purchased at: www.TheaterWit.org