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Show: Newsies
Society: Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre (professional)
Venue: Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre. 3 Fulton Road, Wembley Park, Wembley HA9 0SP
Credits: Directed & choreographed by Matt Cole and produced by Runaway Entertainment, Gavin Kalin, Hunter Arnold, Kater Gordon and Dianne Roberts, by permission of Disney Theatrical Productions.
Type: Sardines
Author: Andrea Richardson
Performance Date: 13/12/2022
Newsies
Andrea Richardson | 16 Dec 2022 03:18am
Photo: Deen van Meer
Musical about newspapers is not headline news
WARNING: This review may contain spoilers of some elements of the show.
This is a pretty big catch of a show for a little known North West London theatre. Since it opened in 2019, the Troubadour had barely had a chance to get going before a certain pandemic shut it down again. It has had some shows since it re-opened but it certainly deserves maximum kudos for getting the UK premiere of this award-winning hit, 10 years since it was on Broadway.
I had heard of Newsies, but paid little attention to it as it did not entice me with its storyline. Suffice to say, whilst this is a very flashy and energetic production, my view remains the same.
If you are not familiar with the newsboy’s strike of 1899, it’s the story of a group of New York kids selling the newspapers of publisher Joseph Pulitzer. When he attempts to put up the prices of their “papes”, the newsies form a union and stage a strike. In this musical version there is some poetic licence with the historical facts, plus there is a secondary love interest storyline, and an overall tale of morals, friends as family and solidarity.
Entering the theatre, you are immediately immersed into the New York slums, with washing draped around, photos of tenements, and the atmospheric background noise of the streets. The staging (by Morgan Large) is very impressive – an industrial-scale scaffold-like centrepiece provides the main point for the action, becoming the lead characters home, the newspaper office, a theatre and more as the show progresses. The space is immense with seating fixed on three sides, surrounding the stage. The show is billed as “immersive”. What this means in reality is the cast occasionally dance and run around the different levels of the auditorium, sometimes standing / dancing right in front of you, which is good fun to watch.
When I was invited to review Newsies, I deliberately avoided reading about it or listening to any of the songs, so it was totally new to me. The show has music by film and theatre composer Alan Menken, and his music is instantly recognisable if you are familiar enough with his work. The opening number reminded me of Sister Act. Another had echoes of Little Shop of Horrors.
I found the opening a little slow, after the initial loud overture. Yet when things picked up pace it became so energetic it wasn’t in keeping with the time period or the story so far. I am not convinced 80’s breakdance moves fitted in. Act 1 was too long at 1½ hours. It was at least one dance routine and one song too long – it should have ended with the powerful and well performed group number Seize The Day, not the sentimental Santa Fe.
The start of Act 2 opened well with a great tap and dance routine; the cast using the lamps to swing across the audience was very clever. I was pleased at the (belated) introduction of female characters – I had begun to think that my history was wrong and only boys had been newsies. The ending stretches believability but it makes for a heart-warming finish. I believe I laughed out loud only once, and I certainly didn’t have tears in my eyes as I almost always do with sentimental stories.
The nearly 40 strong cast is led by Michael Ahomka-Lindsay as Jack Kelly, the informal union leader. He does an excellent job in this role, his voice isn’t overpowering and he holds the stage well. Bronté Barbé as journalist and love interest for Jack, Katherine Plummer, is also good, though the romance was under-developed with little chemistry. Moya Angela gives a powerhouse performance as theatre owner Medda Larkin and Cameron Blakely is suitably unpleasant as Pulitzer. There were solid performances from all the cast, only slightly marred by occasional sound level and microphone issues.
Director/choreographer Matt Cole’s panoramic staging is certainly stunning. The acrobatic and balletic dance routines are worth seeing; just a shame their spectacle isn’t quite matched by the songs. I could not hum a single song on departing the theatre, and most musicals have at least one big number that everyone knows (think Let it Go from Frozen or Defying Gravity from Wicked).
In what could be a newspaper headline of its own, the performance is sensational but the story and music doesn’t quite deliver for this reviewer. Having said that, I am likely in a minority as the cast received two standing ovations on the night and a quick vox pop with audience members afterwards all said they loved it. So what do I know? Go and enjoy!
Newsies runs at Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre from now until April 2023.