Spokane Children’s Theatre brings 1899 New York City newsboys strike to life with Disney’s ‘Newsies’

While delivering newspapers is a fairly standard job for someone looking to make a little extra money, it used to be a matter of life or death for some children trying to bring in money for their families.

These newsies, as they were called, were entrusted with selling the afternoon editions of newspapers across the country, buying bundles with their own money and making a small profit per paper.

Though they were known for shouting the day’s headlines, the newsboys and girls of New York City made even more noise during the newsboys’ strike of 1899.

The year before the strike, several newspaper publishers raised the price of a bundle of papers from 50 to 60 cents due to the increase in sales because of people interested in news about the Spanish-American War. After the war, many publishers reduced the cost back to 50 cents, save for Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst, publishers of the “New York World” and “New York Journal,” respectively.

Unhappy with the higher prices, New York City newsies decided to strike, unafraid of the enemies they made along the way.

The strike inspired the 1992 musical film “Newsies,” directed by Kenny Ortega and written by Bob Tzudiker and Noni White. The film was adapted into a stage musical of the same name, which features music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Jack Feldman and a book by Harvey Fierstein.

Spokane Children’s Theatre’s production of “Newsies,” which opens on Friday and runs through Oct. 27, stars John Jacob Bernal as strike leader Jack Kelly, Jonah Sonderquist as fellow newsie Crutchie, Gideon Booz as Davey and Asher Milonas as Les, brothers who are new to selling papers, and Paige Hardy as Katherine Plumber, who is looking to be taken more seriously as a reporter.

The musical also stars Oliver Donahoe (Elmer), Driggs Toone (Mush), Stone Thorne (Buttons), Kaya Murphy (Tommy Boy), Kahlan Cartmell (Jojo), Charlie Duggan (Race), Benjamin Milonas (Albert), Henry Cartwright (Specs), Chase Messing (Henry), Ayden Gilbreath (Finch), Evan Sperry (Romeo), Kyler Benton-Letson (Spot Collins), Lilli Watson (Mike/Bill), Violet Gilbreath (Ike), Brooke Hammond (Splasher), Madalyn Brownlee (Moxie), Leland Brownlee and Penelope Donahoe (Orphans/Bronx), Tony West (Wiesel/Nunzio), Jeremiah Brownlee and Mike Donahoe (Delancey brothers), Jackson Geiger (Pulitzer), Kayleen Gieger (Bunsen), Alexa Preston (Hannah), Brett Booz (Seitz/Snyder), C.J. Pieroni (Mr. Jacobi/Mayor), Craig Hirt (Teddy Roosevelt), Tanya Brownlee (Medda), and Courtney Day, Madison Lenhartzen and Lauren Long (Bowery beauties/nuns).

The show is directed by Natalie Lemley, assistant directed by Audrie West, music directed by Andrea LaPlante and stage managed by Tony West.

Before production, Lemley researched the strike and its big players, like Pulitzer, Hearst, influential newsies and reporter Annie Kelly. She and the cast then talked about what the newsies fought to accomplish.

“We want to represent them and also honor them in what they went through, because they went through a lot,” Lemley said.

After learning about the musical’s inspiration, Bernal worked hard to nail the emotions the newsies must have felt during the strike, even tapping into his own experiences of not feeling heard or seen at work or in his personal life.

“That’s where I get the pressure is making sure that what I’m feeling is also being felt,” he said. “My hope is that I am able to portray it authentically in the sense of giving someone in the audience hope, giving someone in the audience, ‘I’ve been through that and look at look at their outcome. Maybe I can go out and seize the day.’ ”

Hardy too felt the responsibility of representing women fighting to be respected, in the time of the newspaper strike and in the current day. She’s experienced people brushing off her ideas in the past and used that as inspiration when it came to playing Plumber.

“Women are still fighting to have their voice be taken seriously while still holding on to our femininity, so that’s been something I’ve thought about a lot for my character. She has strength in her femininity,” Hardy said.

One of the younger members of the cast, Asher Milonas feels playing his character Les, who is quite outgoing, helped him to be a little more outgoing among the members of the cast during rehearsal. Les and his brother Davey are atypical newsies in that they only started selling papers because their father was injured at work.

“At the beginning I might feel a little left out, but then towards the end, I feel like I really am a newsie,” Asher said.

For his role as Albert, Benjamin Milonas, in his third production of “Newsies,” wants to express just how young some of the newsies were and thought a lot about how a child would react to some of the things the newsies experienced, like sleeping outside or not getting enough food because they didn’t sell enough newspapers.

“I’m trying to think of that mental standpoint of those little points that show that all of these kids, they appear tough, but really, they’re just kids,” he said. “They’re just trying to survive.”

That they were just kids is what makes the story of the newsies so impressive, Lemley and the cast believe. The truest form of an underdog, these newsboys and girls stood up against journalism powerhouses like Pulitzer and Hearst, while also advocating for female reporters like Hardy’s character.

It’s a story that exemplifies the true power in numbers and standing up for what you know is right.

“It’s a show that shows us that multiple people and multiple genders, or what have you, could all be facing something, and working together could get you to that next level,” Bernal said. “While the newsies are fighting for their voice, Katherine is also fighting for her voice and working together with them so they all have a voice. That’s true of life in general.”