Actors glad to be back on stage after two-year hiatus

Photo by Marty Cheek
The cast of South Valley Civic Theater’s teen production of “Newsies Jr.” pose for a photo.

By Marty Cheek

A small army of newspaper street vendors take on two of America’s most powerful publishers in South Valley Civic Theatre’s musical “Newsies Jr.”

The show opens May 6 at the Morgan Hill Community Playhouse. It is based on the historic Newsboy Strike of 1899, a story told in a 1998 Disney movie “Newsies” and later turned into a Broadway show.

In the show, newsboy Jack Kelly wants to leave New York City to be an artist. After “World” publisher Joseph Pulitzer raises newspaper prices at the newsboys’ expense to compete with William Randolph Hearst’s “Journal,” Kelly leads his fellow newsies to take action. With help from reporter Katherine Plumber, citizens recognize the power of “the little man.”

“They were caught in the crossfire,” said David Carlen, a 19-year-old Gavilan College student who plays Jack Kelly. “The newsies would have had to work a lot harder (to sell newspapers). They were not going to stand for that not just because it’s harder but because they felt so disrespected. They felt it was a violation of their rights as workers. And they felt like their pride was more important and were not going with what they were told to do.”

Brody Bourke plays “Crutchie,” Jack’s sidekick who suffers from polio and so has difficulty walking.

“They do everything together. Jack looks after Crutchie,” Bourke said. “Crutchie uses his crutch to basically guilt-trip people to buy his newspapers. That’s what the newsies did. They would always use different ways from injuries to age to sell more ‘papes’ to the people.”

Photo by Marty Cheek — Elijah Barnson (as “Race”) and Brody Bourke (as “Crutchie”) rehearse a scene for the South Valley Civic Theatre’s show “Newsies Jr.” The show is based on the Broadway musical, which is based on the 1992 Disney film.

The 15-year-old Gilroy High School freshman is impressed with his fellow performers’ talent in singing, dancing and acting to put on a high quality show.

“We’re not doing the full show, we’re doing the junior show, which means it’s appropriate for kids,” he said. “It’s just a really cool show and I’ve liked it for a long time. I’m excited to be in it now.”

Maya King plays double roles, newsies Muriel and Spot Conlon. The 16-year-old Christopher High School junior wanted to do the show to give her an opportunity to sing and dance on stage.

“I love this show so much for its spirit and rebellion,” she said. “It’s been so long since we’ve been able to do live theater. We’ve all been coming back to it for the past few months. Just seeing SVCT back in action is going to be something really fun — to see the show and see the energy and joy and companionship. We’ve all just grown together.”

Lexie Mallette serves as the show’s production assistant, helping with costumes and assisting the performers in learning their lines and song lyrics.

“They’re super fun. They are very energetic,” she said of the teens. “They’re just a blast to be with. It’s a great cast, it’s a great group of kids, and they’re having a lot of fun and it’s great to see them.”

SVCT’s dedication to providing children and teen shows play an important role in giving young people in the South Valley an opportunity to hone their performing arts talents, Mallette said.

“Newsies is a “perfect show for teens,” she said. “You do the kiddie-like shows which are super fun . . .  With the teen shows, there’s this nice middle ground where you can do shows that you might not be able to do as a kid, but they’re not quite adult shows.”

The SVCT’s cast is made up of 32 teenagers. At an hour and a half, “Newsies, Jr.” is an abridged version of the full Broadway version, which is three hours long, said Kathy Tom, the show’s producer. All the main elements of the original show are in the shortened version, which is written to be performed in schools and venues for young people.

For many of the cast, this is the first show they will perform in in more than two years because the pandemic prevented live theater performances, she said.

“These kids have been itching to get back on stage,” Tom said. “We’ve got a lot of new faces, which I love. That’s always exciting because that’s your future of stage talent.”

The newsies cast is made up of David Carlen, Joshua Barnson, Brody Bourke, Larissa Parson, Elijah Barnson, Maya King, Isabel Hanson, Jillian Puente, Makayla Hoiberg, Melanie Chipman, Makena Willis, Lucie Hall, Sydney Hoiberg, Sidney Berry, Lachlan Sellers, Chloe Grotz, Ishaan Joshi, Megan Kapusta, Alexander Bravo, Riley Brown, Fiona Hawk, Calista Roberts, Abigail Imerson, Joseph King, Molly Paul, Hayden Mallette, and Kyah Babayan.

Medda Larkin’s Theater cast is made up of Ash Rollins, Ruby Salvatti, Ava Lowe, Gianna De Maria, and Megan Kapusta. The citizens of New York cast is made up of Keegan Bettencourt, Lachlan Sellers, Gianna De Maria, Hayden Mallette, Ash Rollins, Chloe Groz, and Ishaan Josh.

The producer is Kathy Tom, the director is Colleen Blanchard, the assistant director is Lexie Mallete, the vocal director is Alan Chipman, and the choreographer is Christine Carrillo.