Behind the Scenes

Davey and Jack. (Photographer Rachel Roze)

On November 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, senior Sam Powers played the leading character, Jack Kelly, in Newsies at the Lebanon Opera House. A true story about a group of newspaper boys in 1899.

“We had around 2,100 people come, so almost a full house every night. We made $20,000 for charity so that was pretty good,” Powers said.

Newsies is a true story about newspaper boys in 1899. It was in a time of “intense socioeconomics.” The story is about these newspaper boys, “Newsies,” from New York who noticed a rise in the prices of the newspapers they sell. Because of this they form a union to fight back against their bosses, led by Jack Kelly.

“For two months we practiced ten hours a week, two days a week. Five hours Friday, five hours Sunday. Then we had tech week which was probably seven or eight hours every day leading up to the performance,” said Powers.

“I got to autograph a bunch of little kids newspapers that they got. I think the fact I got to do the same performance every night was pretty awesome. I got to continue with a difficult performance every night.”