OUTLOOK - The students who take part in LCBI High School's drama club must have been super pumped to play host to the school's first in-person stage production since before the COVID pandemic because this show was an exercise in seeing everyone put their best feet forward.
Presenting Disney's 'Newsies', a Broadway musical, the story brings the audience the tale of Jack Kelly and his band of rebellious newspaper boys in 1899 New York. Kelly dreams of life as an artist away from the lights and sounds of the big city, and after publishing giant Joseph Pulitzer raises the newspaper prices at the expense of the newsboys, Kelly and his fellow 'newsies' decide to take action with the help of a reporter, Katherine Plumber, and the city of New York may soon recognize the proverbial power of the little man.
What grabbed my attention right away about this production were the costumes and the set design. The goal was to transport people to New York City at the turn of the previous century, and as far as the visuals and the wardrobe was concerned, it was mission very much accomplished. It appeared as if there wasn't a virtual square foot of available space on the stage as balconies dotted the landscape here and there, as did newspaper offices and building properties.
On top of the sets, the wardrobe department should get a special kudos because everyone certainly looked the part. There was no "phoning it in" here and authenticity seemed to be paramount to this production. As well, the cast, which was a sizable one for this show, also sounded the parts. This was New York City just before the 1900's came along, so that Brooklyn accent could be heard in the voices in just the right parts.
Taking on the brunt of the workload was seasoned young actor Trason Ridgewell, who's fresh off a run with Outlook's Equinox Theatre group, appearing in their recent shows playing Snoopy in 'You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown' last month. In this play, Trason portrays Jack Kelly and he fully engulfs the role and all that it requires. It's a physical role that also requires quite a lot of singing and emotional depth, but just like the rest of this talented cast, Ridgewell seemed more than up to the task as he mixes it up with the show's colourful and memorable supporting players.
Seeing the recent work of this young man, if Ridgewell isn't putting serious thought into pursuing a career in the performing arts, it's their loss.
Also lending their notable talents to this show were Liam Jones, portraying Jack's down-on-his-luck-but-doesn't-show-it best friend, Crutchie, and Jones gave the character a mixture of innocence and vulnerability that you don't see often in a school play. As well, playing Jack's potential love interest Katherine Plumber was Rebecca Tamlin, showing impressive singing and acting chops that stood out on their own merit. Finally, a smile-inducing hit with both the performers onstage and the audience watching below was Jenna Fleck as the big-voiced saloon singer and star of the Bowery, Medda Larkin.
Rounding out the rest of the cast and bringing their own flare to this show were Birgitte Friggstad, Leah Haugen, Georgia Johnson, Holly Nelson, Logan Haight, Sam Murray, Andrew Delainey, Olivia Hefner, Jillian Mann, Savanna Blackwell, Lawrenne Meagher, Abby Calvin, Robyn Perrault, Alexandra Joyes, Azalea Lepage, Sargent McGowan, Malcolm Serack, Caiden Holmlund-McLeod, Asta Hovdestad, Ella Hopkins, Jane Wilson, Kate Wilson, Caleb Alford, and Andriy Prokopchuk. The show was directed by Jennifer Ridgewell, with music direction by Graham Codling.
With perhaps the most elaborate and ambitious production that LCBI has done in quite some time, the apparent goal was to have the school's young performers come back from the COVID absence in the biggest way possible. With costumes that grab the eyes, dance numbers that impress, and a multitude of performances that stand out, 'Newsies' may have been the breaking news that everyone wanted to read, but there were only so many seats in the venue and only four shows on the marquee. You just, as they say, had to be there.
