JWP Theater makes front page for “Newsies” Musical
Extra! Extra! Read all about it! When you’re the editor and have the opportunity to make a newspaper joke, you take it.
The Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton Theater Department made audiences laugh, cry, and even learn a bit about the corruption behind newspapers and child labor laws during the turn of the 20th Century through the Disney musical “Newsies,” from Thursday, November 7, to Saturday, November 10. The adaptation of “Newsies” that they performed is the Broadway version with the book by Harvey Fierstein, music by Alan Menken, and lyrics by Jack Feldman. Although adapted from the 1992 Disney film, there are slight differences.
The cast and crew performed three shows each night at 7 p.m., with an early 2 p.m. performance tailored toward children and families. Before the 2 p.m. show, there was a cast meet and greet, as has been the tradition with most of JWP’s theater productions.
This production saw the return of Teagan Knoblich as Lead Director; she was not involved in last year’s production of “Matilda: The Musical” and was last involved in “The Little Mermaid” in 2022 as the director of that musical. Becky Borneke was the Music Director for this year’s performance, with Melanie Morrow acting as Stage Manager and Brook Ling as Choreographer.
This year’s cast featured a strong group of seniors, the most seniors that JWP theater has seen in a long time. Sixteen are part of the cast, while two are on the tech crew. They are Ariana Aguilar, Ava Appel, Isaiah Berndt, Ethan Born, Luke Cahill, Sophia Coulsey, Eric Daschner, Derek Gustafson, Madyn Holland, Jayden Jones, Ava McNair, Leo Powell, Eli Rolfson, Autumn Thissen, Jack Wagenbach, and Shane Witts. Many of these seniors have been involved in JWP theater in some capacity for several years while others decided to try it out for their first or second times. Tech crew seniors include Levi Bunde and Makiah Zeiher.
Three of four seniors are student directors. McNair is credited as a student director, and Daschner was noted as an assistant director. Berndt is credited as the assistant music director. Annie Fuerstenberg, a sophomore, also provided help with the production as the assistant dance director.
The cast includes Daschner as the main protagonist Jack Kelly with Aguilar as Katherine, a journalist and his eventual love interest. With a shortage of boys in the production, some of the girls played those parts. Ava Appel took on the role of Les Jacobs, a young boy, with Berndt playing Les’s older brother, Davey. Witts took on the role of Jack’s closest friend, Crutchie, and Claire Miller took on the role of Medda, a vaudeville performer and owner of a performance theater called Irving Hall. Ethan Born takes on the role of Pulitzer, owner of the New York World newspaper and the one responsible for raising prices of newspapers and the cause of all the Newsies’ struggles.
Playing the other “Newsies” are Eli Rolfson as Race, Derek Gustafson as Finch, Travyn Shoultz as Albert, Tyson Johnson as Romeo, Ava McNair as Ducky, Kaylea Elliott as Henry, Jayden Jones as Elmer, and Kayle Langford as Specs.
Several other cast members took on multiple roles. Allie Hanks took on the roles of Oscar Delancey, an emcee, and a Woodside newsie. Leo Powell played Morris Delancey and a Woodside Newsie. Autumn Thissen took on the role of Wiesel. Sophia Coulsey took on the roles of Hannah, a nun, a scab, a random woman extra, and a Richmond Newsie. Luke Cahill played Theodore Roosevelt, Darcy, and a guard. Aiden Truenbach took on the roles of Bunsen, a policeman, a passerby, and a Richmond Newsie. Madyn Holland played Jacobi, the mayor, a goon, and a Flushing Newsie. Haylee Appel and Kayleigh Donner were Bowery Beauties, nuns, Bronx Newsies, and scabs. Elizabeth Norman played Bill, Sally, a girl extra, and Nunzio. Jack Wagenbach played Snyder and a Flushing Newsie. Emily James took on the roles of Spot Conlon, a girl extra, and a photographer.
The production would not have been possible without the tech crew. This year, 18 students were part of the tech crew: Anne Adams, Nathaniel Adams, Kaeleigh Balzotti, Levi Bunde, Ryan Eder, Annie Fuerstenberg, Chloe Kaiser, Elayna Kruger, Genna Mueller, Rachelle Oelke, Leo Powell, Christian Reyes, Demian Reyes, Sam Ryan, Madden Thurston, Asher Wagenbach, Kyle William, and Makiah Zeiher.
It was a fantastic performance by all. A slight mishap with one of the curtains on Friday was played off well and didn’t distract from the performance at all. Everyone involved should be proud of the production they put on. Mandy claimed it would be one of their best productions in a long time, and with their effort, it’s hard to argue against that claim.
