Newsies Jr

It was my first time at Bryntirion, and it was a lovely welcome. As soon as you entered the space you could see some of the ensemble mingling with the audience and selling programmes like authentic ‘newsies. The set was simple and effective, with scaffolding rostra and steps. The production was semi-immersive, with some of the playing area on the sides of the audience. The lighting and sound were very authentic and lent itself to the piece. There was not an orchestra, but you didn’t feel the loss of this with the excellent click tracks that were provided. 

The show started with a fun announcement which was lent some funny ad libs from ‘Crutchie’ played excellently by Ben Brian. His song in the second act ‘the letter’ was a sweet highlight and was performed nicely by Ben. We were then introduced to ‘Jack’ played by the exceptional Toby Lewis. His solo ‘Santa Fe’ at the end of Act one was a standout moment in the show, and throughout the whole performance Toby commanded the stage and led the piece impressively well. The rest of the Newsies were then introduced, and there were some lovely moments between them all. One performance that really impressed me was by Grace Lee who played ‘Race. She had some comedic moments that were timed effectively and led some of the younger cast efficiently. The ensemble and main newsies delivered dance moments that enhanced the songs. Some of the roles were double cast therefore on the evening that I saw the performance ‘Katherine’ was played by Lucie-Mai Giles. She performed well and had a lovely moment with her solo ‘Watch what happens’. ‘Davey’ was played by Ben Lewis. He had a nice moment with his solo part in ‘Seize the Day’ and has some great potential. ‘Les’ was played by Evelyn Williams, who brought the childish charm that was needed to the role. A highlight for me was ‘Pulitzer’ played marvellously by Alfie Morwood. He had the right balance of villain and comic and had some dramatic moments with Jack and Katherine. 

‘Medda’ played by Charlotte Richards was another highlight. She had the confidence and voice that carried this character well. ‘Weisel’ was played by an on-form Nia Badger. She had the comic timing down and made a nice guest appearance as one of Medda’s backing dancers. Another highlight for me was ‘King of New York’ at the start of the second act. As one of my personal favourite songs of the show, I was interested to find out how the cast would interpret this and make it their own, and they did it with aplomb! The dance sequence added efficiently to the piece, and they kept it authentic by adding a nice little tap dance-off, which was great to see. This really was an ensemble piece, with every person on stage with their little character and helping progress the show along by moving props or adding to the background of scenes. There are too many to mention here, but I wanted to make it known that I could see the hard work put in by them and how much they looked like they were enjoying every second of being on the stage. 

As I have previously mentioned, some of the main roles were double cast, and Regional councillor Tony has graciously made some comments on the other cast due to attending their performance. His comments are below. But before that I would like to congratulate Mrs Davies and the whole of the Bryntirion Comprehensive team for a slick well-oiled performance, and I look forward to your next production. 

 

Comments from Tony Evans, Regional Councillor – 

 

As this production was covered by our District 5 Representative Lowri Paynter I have only included the alternate cast that Lowri did not see having agreed with her report on the other cast members.

The role of Katherine was played by Alyssa Roberts and I enjoyed her performance; she played it with the right amount of fear of her father but strong enough to stand up for her principles. A lovely rendition of “Watch what happens”.

Alex Durston took on the role of Davey and I liked his interaction with Freya Weston who played his younger sibling Les.

Pulitzer in the performance I watched was played by Naomi Perkins, it was a totally different take on this character by Naomi which was very well done.

 

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