Tuesday, April 29, 2025
A cast of South Side High School students is busy rehearsing for the school’s highly anticipated spring musical, “Newsies,” which will take the stage early next month. The production is the culmination of months of preparation, teamwork and dedication, and it has emphasized to all involved why theater is so impactful.
The journey began in November, when the show was announced to students just before Thanksgiving break. Auditions followed in December, marking the start of an intensive rehearsal schedule. Students have rotated among dance rehearsals, music practice and stage time, with rehearsals running up to five days a week.
“It just kind of grows and grows until we can make it through bigger and bigger chunks of it,” Russell Dembin, the director of the musical and the theater teacher, said.
Nearly 40 students — including two fifth-graders — are part of the production, which also involves a student-run pit orchestra. Some students also take part in a special class called Play Production, affectionately referred to as Play Prod, according to Dembin. The class, co-taught by Dembin and Chris D’Ambrosio, a science teacher with a carpentry background, focuses on building the set and working on other production elements. Saturday crew calls give students a chance to contribute to the behind-the-scenes work, including set construction and other production tasks.
The decision to choose “Newsies” was a collaborative one, and, as Dembin said, “It was the very best show for these students in this moment.” It tells the story of a group of newsboys who take a stand against powerful newspaper moguls in 1899 New York City. The musical, inspired by real events, features unique and powerful characters, and an array of song-and-dance numbers such as “Seize the Day,” “Carrying the Banner” and “King of New York.”
Amalia Breen, a junior, and Cayleigh Ricchiuti, a senior, were both cast as Katherine Plumber, a strong, intelligent and determined character. A reporter for The New York Sun, she initially struggles to be taken seriously in a male-dominated field, and her character resonates with both students. Breen will play Katherine on April 2 and 3, with Ricciuti playing a newsboy in the ensemble, and they will switch for April 4 and 5, with Ricchiuti playing Katherine and Breen playing a newsboy.
“Her dream is to make a name for herself, and she’s kind of putting herself out there and being like one of the only female publishers of that time,” Breen said, “and people underestimate her because of it, but she doesn’t let it get to her head. She knows that she’s capable of doing great things, and that’s what she tries to do.”
“I feel like she has sort of this zest for life and this humor about her that is super fun to play into,” Ricchiuti added. “She’s a very playful character, but also has her own sort of curiosity, where, like, she takes herself very seriously.”
The show is unique, and attracted a broader range of students, including those who might not typically audition for musicals. Jose Cruz-Rincon, a senior at South Side, had never been a part of the drama program until last year, and “Newsies” is the first production in which he will play a character with lines and solos. He said that his character, Crutchie, a disabled but persevering figure full of positivity and resilience, is one he has deeply connected with, and admires.
Getting involved in theater, Cruz-Rincon added, has changed him. “Before theater, I was this immature 16-year-old — I was a very different person than I am now,” he said. “And just being involved in theater, it’s made me be kinder as a person, be more mature, be more compassionate.”
The choreography for this musical can be intense, choreographer Dana McDonald said, but despite the challenges, students have risen to the occasion, and proven that they are hard workers.
“A lot of them are learning a lot of choreography that they’ve never even heard of,” McDonald said. “They go home and they practice, and they watch videos, and then they come back and they show me all these things they learned.”
The process of putting the musical together has demonstrated why theater is so important to the students, the staff and the community as a whole.
“It’s important for students to have an arts education, since so much of their adult lives is going to be consuming the arts as a medium,” Doreen Fryling, the school’s music director, said. “But we also hope to create artists that go out into our community to continue to contribute to every field of artistic making, so any way that a kid can get connected with the arts here in school is the way that they’re learning about the larger world.”
A theater production also creates a comforting sense of community, which the students cast members say has deeply impacted their lives. Lucy Frain, a junior and the stage manager for “Newsies,” is particularly passionate about “watching people up there smiling and having the time of their life doing this thing.”
“If anyone’s ever on the fence about doing theater, like, don’t be afraid to take the risk,” Frain added, “because you never know, like, where you’re going to find yourself in the future.
