It’s the most wonderful time of the year here in the Friends Academy Theater Department… It’s the school musical! Luckily us theater kids get to prolong our jolly spirit well into the new year as we gear up for this year’s musical: Newsies. Newsies is a beloved Broadway musical based off of a true story following the newsboy strike of 1899. Protagonist Jack Kelly, played by senior Dylan Sklar, joined by his gang of newsboys, go on strike when all New York newspaper publishers decide to raise the price of papers, making it harder for them to afford papers to sell. The unfairness of this circumstance leads the boys to begin a revolution for newsboys across New York City and Long Island. While all of this is going on, journalist Katherine Plumber, played by senior KG Foley, joins the newsboys’ fight by writing about the events in hopes to get their story out there for the world to see. 

Directed by Tracey Foster, Newsies is bound to be nothing short of spectacular. The high energy dance numbers and songs will be sure to bring joy into the theater each night. With a very dance and song heavy musical, it can be quite hard to whip the cast in shape. But with the help of choreographer Kimo Kepano and vocal instructor Laura Backley, we are well on our way to fight for our newsboy rights by show night. We are having so much fun putting this amazing show together and can’t wait to start our revolution. Join the strike on February 6th, 7th, and 8th!