By Julius Ketant

Newsies, a play written in 1992 by Robert “Bob” Tzudiker based on the Newsboys strike of 1889, is coming to MS 447 on May 7th and 8th. Auditions for this play were held for 8th grade on November 26th, 7th grade and all Middle school grades on December 1st and December 2nd for 6th graders.

Disney's Newsies JR. is a 60-minute version of the 2012 Broadway musical, based on the 1992 film. Inspired by the rousing true story of newsboys in turn-of-the-century New York City, Newsies JR. features a Tony Award-winning score by Alan Menken and Jack Feldman.

Newsies is a story of when the powerful newspaper publishers raise prices at the newsboys' expense, the charismatic Jack Kelly rallies newsies from across the city to strike against the unfair conditions. Together, the newsies learn that they are stronger united and create a movement to fight for what's right. Including the now-classic songs "Carrying the Banner," "Seize the Day," and "Santa Fe," Newsies Jr. is a timeless story full of spirit and heart. How about we get a character's perspective?

6th grader Elsa Brody,who plays Oscar Delancy rehearses in the music room & the auditorium.She signed up because she thought that it would be fun and she loves the community & the teachers that run it. She prepared by going over the lyrics of the song and finding ways to communicate in her monologue.During rehearsal the characters do attendances,then a vocal warmup,then the start from where they left off in the last rehearsal.

Ms.Acker The teacher for Theater does these plays since this school has a partnership with Broadway Jr/MTI (Music Theatre International.) She also thinks that theatre is  a great way for people to express themselves,collaborate,showcase their talents and be part of a community. Rehearsals are usually 3 hours a week but they increase when getting closer to the play. To audition for a role in the  musical,  students had to fill out an application and perform a monologue, song , and dance.                                                                                                               To interview for the crew, students had to fill out an application and answer questions in an interview with the production team about their experience and work ethic. 

If you wanna know how many characters have the most lines, characters with a lot of lines include Jack, Davey, and Crutchie.  All of the roles are very important to the story, regardless of how many lines they have.

When asked about her favorite character Ms Aker said, “It's hard for me to pick one I love them all!”

In the end Newsies is a fun exciting musical and It should be an amazing production.