For the past several months, the ADM Drama Department has been busy putting together their fall musical, “Newsies.” This production, first made as a movie back in 1992, is loosely based on the New York newsboys’ strike of 1899. The production includes many characters and has a complicated plot, but ADM rose to the challenge and did their best to pull it off. 

When it was announced that Newsies would be ADM’s musical this fall, many people were surprised and wondered, “How will we even manage to do this?” After interviewing the show’s director, Molly Longman, it’s clear that she initially had her own apprehensions.

 “I fell in love with the original movie when I was younger before it was even a stage production. When it became available for high schools to license, I didn’t jump on it right away because it’s such a complex production. It’s really challenging because it’s a dance-heavy show with a lot of hard technical elements. It requires a large cast of strong individuals, and particularly more strong male voices than we usually have in our department. This year felt like the year to do it because I felt like we had enough strong leads to pull off those parts.” 

Many students in drama were very excited about using Newsies as their show. Megan Weiland, ADM drama’s sound crew head, was thrilled. 

When asked about her reaction to the show’s reveal, Weiland said, “I was so so so excited! I watched Newsies when I was really young with my mom. It was her favorite, so then it became my favorite too.” As a senior, Weiland was incredibly grateful to have one of her last shows be Newsies, a production that she loved. 

As previously mentioned, Newsies has a very complicated plot with many moving pieces and proves to be difficult for high school students to successfully produce. This being said, lots of preparation was required to get this show ready by opening night. 

Clare Garrity, a sophomore in this show’s dance ensemble, discussed the time commitment that Newsies needed. 

 “At first, dance ensemble had separate practices from the rest of the cast. We had it after school for about 45 minutes on Wednesdays. As we got closer to opening night, we started practicing with the whole cast. Our practices would be about an hour and a half. Our dress rehearsals, which took place the week before performance weekend, usually took three to four hours.”

As students rehearsed more and more, they improved immensely, whether they were one of the lead actors or were providing vital behind-the-scenes help. 

Spanish teacher Madeline Gude, who played clarinet in the show’s musical pit, touched on this vast improvement in an interview by saying, “I genuinely think the people in our pit have improved so much. Their confidence is boosting. There’s a lot more cohesion with the kids knowing their parts. The kids on stage are meshing with the pit well.” 

Gude also added, “It’s always nice to have a live musical pit instead of a recording because it brings in a more authentic experience for the audience and the kids.”

ADM’s Newsies production was considered a huge success among both the students putting on the production and audience members. More than that, it allowed students to unleash their creativity and pursue their passion for theatre. 

William Beebe, a sophomore playing the secondary main character “Davey” perfectly encompassed this idea when he said, “Being a part of this production was super fun because I felt like I could really act. I was able to go on a journey with my character and disconnect from the real world.” 

Putting together Newsies was not only gratifying for students but also for several adults who spent tireless hours working on it. When asked about the most rewarding part of being ADM’s director, Molly Longman said, “I love the feeling of being able to watch the students perform with confidence. I love seeing them walk off the stage and hear applause and know that they just did something amazing. I, of course, like getting praise for the show myself but that’s nothing compared to how good it feels to see my students, who have trusted me to direct them, see their hard work pay off and get praise for it. Watching them walk offstage holding their heads high…it’s my favorite part of the job by a long shot.” 

All in all, the production of Newsies has had an impact on many people here at ADM. It’s given actors, crews, the pit, directors, and audiences a chance to escape reality and be entranced by the beauty of an amazing performance. Newsies is a show that will be long remembered by the people of ADM and the ADM Drama Department.