Some of the cast of Colonel Gray High School's production of "Newsies: The Musical" perform during a rehearsal at the Confederation Centre of the Arts on March 28. - Jennie Pham/SaltWire NetworkCHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — Colonel Gray High School students are heading back on stage after their musicals were postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“There is one kind of government guy that is in charge of a newspaper brand called The World, and in order to make more money, he decides to raise the price of papers, making it harder for newsboys to sell papers because the higher the price of the paper the harder we have to sell,” Lawt said. “So the story is around finding justice for kids, the newsies, who need to make money to be able to live.
“All of the students involved have been really grateful to have the chance to be involved. They haven’t had the same opportunities to be involved in theatre due to COVID over the past few years as our students often would, which makes their work even more impressive,” he said. Rexmin Vu, left, and Jannah McCallum wait in their costumes for a rehearsal of Colonel Gray High School's production of"Newsies: The Musical". Vu is part of the musical's chorus while McCallum is performing as a newsie and a police officer. - Jennie Pham/SaltWire Network“We’ve had like 10-hour rehearsal, so we kind of always try our best to be like keeping our energy up and remembering why we’re doing this, keeping our commitment and stuff,” Lawt said.
As the musical plot is about finding equal rights for the newsboys, Nathan Dudley who also plays one of the main 14 newsies, thinks it reflects on what still happens today.