Stop the Presses! Playmakers to Perform Newsies

CEDAR CITY, Utah — Stop the presses! The Utah Shakespeare Festival Playmakers performing company is making headlines by presenting the high-energy musical Newsies! Public performances are on March 15 and 18 at 7:30 p.m. and March 16 at 2 p.m. in the Randall L. Jones Theatre.

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. Tickets are available for $5 at bard.org/playmakers or by calling 800-PLAYTIX.

“This is a fun, exciting, high-energy (and inspiring) musical,” said Michael Bahr, Festival education director. “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 a chance to rehearse, learn, and then perform. The program trains youth in theatre fundamentals, including how to sing and dance with a live piano, rehearsal and performance etiquette, and how to work, share, give, and play with others.

Britannia Howe is directing and teaching this program. She created a similar program for young performers in Ashland, Oregon, and is thrilled to provide this training for young artists here 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. “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.”

For more information, call the Ticket Office at 800-PLAYTIX or visit the webpage at www.bard.org/playmakers.