By Lucy Gellman
Eighth grader Elijah Cross had found his voice—and was ready to use it. On the lip of Nathan Hale School’s stage, he stepped into the light, and let out a perfect A sharp. A rolled-up newspaper rested between his palms, as if it was waiting for just the right cue. He raised his face toward the ceiling, and two dozen fists punched up at exactly the same time.
1899 has run right into 2023 in Nathan Hale’s production of Newsies, Jr., running now through Sunday at the school’s Townsend Avenue auditorium. One year after the school’s theater program roared back to life with Aladdin, Jr., the show is a testament to the power of collective organizing, both onstage and off. It is based on the 1992 film of the same name, which was later adapted into a Broadway musical. Tickets and more information are available here.
It marks a bittersweet farewell to Briana “Ms. B” Bellenger-Dawson, who has held the school’s drama and dance programs together while working part-time for the district. In February, she will join Wesleyan University as its new coordinator of community partnerships.
“I’ve always loved the story of the underdog,” Bellenger-Dawson said Wednesday, helping students with their tiny cotton and corduroy suspenders, soft black boots, and tweed newsboy caps before a dress rehearsal. “I remember when I first saw it [the movie], I was like, ‘This is real? This really happened?!’ Now we’re teaching students ‘This really happened, like, to kids around your age.’”
Based on the real-life Newsboys’ Strike of 1899, Newsies, Jr. tells the story of Jack Kelly (Elijah Cross) and his ragtag band of New York City newsboys as they fight cost hikes in the newspaper industry. The stakes: a 10-cent increase in the papers they sell, and the thousands of children who are working in unsafe labor conditions across the city. For context, $1 in the early 20th century is equal to about $30 today, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index.
After deciding to unionize and strike, they must go against wealthy newspaper publishers Joseph Pulitzer (a mustachioed Emilia Mammana) and William Randolph Hearst, in a story of working class power versus corporate greed that still resonates today. Enter journalist Katherine Plumber (Fiona Cox), who has her own battles to fight as a woman in journalism, to tell their story.
Suddenly, the newsies have tap shoes, newspapers are props, and even a typewriter feels like a musical instrument.
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