Through a series of lunchtime practices and after-school rehearsals, RM’s Black Maskers are preparing for their first show of the school year.
“Newsies” is a 1992 musical drama originally produced by Walt Disney Pictures. Based on the New York City Newsboy strike of 1899, the film follows a group of young newspaper sellers, “newsies,” as they fight against exploitation and corruption from big news corporations.
With its release, Disney intended to revolutionize the live-action-musical genre. However, the movie was a complete failure, dubbed “dead on arrival,” due to the musically-inexperienced cast and songwriting-time constraints, amidst other reasons. By the end of its opening weekend, “Newsies” had only grossed $1.2 million compared to its $15 million budget.
Two decades later however, the otherwise dead movie was revived in 2012 by its sudden Broadway adaptation. Debuting on stage with a few character changes, seven new songs and alternate lyrics, the Broadway musical was met with surprising enthusiasm from fans and what started as a limited run quickly turned into over 1,000 shows and eight Tony Award nominations.
Now, RM’s Black Maskers are taking up the musical, but it is no easy feat. From the show’s abundance of musical scores to complex dance routines, the preparation process is lengthy–and selective.
RM is one of the few schools to have an entirely student-based pit orchestra. “Every year, students come out and audition for it and we have a really proud tradition of having a pit orchestra that sounds as good as many professionals,” RM music teacher and pit orchestra conductor Dr. Peter Perry said.
The instruments required vary year-to-year, based on the musical itself and its soundtrack. Older musicals often feature more classical-type pieces and orchestras, while newer ones might contain electronic sounds, for example. “Newsies,” being a very dance-heavy musical, features a blend of pop and rock genres. It employs the typical string instruments seen in traditional orchestra, but also includes elements of keyboard, guitar and piccolo (among others).
The music was written by Alan Menken, a recognizable name to many for both his extensive repertoire (being one of the few people to win an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony award and the mastermind behind the iconic songs from “Beauty and the Beast,” “The Little Mermaid” and “Aladdin,” to name a few) but also the complex rhythmic patterns that make his pieces difficult to play. Yet, RM students took this in a stride; many signed up to audition and the ones who made it are putting their skills to the test. “It’s extremely fun, but it’s probably the most difficult thing I do for violin,” sophomore and violinist Alaina Lee said.
The schedule is rigorous, with consistent lunchtime practices in October and long hours of after school rehearsals throughout early November. “It’s like a lot of time commitment, I guess, because we’re in here almost every day at lunch and some days after school as well,” senior and trumpet player Judah Davis said. Yet, even this does not feel like enough time. “We have copious amounts of lunch rehearsals that will essentially go through the entire show at least once, preferably twice. So for the student musicians, there’s a lot of sight reading involved,” Dr. Perry said. “Time is always very, very limited and the students always step up to that challenge.”
Then, there is the difficulty of incorporating the pit orchestra with the rest of the show’s components. They will do a “sitzprobe,” or sing-through, with the singers so both groups can get a sense of what it is like making music together. Afterwards, the orchestra actually moves to the pit (the lowered area in front of the stage) and the singers rehearse within the acting, blocking and other fundamentals of the show before the rest of the musical–scene changes, lighting, props, etc.–is added. “So at that stage, everything is being now put together and that’s sort of both the trickiest part of the preparation, but also that’s just becoming the most rewarding, because you start seeing a show,” Dr. Perry said.
Despite the high time commitment, advanced music and short timeframe, there is a reason it is so popular. “This is my second year doing it and it just keeps getting harder, but it’s, it’s really rewarding at the end, when you do, like, your perfect show,” Lee said. “It’s a lot of fun and it’s gonna turn into something really amazing,” Davis said. All the hard work of so many different people comes together to make something beautiful for both audiences and performers. “I can see the students be very satisfied, because we always have a lot of students who want to participate and listen to the orchestra and want to be part of it. And we’ve had a whole slew of folks come out this year, which is really exciting. Hopefully next year they’ll be out again,” Dr. Perry said.
Opening night for the third revival of “Newsies,” this time by RM’s Black Maskers, is scheduled for Nov. 14. From audience members to performers, it is the collaboration between students (and teachers) that brings the show to life from the ground up. “For me, it’s very rewarding to watch the students across the board, you know, on all these different levels, you know, step up and really do a professional level job. So it’s very, very exhilarating,” Dr. Perry said.
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