Emma Nelson, Nathan Huberty, Rush Benson, Armando Harlow Ronconi, and Mia Nelson Photo by Dan Norman

Newsies is a fictionalized account of the historically factual strike in 1899 by New York City newsboys against two of the city's leading newspapers of that time, the New York World, owned by Joseph Pulitzer, and the New York Journal, owned by William Randolph Hearst. Distribution of newspapers depended upon a network of newsboys, who were mainly from poor and immigrant families, if they had families at all. The boys purchased a stack of one hundred papers for fifty cents, or a half cent each, to be sold on the street for a penny each. In 1899 the World and the Journal raised the price the newsies had to pay to sixty cents per hundred papers without raising the price their readers paid for a paper, meaning the boys had to sell more papers and work longer hours just to keep up their meager income. This was the impetus for the strike, as depicted in the stage musical.

Beyond that, a lot of the stage musical's story is invented, though with some resemblance to facts. Based on a 1992 Disney movie of the same name that floundered at the box office but became a cult favorite, Newsies creates Jack Kelly, the charismatic leader of a cluster of newsboys in lower Manhattan, a more quixotic setting than the strike's actual origins in the borough of Queens. Jack grew up on the city streets but dreams of a better life in Sante Fe, which he envisions as a paradise on earth. Newly arrived Davey is from a loving family, driven to leave school and deliver papers when his father is injured and unable to work. Jack has a young protégé who relies on crutches, thus his nickname, Crutchie, while Davey has his younger named brother Les (see: adorably precocious kid, above) in tow. The four become the face of the strike, which in Newsies is targeted solely against Pulitzer's World.

Newsies fabricates a neophyte female reporter, Katherine, who uses her wiles to promote the strike. Katherine may be based on Annie Kelly, an historic figure who was the only reporter to speak on the strikers' behalf at a major rally they organized. In Newsies, the reporter is a young lady just breaking into the profession, who also provides fodder for that romance I mentioned. Another character, Medda Larkin, is a Black vaudeville performer (with a touch of Mae West) who owns her theater, where she has often given Jack a port in the storm. Larkin is no doubt based on the historic figure Aida Overton Walker.

I have seen the stage musical Newsies a few times. Each time I have enjoyed the show tremendously and been moved anew by its story of a united front of underdogs prevailing against the moguls. Something about Artistry's current production affected me even more deeply. Perhaps it is the tenor of our times, in which it feels like the machinations of some unscrupulous power brokers calls for a unified effort against those forces. And if these rag-tag newsies can "seize the day," can't we?

In any case, Artistry's Newsies is one of the best things on Twin Cities stages this summer, and one of the best productions mounted by Artistry, which has been gaining solid momentum since a slow return from the double whammy of the COVID shutdown and leadership changes. What works in this production? Everything! Let's start with Ben Bakken's solid direction. Throughout the show, with seamless set changes, large production numbers, and a host of light and sound cues, every actor seems to be in exactly the right place, every gesture intentionally devised, every reaction perfectly gauged. The unity among all these moving parts matches the unity that draws these boys together in their struggle.

Layer on top of this solid foundation the music beautifully played by a nine-piece orchestra conducted by music director Kate Mariana Brown, doing full justice to the melodious score. The choral singing throughout the show is unusually robust as well, as evidenced in the stirring anthems "The World Will Know" and "Once and for All." Renee Guittar's choreography takes full advantage of the music's buoyancy with fabulous dance numbers like "Carrying the Banner," "King of New York," and the biggest crowd pleaser of all, "Seize the Day."

The production has great performances all around. Will Dusek follows his impressive turn as Frankie Valli in Chanhassen's Jersey Boys with a terrific performance as Jack, radiating charisma and delivering the dialog with aplomb–his dejection after the newsies suffer a defeat feels authentic, he conveys his attraction to Katherine with brio, but with an underlying sweetness, and his confrontation with Pulitzer is a study in chutzpah. The actor has a beautiful voice, with a touch of vibrato that enhances the emotion in his delivery, and brings down the house with the aspirational Santa Fe.

Audrey Parker is persuasive as Katherine, a young woman confined by her newspaper and society to reporting on ladies' concerns, who summons the nerve to take on a hard news story. Her delivery of "Watch What Happens," which in other productions struck me as second rate, is terrific, as we bear witness to Katherine discovering the latent power of her writers' voice. Parker is also especially good in a featured spot during "King of New York" and joining Dusek in the lovely "Something to Believe In."

