If anyone has any free time over break and is looking for something to do, they should definitely go see Arena Stage’s production of the musical, Newsies. 

Based on the 1992 Disney film, the musical follows a group of boys in New York City. 

It is largely based on the Newsboys Strike of 1899, a protest organized by young children who wanted to be compensated better for delivering newspapers to consumers. 

The boys in the musical are newsboys as well, and most of them live on the streets, as they are poor. 

They are led by Jack Kelly, an older boy who is the face of the movement. 

He is supported by newcomers Davey and Les Jacobs, in addition to a dozen other boys. 

The newsboys are also helped by Katherine Plumber, a journalist who is looked down upon for being a girl. She also serves as a love interest for Jack.

The movement begins when John Pulitzer, one of the owners of the newspaper companies, hikes up the price that the newsboys have to pay to buy the newspapers. 

This leads to an altercation between his lackeys, and the newsboys.

It all peaks when one of the newsboys, a disabled boy named Crutchie, is taken to the refuge, a jail for children during an altercation.

After this, Jack feels like the movement has been weakened, while his fellow newsboys feel strengthened. 

The play hits a critical point as Jack has to decide whether to stick with the strike and the newsboys or to betray them for money that Pulitzer has offered.

As a musical, the play is supported with song and dance numbers.

We have this incredible guy, Luke Springs who plays Elmer, who does improvised tap every night and its different each time,” Christian Douglas, who plays Seitz, one of Pulitzer’s lackeys, said. “We’re all in awe at him.”

While the dancing was great, the singing was even better. 

Perhaps the strongest singer in the whole show was from Medda Larkin, who is played Nova Payton. 

Her rendition of “That’s Rich” was strong and had a lot of emotion, even earning a standing applause from the audience.

What was even more outstanding was the fact that most of the actors were new to the scene.

“I’m actually pretty new to the world of theater,” Douglas said. “This is my first big professional show actually.” 

The fact that they were able to give such strong performances so early in their careers only goes to show how talented and hard working each member was, which makes sense considering the strenuous auditioning process. 

“There were multiple rounds of auditions. First, there was an Arena Stage open call,” Douglass said. “I went in and sang 32 bars and did a monologue. From there, they called me in to audition for Newsies specifically, and there were a couple rounds of callbacks involved.”

If the plot, content, and performance of the actors is not enough to draw someone in, then the message will be. 

At the end of the musical, the directors came on stage and gave a speech. They talked of how they wanted this production of the play to resonate with current social movements, citing gun control as one example.

“I hope that  the audience will see the impact that this play has in context of today’s world and in terms of giving children a voice,” Douglass said. “The newsboy strike was such an important revolution of its time, and it echoes the revolutions that are taking place in our country and our world, in terms of climate change and gun control. I hope that the audience walks away thinking of those things.”

The musical will be put on at Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. until December 29. Tickets are available on Arena Stage’s website, and prices vary each night.