March 18th was opening night for Live Oak Theater’s much anticipated production of Newsies. As our family is heavily involved in newspapers with Julie running the Hernando Sun and the rest of the family assisting her in various tasks, this was an interesting play for us in particular.
The play is set in 1890s New York and pits large newspaper barons Pulitzer and Hearst versus the newspaper boys. It is a musical which keeps it lively. It has been our experience that there is less singing and dancing in actual newspapers than is portrayed in the musical.
The actors sing and dance in the middle of the audience, which makes you feel as if you are part of the action. There is a large cast and this means that there are complex scenes where lots of action is taking place. The cast was well-rehearsed and energetic. Lines were recited flawlessly.
In one of those complex scenes (Seize the Day), the newsies perform a dance while sliding on the newspapers beneath their feet. Newspaper stacks are tossed around and chaos ensues as the newsies yell Strike! Newspapers fly everywhere. The Hernando Sun donated leftover newspapers to the production so it was fun to see old Hernando Suns flying all over the stage.
Live Oak Theater puts on an excellent show and develops talent through workshops, camps, and productions. Each production has two sets of cast members.
Newsies! was a great escape from the crazy world in which we live. The current showings of Newsies are already sold out. We hope they decide to add in another showing or two so that we can see it again, performed by the other cast!
