‘Newsies’ presents new challenge for Dakota players

MACOMB TOWNSHIP — Broadway is back on the corner of 21 Mile and Heydenreich roads.

After working through years of eclectic musicals, Dakota High School theatre is staging the Tony Award-winning musical “Newsies” this January and February.

Based on the New York City newsboys strike of 1899, “Newsies” tells the tale of newsboy Jack Kelly as he rallies the urchins of the five boroughs to strike against newspaper magnate Joseph Pulitzer’s attacks on the newsies’ profit margins and livelihood. “Newsies” made its Broadway debut in 2012 and won Tony Awards for Best Choreography and Best Original Score. The show is based on a 1992 movie musical of the same name.

“With the cast that we have and the kids that we have, I trust them to tackle a very, very challenging show,” said the show’s director, Christian Boni. “Being that this is my fourth year and having had our current seniors as our first freshmen, seeing them grow and seeing this group of people grow as a community, I figured a show like this that has a message of community was the right pick for these group of kids. They’re very dedicated and hard-working, and this is by far the most challenging show that we’ve had to put on in our last four years.”

The challenge of “Newsies” comes from staging and performing a proper, “true blue” made-for-Broadway musical. This is not to say the students have not performed in legitimate works over the past four years — 2023’s “Shrek the Musical” was a Tony-winning production, while 2024’s ABBA-infused “Mama Mia!” has built a life of its own on stage and screen — but “Newsies” turns everything they have done under Boni’s direction up to 11.

“‘Newsies’ is straightforward musical theater in all of its Broadway glory,” Boni said. “Big songs. Large, large cast — very many characters. A lot of big choreography. A lot of big, hard-hitting emotional moments. In a lot of ways, the show is very big in all aspects, and it requires a little bit more hard work, dedication and effort from everyone involved just to make it work.”

Senior Lauren Singer, 17, found getting into the show easier than some of the prior productions because many of the characters in the cast are kids of similar age.

“It’s just a really good message, and it feels more special because we are teenagers playing teenagers,” said Singer, who plays Kathrine Plumber. “It has more character work than any other show that we’ve done, and I think that it’s cool how we can dive so deep into the show compared to some of the ones we’ve done in the past.”

One way students have been able to get into their characters is through a larger focus on solo numbers. For 16-year-old junior Salvatore Vitale, analyzing the lyrics to the song “Santa Fe” has helped turn Jack Kelly from an abstract idea into a character to embody.

“Each character represents something or wants something,” Vitale said. “My character is put under a ton of pressure and he’s really wanting a feeling of freedom, and he needs to get away … Solo songs or songs where you’re prominently singing give you a really deep connection with your character. For my song, “Santa Fe,” it’s a big turning point in the show and I’ve spent tons of time analyzing the lyrics to that song and getting really emotionally connected to it. After really looking at the lyrics and music and some of the things in the script, all of the emotions and answers are there. You just have to dig deeper.”

“Newsies” runs from the intimacy of solo numbers to the full bombast of its 70-person cast, the numbers making full use of the packed roster with choreography that fills the entire stage. None stand out quite so much as the opener “Carrying the Banner” and the climatic “Seize the Day,” which sees newsies clash with strikebreakers and Pulitzer thugs. Where the cast as a whole cannot fill the stage, a touring-grade set has been brought in to finish the illusion of Gilded Age Manhattan.

Rehearsals began before the holiday break and were scheduled to resume alongside classes. Speaking before school let out for several weeks, actors were certain the time away would not be a setback.

“I feel like it’s one of those things where it doesn’t just completely go away, but I think so much time away can draw you back a little bit,” said junior AJ Denomme, 16, playing Davey Jacobs. “Once we get into January, that’s our biggest rehearsal month and we get thrown into so many different (challenges.) This is when it all comes together. This is when the set comes in, the lights come in (and) you hear the band. Honestly, when all of the big outside components come together, it’s a lot easier to jump back into your character.”

From their first show in 2021 — the COVID-comeback and Boni’s directorial debut of “High School Musical” — to the towering challenge of “Newsies,” seniors and the director alike are preparing to cap off an era of Dakota stage productions. It comes with the special experience of being in this kind of a program.

“Looking at it from (having done) other community theaters, it’s a special thing to have school theaters,” said senior Luke Klochack, 17, playing the part of “Crutchie.”

“It’s a time in kids’ life where responsibilities are not really prevalent, and you can get a group of kids to come together and spend a lot of time going in depth and putting a lot of effort into a production. You also get this better sense of connection with the people around you since we’re around each other so much and we’re also castmates and classmates. I really feel that it’s not like a cast; it’s like a family and we’re all friends since we spend so much time together and we’re really all working toward the same thing,” Klochack said.

What comes next for the Dakota theater has yet to be determined. After a progression in show difficulty coupled with a class moving on, the future is a day waiting to be seized.

“With it being the fourth year and seeing our first freshman now as seniors going to graduation, it really feels in a lot of ways like the closing of a book and the opening of a new one … Our story still continues with (students that have entered the program after 2021) but being that it is a high school there is a four-year cycle,” Boni said. “In a lot of ways for a lot of us it feels like the opening of a new story. There are a lot of question marks that come with that — a lot of scary ones but also a lot of good ones — because in a way with ‘Newsies’ it has come full circle and now a new circle is going to be created, so what’s going to come of that? I don’t have any solid answers as to my thoughts for the following year, but it’s definitely very exciting to see what’s to come next.”

“Newsies” runs at Dakota High School with 7 p.m. shows on Tuesdays Jan. 30 and Feb. 6, Fridays Jan. 31 and Feb. 7 and Saturdays Feb. 1 and Feb. 8. Matinee performances will be held at 1 p.m. on Saturdays Feb. 1 and Feb. 8. Tickets can be purchased at dakotachoirs.com.