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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

High-energy ‘Newsies’ a ton of fun

There’s a youthful energy to “Newsies” that can’t be denied.

As it should be. It’s a musical about kids, poor ones at that, trying to make a go of it in New York City. Based on real-life events, but highly fictionalized, the musical is charming and cheerful, its band of street kids part of a long theatrical pedigree: the Lost Boys of “Peter Pan,” the pickpockets of “Oliver!” and especially the orphans of “Annie.”

The national touring production, now playing at the INB Performing Arts Center as part of West Coast Entertainment’s Best of Broadway series, is a high-energy, fun show that is also family-friendly. The music is catchy and the dancing terrific; that “Newsies” won Tony Awards for both choreography and original score should surprise no one. And the cast does an excellent job performing the material.

Set in 1899, the story centers on Jack Kelly (Joey Barreiro), a budding artist who dreams of leaving the dirty city behind and making a name for himself in Santa Fe, New Mexico. In the meantime, he hawks copies of the World – Joseph Pulitzer’s New York daily – on the city’s street corners. He’s the informal leader of this gang of newsies, someone who knows the ropes and is good at his job. He sleeps on a rooftop fire escape with his pal Crutchie (Andy Richardson) and paints backdrops for the Bowery theater run by Medda Larkin (Aisha de Haas).

It’s there that Jack bumps into Katherine (Morgan Keene), an ambitious reporter for the Sun who’s eager to find a story that will get her off the society pages and writing real news. She finds that story, too, after Pulitzer (Steve Blanchard) decides to bolster falling profits by charging the newsies more to buy the papers they sell. “I’m giving them a real-life lesson in economics,” he says in deciding to fix his balance sheet on the backs of children. In response, Jack, helped by brothers Davey (Stephen Michael Langton) and Les (Ethan Steiner; he shares the role with Turner Birthisel), leads his fellow newsies on strike.

Keene, a former Spokane actress, made her homecoming performance on Tuesday night to a house filled with many well wishers. Her opening solo, “Watch What Happens,” gave those in the INB auditorium a taste of what would come: a wonderful performance. And the crowd responded enthusiastically. The number she performs with the newsies to open Act II, “King of New York,” was charming and fun, and her duet with Barreiro on “Something to Believe In” was simply lovely.

Barreiro makes a charming Jack Kelly. With an easy grin and a nice voice, he does a nice job of selling us on Jack’s dreams and his intense loyalty to his friends.

The ensemble dancers are all strong, and the crowd Tuesday seemed to deeply appreciate the acrobatic skills of Jordan Samuels as the newsie named Specs.

“Newsies,” with a book by Harvey Fierstein, and music by Alan Menken and Jack Feldman, has an impressive pedigree. Fierstein’s dialogue is a lot of wisecracking and pronounced “New Yawk” accents. There’s a certain romanticism at play, too. Our hero wins the girl, despite some not insignificant hurdles, and he wins the day, too. Sure, it’s cliche, but it’s endearing and sweet.

As Kelly himself might say, “Extra! Extra! ‘Newsies’ is a whole lot of fun.”