Countryside Community Theatre's "Newsies: The Musical," at the North Scott High School Fine Arts Auditorium -- July 30 through August 8.
Friday, July 30, through Saturday, August 8
North Scott High School Fine Arts Auditorium, 200 South First Street, Eldridge IA
Described by Variety as “Disney's happiest outing since The Lion King” and by USA Today as boasting “easy infectiousness” and “youthful exuberance,” the Tony-winning Newsies: The Musical concludes the 2021 summer season for Eldridge's Countryside Community Theatre, the show's July 30 through August 8 run treating crowds to an energetic work that, according to the Hollywood Reporter, “adheres to a time-honored Disney tradition of inspirational storytelling in the best possible sense.”
Based on Disney's live-action musical from 1992 that starred a teenage Christian Bale, Newsies: The Musical is set in the New York City of 1899, where young Jack Kelly and his ragtag team of newsboys make a meager living selling newspapers on the streets. But when the prices of “papes” are hiked and the newsies are hung out to dry, there's nothing left to do but, as the lyrics state, “open the gates and seize the day!” Led by the charismatic Jack and the independent newspaper reporter Katherine Plumber, the Newsies form a union and organize a strike against the greedy publisher of the New York World. But can a group of idealistic newsboys win against a foe as powerful as acclaimed publisher Joseph Pulitzer? Inspired by the true story of the 1899 Newsboys Strike, Newsies: The Musical captures the strength that young people have when they join together and stand up against injustice, with its book by Harvey Feirstein and score by Alan Menken and Jack Feldman leading the Village Voice to announce, “Extra! Extra! Newsies is a hit!”
Serving as director and choreographer for Countryside Community Theatre's Newsies is Ashley Mills Becher, whose disparate credits in Quad Cities stage productions have included directing Aesop's Falables (A Rock Musical) for Davenport Junior Theatre, helming The True Story of the Three Little Pigs for the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse, and appearing in such Circa '21 presentations as Holiday Inn and the current Saturday Night Fever. With Andrew Arevalo making his Countryside debut as Jack Kelly, Katherine Plumber is played by CCT veteran Sophia Kilburg (The Music Man, Mamma Mia!), and Joseph Pulitzer by Christopher Tracy, a familiar area talent whose credits include the Spotlight Theatre's Billy Elliot: The Musical and the Black Box Theatre's You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown.
The rest of Newsies' ensemble is composed of: Naomi Beckley, Ben Bergthold, Ben Boddicker, Emmett Boedeker, Nickie Callender, Elise Campbell, Adie Craig, Sara Diericz, Will Emerle, Nate Gaghagen, Marley Haley, Anna Harris, Melodie Hoffman, Rachel Hoffman, Annie Huston, Isaiah Jensen, Tatum Kilburg, Katelyn Morris, Eliot Morrow, Hannah Noonan, Austin Peckenschneider, Rochelle Schrader, Sydney Rosebrough, Rachel Sorensen, Eric Teeter, Emily Wichelmann, Jenna Willet, Kaitlyn Wood, Lilly Young, and Liz Young. And with Chad Schmertman serving as music director, Emmett Boedeker as technical director, and Erin Dunn as costumer, the show also boasts a live pit orchestra boasting assistant music director George Behnke and a dozen other gifted local musicians.
Newsies: The Musical will be staged in Eldridge's North Scott High School Fine Arts Auditorium July 30 through August 8, with performances Thursdays through Saturdays at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Admission is $15, more information is available by e-mailing ccteldridge@gmail.com, and tickets are available at CCTEldridge.booktix.com.
