Read all about it, read all about it! “The Newsboys” is coming to the Bowlus Fine Arts Center Friday and Saturday. FOLLOWING “The Newsboys” will be the showcase performance by the larger Cooper Studio Dance Center. PREPARATIONS have gone very smoothly, Cooper said, and the dancers feels ready.
The production ventures out of the norm for Jesse Cooper’s Kansas Youth Dance Company. As director and choreographer, Cooper said the 40-minute production focuses on newspaper workers in the 1890s who strike against Joseph Pulitzer’s tough child labor standards. Of course, the studio’s version of the story has a bit more pizzazz to it.
“All of the other productions we have done have been ballet,” Cooper said. “This one has jazz-tap and even a little hip-hop thrown in.”
Chelsea Lea is the primary dancer in the production, but Cooper said all of the dancers play integral roles in the action. The minimum amount of numbers each student had to learn was three, and he said some have had to learn as many as 12.
“We have a lot of different kids with a lot of different talents,” Cooper said. The action of the story requires aerial dance moves, choreographed fights and several other types of movements.
“There will be everyone from 3-year-olds to the most competitive dancers,” Cooper said.
He said his studio strives to make their showcase “more than a recital,” and a production in and of itself.
Tickets for the evening are available at Mike’s Carpet World, 803 N. State St., for $10. They also can be purchased at the doors, which open at 6:30 p.m. Friday. The curtains raise at 7 p.m.
“This is the most prepared we’ve ever been,” Cooper said. But, it couldn’t be without the help of his staff.
Erica Richie is the stage manager for the production, and Kevin Richie, her husband, is in charge of lights for the show. They are both from Austin and are no strangers to the spotlight. Kevin is the light technician for Long Center for Performing Arts in Austin and they have both worked on musicals such as “Les Miserables” and “The Little Shop of Horrors.”
“They bring a whole other level,” of talent to the production, Cooper said.
Mike Cooper, Jesse’s dad, has created custom props for the production, and the company has rented two huge backdrops from Kansas City. Jeanne Cooper, Jesse’s mother, was in charge of crafting the costumes.
There are 35 youths in the production of Newsboys, and managing the cast provided an extra challenge for Cooper, who was wearing a special boot and using a cane during Wednesday night’s technical rehearsal. He suffered injuries in a car wreck two years ago, and recently had corrective surgery on his ankle.
“Hopefully we fixed a lot of problems, to where I can dance again,” he said. He has not been able to bear weight for the past two months, and just now can use a cane. He said Lea has been “my right foot” during practices, serving as his dance assistant in the studio.
The 35 dancers represent Iola, Humboldt, Moran, Yates Center, Chanute and Colony. They have been hard at work since Cooper’s production of “The Nutcracker” wrapped up in December. Cooper said he has no worries and the community will be blown away.
“It’s pushing our kids to a different level,” he said. “No one’s seen a show like this.”
‘Newsboys’ coming to Bowlus