Pierce Brown is wonderfully earnest as Davey, coming into his power in a stirring delivery of "Seize the Day," and Maddox Tabalba has the adorably precocious kid routine perfected as Les. Tyson Insixiengmai, as Crutchie, is both moving and funny, winning our hearts in the first scene when he joins Jack's dream of Santa Fe, and again in "Letter from the Refuge." Kudos also to Charlie Clark's portrayal of pitiless Joseph Pulitzer, to Bri Graham's delightfully bawdy but good-hearted Medda Larkin, to Brent Teclaw in a few small but distinctive roles, and Rush Benson, who has some outstanding dance spots and makes a striking impression as leader of the Brooklyn contingent of newsies.

The production features Michaela Lochen's stylish set with cast-iron filigree in arches over the corners of the proscenium, creating the illusion of teaming life around the Brooklyn Bridge, and effortlessly moving in furnishings and backdrops to create Medda's theater, Pulitzer's office, Shapiro's Deli (the newsboys' gathering spot), and Jack's hideout atop a tenement roof. Meghan Kent's period costumes hit the jackpot, aided by Britt Hilton's hair designs, while Kyia Britts' lighting establishes moods–opening with a warm sunrise above the profile of a tenement row, and draws our attention to just the right spot, be it focusing on a solitary point or taking in the entire stage. Richard Graham's sound design is crisp and clearly audible throughout, and those sounds include the swell work Keely Wolter has done as dialect coach, giving the newsboys vivid New York working-class accents that hit the mark without requiring an effort to discern what is being said.

This has been a good summer for strong productions of quality musicals, with the Guthrie's Little Shop of Horrors, Lyric Arts' Kinky Boots, Beautiful still on tap at Chanhassen Dinner Theatre, and now Artistry's Newsies. I recommend seeing them all, but if that is not an option, I can tell you that Artistry's Newsies delivers the biggest charge of energy and positivity of the lot. If those are elements you are looking for when choosing a show, seize the day and head to Bloomington for this marvelous production.

Newsies continues through August 11, 2024, at Artistry, Bloomington Center for the Arts, 1800 West Old Shakopee Road, Bloomington MN. For tickets and information, please call 952-563-8375 or visit artistrymn.org.

Music: Alan Menken; Lyrics: Jack Feldman; Book: Harvey Fierstein, based on the film's screenplay by Bob Tzudiker and Noni White, with Orchestrations by Danny Troob, Incidental & Vocal Arrangements by Michael Kasarin, and Dance Arrangements by Mark Hummel; Director: Ben Bakken; Music Director and Conductor: Kate Mariana Brown; Choreography: Renee Guittar; Scenic Design: Michaela Lochen; Costume Design: Meghan Kent; Lighting Design: Kyia Britts; Sound Design and Audio Engineer: Richard Graham; Hair and Makeup Design: Britt Hilton; Dialect Coach: Kelly Wolter; Fight Choreographer: Annie Enneking; Assistant Fight Choreographer: Macey Dezee; Intimacy Coordinator: Elena Glass; Production Manager and Props Design: Katie Phillips; Technical Director: Will Rafferty; Stage Manager: Constance Brevell; Assistant Stage Manager: Samantha Smith.

Cast: Tate Andrew Ashcraft (Les understudy), Max Ashford (Romeo), Liam Beck-O'Sullivan (Splasher/Policemen), Rush Benson (Albert/Spot Conlon), Pierce Brown (Davey), Charlie Clark (Joseph Pulitzer), Henry Clark (Morris Delancey/Nunzio/Guard), Po Cushman (swing), Will Dusek (Jack Kelly), Chloe Lou Erickson (Buttons/Nun), Bri Graham (Medda Larkin), Kori-Ann Hermitt (Elmer), Nathan Huberty (Finch), Tyson Insixiengmai (Crutchie), Dominic Morara (Tommy Boy/Policeman), Hugo Mullaney (Henry/Scab/Bill), Emma Nelson (Mush), Jake S. Nelson (Oscar Delancey/sniper/Man/Darcy), Mia Nelson (JoJo/Bowery Beauty), Ninchai Nok-Chiclana (Race), Audrey Parker (Katherine), Marley Ritchie (Nun/Hannah/ Woman/ Ike/Scab), Armando Harlow Ronconi (Mike/Seitz/Snyder), Elly Stahlke (Specs/Bowery Beauty), Maddox Tabalba (Les), Brent Teclaw (Wiesel/Mr. Jacobi/Mayor/Governor Roosevelt), Dayle Theisen (swing).