CEDAR CITY — Stop the presses! The Utah Shakespeare Festival Playmakers performing company will be presenting the high-energy musical “Newsies!”
The play’s three scheduled performances are March 15 and 18 at 7:30 p.m. and March 16 at 2 p.m. in the Randall L. Jones Theatre in Cedar City.
Inspired by the true story of the 1899 New York City newsboy strike, “Newsies! The Musical” is a rousing tale of a courageous group of newsboys who become unlikely heroes when they team up to fight an unscrupulous newspaper tycoon.
“This is a fun, exciting, high-energy (and inspiring) musical,” festival education director Michael Bahr said in a press release issued by The Utah Shakespeare Festival. “It is a perfect vehicle for our Playmakers program, which trains young actors and then gives them a chance to perform on the Festival stages.”
The Playmakers program provides young actors ages 6-16 a chance to rehearse, learn and then perform. The program trains youth in theater fundamentals, including how to sing and dance with a live piano, rehearsal and performance etiquette, as well as how to work, share, give and play with others.
Britannia Howe is directing and teaching the program. She created a similar program for young performers in Ashland, Oregon, and will bring her training to young artists in Cedar City.
“It’s thrilling to know that the youth of Cedar City will be telling a story about adolescents their very age who lived one hundred years ago,” she said in the press release. “’Newsies’ has many themes, but my favorite is that children do, indeed, have power. It’s for that reason I’m excited that Playmakers is producing this delightful play.”
Tickets are available for $5 at the Utah Shakespeare Festival website or by calling 800-PLAYTIX.
Event details
- What: “Newsies! The Musical,” presented by Utah Shakespeare Festival Playmakers.
- When: March 15 at 7:30 p.m., March 16 at 2 p.m. and March 18 at 7:30 p.m.
- Where: Randall L. Jones Theatre, 300 W. Center St., Cedar City.
- Admission: $5 per person. Tickets are available at the Utah Shakespeare Festival website or by calling 800-PLAYTIX.
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