Sing along with the ragtag Newsies these school holidays

An upbeat musical inspired by the true story of a ragtag team of newsboys who made a living on the streets of New York City at the turn-of-the-century is set to entertain families and musical theatre lovers this month.

A cast of 47 young actors from Redcliffe Musical Theatre’s Roar Academy will take to the stage during the school holidays to present Disney’s Newsies Jr over four big shows on September 24 and 25.

Redcliffe Musical Theatre Principal Madeleine Johns said she was proud to have so many male actors in the one production.

“It is fabulous to see so many male actors take to the stage for this wonderful play,” Madeleine said.

“It’s not very often you have a lot of young males interested in musical theatre, but we are so fortunate to have lots of talented boys in our theatre company.

“We will have two different casts for the shows – the Manhattan cast will be performing on the Saturday, and the Brooklyn cast performing on the Sunday.

“We have enough kids in this cast to do that, which means everyone gets to have a go on stage.

“During the school holidays the cast will workshop the musical and then perform the junior musical, which will be just over an hour long.

“It’s a great story with lots of group vocals and choreography, which is perfect for a big team like ours.”

Disney’s Newsies Jr is a shorter version of the 2012 Broadway musical, which was based on the 1992 film starring Christian Bale, Robert Duvall and Bill Pullman.

When powerful newspaper publishers raise prices at the newsboys’ expense, the charismatic Jack Kelly rallies newsies from across the city to strike against the unfair conditions. Together the Newsies learn that they are stronger united and create a movement to fight for what’s right.

The musical also features several classic songs such as Carrying the Banner, Seize the Day and Santa Fe.

Head along

Performances will be held on Saturday, September 24 at 2pm and 7pm, as well as Sunday, September 25 at 1pm and 6pm.

The show will be performed at the Timothy Peter Centre at Southern Cross Catholic College, located at 310 Scarborough Rd, Scarborough.

Tickets are $25 for adults, $20 for concession (pensioners and students) and $15 for children aged 2-12.

Family passes (two adults and two children) can also be purchased for $70.

There is a 50 cent surcharge per ticket on all online bookings.

Click here to book.

Exciting opportunity to meet other like-minded people

Money raised from ticket sales will go towards sending the Roar academy team to Newcastle to attend the Junior Theatre Festival in October.

The Junior Theatre Festival is Australia’s largest celebration of young people and musical theatre.

“The last time we attended was in 2019 due to COVID restrictions and border closures,” Madeleine said.

“This is such an amazing opportunity for the cast because they will get to meet other like-minded kids from across Australia.

“There will be more than 1000 kids and more than 20 theatre groups.

“All of the theatre groups get to present a musical theatre piece, and we will be presenting a 10-minute version of Disney’s Newsies Jr.”