St. Peter CSS presents large-scale musical “Newsies” at Showplace Performance Centre in February
Every two years, St. Peter CSS puts on a large-scale performance involving more than 200 staff and students, on stage and behind the scenes
Jan. 22, 2025
On Tuesday (Jan. 21, 2025), the drama space at St. Peter Catholic Secondary School was a hive of activity as students held a rehearsal for the upcoming performance “Newsies” set to take the stage at Showplace Performance Centre in Peterborough in mid-February.
The crew went through several musical and dance numbers in-front of a small audience, which included families and members of the local media.
“Preparing the hit musical “Newsies” for the stage has been a joyous experience,” said director Paul Crough. “As director, I am indebted to the incredible team of volunteers who have contributed countless hours to bring this show to life. Being able to witness the growth of our actors, musicians, singers and dancers, not only as performers, but as the incredible people they are and continue to become is the greatest gift of all. We are thrilled to take the show to Showplace from February 12-15th and share the magic with the public!”
According to the event listing on the Showplace Performance Centre website, Newsies is set in turn-of-the-century New York City.
It’s the tale of Jack Kelly, played by Grade 12 student Charlie Mundell, a charismatic newsboy and leader of a band of teenaged “newsies.”
When titans of publishing raise distribution prices at the newsboys’ expense, Jack rallies newsies from across the city to strike against the unfair conditions.
The show is full of song and dance and is for the whole family.
“It’s just a bunch of fun and upbeat music. It’s so much energy,” said Charlie. “People who come to see it enjoy the satisfaction of people being on strike and have a visual of people fighting for their world and what they think is right.”
“We’ve tried to mirror the Broadway show as much as we’ve been able to with a group of high school students who are not classically trained,” said Georgia Claydon, Grade 12 student who plays Davey. “Expect a lot of dance and emotions, surprisingly, even though you wouldn’t anticipate it, it has many different layers to it.”
“Something you can expect from Newsies would be high-intensity dancing and singing with a lot of powerful moments with a lot of different tricks and stunts. It’s a very dance-heavy musical,” said Adrianna Malloy, a Grade 12 student who plays Katherine. “This has been so cool to be able to play with my friends and to be able to connect my school to my community.”
Tickets are still available for Newsies, which runs Feb. 15-18 at Showplace Performance Centre.
You can buy them by visiting the Box Office or going to the Showplace Box Office website.