NGU seizes the day
Grace Turner, Contributing Writer
Feature graphic by Grace Turner
On Thursday Nov. 20 with 1 p.m. closing in, students frantically checked their phones and refreshed their emails. They all were awaiting the list that would tell them if they seized the day and earned one of the 33 papers signifying that they were going to be in the “Newsies” cast.
The theatre department at North Greenville University will be doing its production of Disney’s “Newsies” in April 2026. Things have been gearing up, however, since even before it was announced at the monthly department meeting in February 2025.
The show was announced to a room full of students, each making their guesses as to what opportunities next year would hold. As each show graced the screen in that early evening meeting, they were met with cheers and smiles. All was forgotten, however, when Disney’s “Newsies” was confirmed. The students erupted in screams, embraced their friends and immediately began personally plotting how they could prepare to make the cast.
Sophomore theatre education major Ryleigh Ann Guyton was one of the students in attendance.
She said, “Newsies was one of the first musicals I had ever seen students do and hearing that I was going to get the opportunity to audition for Newsies and that my school was doing it at all, just sent me back to where I found my love for musicals.”
With that enthusiasm, word quickly spread. Students from departments all over campus started heading to the gym, practicing in the voice studio and brushing up on a Brooklyn accent. People would do all this more for their chance to be a part of this iconic production.
Guyton decided to tackle preparation head on.
She told herself, “if there was anything I knew for a fact that I wasn’t good at or didn’t know how to do, just do it,” she said. “That made me so much more free.”
On November 17, when the day had finally arrived, more than 60 auditionees poured into the theatre for their chance to try out. The room of potential cast members included everyone from NGU professors to children in the local community.
The story of Newsies is based on a real-life event. In 1899 a group of newsboys went on strike for fair working wages after being cheated and sold short stacks of papers. The strike was led by Kid Blink, the inspiration for the story’s main character Jack Kelly. This happened in tandem with the trolley strike the same year creating a time of change for New York and the world.
Before taking to the stage, Newsies was made first for the silver screen. The movie, directed by Kenny Ortega, premiered in theaters in 1992. Despite being an undeniable failure in the box office, however, the story of justice and fighting for what’s right found its way into the hearts of many.
Disney’s “Newsies” began to make its way to the stage when writer Harvey Fierstein approached composer Alan Menken to bring the story to life. The two working together gave “Newsies” a new life while staying true to the beloved songs and the story many had come to know. One of the biggest changes to the show was the inclusion of the character Katherine Plumber based on the real daughter of Joseph Pulitzer.
The show made its stage debut at the Paper Mill Playhouse on Sept. 25, 2011, before premiering on Broadway March 29, 2012. The musical received two Tony awards, one for best choreography and one for best score with iconic songs such as “Santa Fe” and “King of New York.”
Now, in 2025, there have been over 2,000 productions of “Newsies” worldwide, including shows in Japan, Australia and Germany.
The production of “Newsies” at NGU will be directed by Joshua Scott, assistant professor of theatre, with choreography by Bess Park and music direction from Angela Barrett.
Scott said, “When Amy Dunlap (associate dean of theatre) came to me and asked to see what my thoughts were about tackling the show, I immediately was excited and concurrently internally terrified because I hold this show in such high esteem, because it’s a known commodity in the theater community.”
Scott was right on the mark. Discovering the opportunity to do the show, theatre education major, Rayna LeRoux said “Newsies’ is such a close show to my heart because I did that in my tenth-grade year of high school and it was such a special show.”
To put on this special show is no easy job. When Scott begins his directing process he reads through the script several times and begins to consider all the moving parts the show entails. He familiarizes himself with the dialogue, and for a musical, the lyrics.
Scott said, “In essence, dialogue and the music in tandem tell this story and it’s spoken from the hearts of these different characters.”
Within his script discovery, Scott aims to tie each of his shows into kingdom principles, looking to find the redemptive elements in the story. His verse for this production is Isaiah 1:17 “Say no to wrong. Learn to do good. Work for justice. Help the down-and-out. Stand up for the homeless. Go to bat for the defenseless.” (MSG).
For Scott, this verse aligns with the true heart of the musical Newsies, which he describes as “a story about the courage to confront injustice, the power of unity, and the hope that even the smallest voices can rise to be heard.”
These words also ring true for senior English major, Grace Salter, the production’s stage manager.
Salter describes Newsies as “a joyful celebration of the power of community to make positive change in the world.”
Salter’s work for the production began during the summer, as she listened to the music nearly every day to familiarize herself with the material.
Along with the powerful message, Newsies is a show of elevated choreography and a moving musical score. To begin preparing for the choreography, the NGU cast of Newsies is going to hit the ground running with dance intensives held on Saturdays in late January and early February.
After these intensives, preparation for this production will entail rehearsals Monday through Friday from 6-10 p.m.
“Tuesdays and Thursdays are mostly going to focus on music and Mondays will probably focus on dance and it’ll all come and meet in the middle somewhere,” Scott said with a laugh.
Tickets for Disney’s “Newsies” with the NGU Theatre can be purchased online on the theatre website (North Greenville University) or in person at the box office in the school of theatre.
