Featured Image: The cast of Newsies: The Musical pose at the end of Seize the Day in a spectacular fashion on Saturday, Nov. 1, at the Dixie Carter Performing Arts Center in Huntingdon, TN | (Bethel University Renaissance)

The Bethel University Renaissance performed its blockbusting production of Newsies: The Musical from Saturday, Nov. 1-8 at the Dixie Carter Performing Arts Center in Huntingdon.

After five strenuous months of rehearsing complex songs and difficult choreographies, the performers put on a show that was nothing short of impressive in all artistic categories.

Director Aubrey Doyle was happy the department ended up producing the show, even though she had some doubts at first.

The production was a theatrical adaptation of the 1992 Disney movie of the same name written by Bob Tzudiker and Noni White, which was in turn based loosely off of the New York City newsboys’ strike of 1899.

“Newsies was a show for me that was kind of a bucket list show and something that I’ve always wanted to do, but we didn’t have very many boys to be in it. So I was like, well, we don’t, but the girls actually were the ones that convinced me to do it,” Doyle said.

The story mainly focuses around newsy Jack Kelly, portrayed by junior Bethel University music production major Cooper Neely of Milan. Jack is a poor yet talented young man who aspires to leave New York and move out west to Santa Fe with his disabled, close friend, Crutchie (Bailey Hudson).

When all the newspapers in town raise the price of a stack of newspapers to 50 cents to 60 cents, Jack and the newsies are outraged at how this change will only make it more difficult for them to earn money. Thanks to an idea thought out by Katharine “Plumber” (Allie Inman), the newsies go on strike and fight to earn their proper wages in a chaotic yet fun sequence of events.

The musical’s premise makes an entertaining watch as it displays what life was like for poor, rural youth who struggled to make themselves a living without a proper family or home. Every actor emulated this environment by dressed up in ragged, old-fashioned clothing and spoke in strong New York accents. It really shed light on this fascinating turn of the century, which even included prominent historical figures such as New York World editor Joseph Pulitzer (Kaleb Porter) and Governor Theodore Roosevelt (Bala Boyd).

One of the show’s most versatile performers was the lead, Cooper Neely. Neely demonstrated his ability to have chemistry with each of his fellow cast members, which made all of the interactions feel fun and lively. Whether he acted like a loving, protective big brother to Bailey Hudson’s Crutchie, or argued and made amends with Nathan Salvador’s Davey, Neely perfectly portrayed the mischievous, ambitious leader Jack Kelly was meant to be.

His greatest strengths as a performer were also shown through his renditions of Santa Fe and its reprise. With eyes of emotion and sorrow, he sang each verse of the song with a stunning projection and timbre that portrayed his longing and put us in his character’s shoes, as we imagined his dreams to leave the city and move out west away from his struggles.

Neely was very excited to be a part of this performance, since he had originally auditioned for the Bethel University Renaissance Theatre with Santa Fe.

“This is a really full circle moment for me. So this is my dream show, my dream role. I did a whole bunch of stuff. I’ve just tried to develop myself a whole lot. And I got a lot of inspiration from actors like Jeremy Jordan and just so many other people,” Neely said.

The musical numbers provided both visual spectacle and vocal expertise to awe the audience’s senses. As an ensemble-focused production, there were plenty of group numbers with all the different newsies spread to different parts of the stage, who sang and took part in different activities. Everybody on stage felt like a developed, unique character, whether it was the cigar-loving, snarky Race (Grace Barber) or the egotistical, womanizing Romeo (Townes Boyd), the large cast helped every scene and musical number feel energetic and alive.

In these big ensemble numbers such as Seize the Day and Carrying the Banner, there would usually be exciting segments near the end of each number where all the cast members would join in the center of the stage and dance together as they shouted the chorus. There were also some segments where some specific cast members would steal the spotlight temporarily by jumping or somersaulting, which always resulted in “whoops” and hollers from the audience.

The set designed by Bala Boyd left little to the imagination. Ornate wooden constructions of buildings and balconies covered the stage and established the settings for each scene. They were built with impressive amounts of care and detail, yet were able to fit all the different settings that took place throughout the play. There were also motorized parts of the set that moved up and down during the play, such as a pair of banners that Kelly painted for Medda Larkin’s theatre.

One of the play’s most unique assets on stage was a large projector that was used as a backdrop to exhibit the different settings like the time of day. It was especially creative when used for interactive scenes such as when the headline was announced, where it was written across the screen, or the musical number I Never Planned on You, where we see each stroke of Jack’s pencil projected above in a beautiful animation that sketches a likeness of Katharine.

The production was a smashing success and brought in plenty of audiences from around the region. While the audience did definitely enjoy the show, the cast may have enjoyed it even more.

Allie Inman, a junior Sociology major from Medina who portrayed Katherine, was well-received for her performance and enjoyed the long process of rehearsals and performance after performance in the Newsies.

“It wouldn’t be the same without all of my amazing co-stars. It really is all of my best friends are in this show and we just get to laugh together, have fun together throughout the entire process. It reminds me how lucky I am to be in a program like this with so many amazing talented people,” she said.

The Bethel University Renaissance has planned many events for the spring 2026 semester, including a production of Clue: On-stage and a Broadway Revue, of which UT Martin students are encouraged to check out to have a splendid experience.