SANTEE, Calif. — A new production of Newsies: The Musical runs in Santee from May 10-19. In this Zevely Zone, I previewed the production from the Sonrise Church.
If you have not already read all about it, the Newsies are back in town!
"It fills my heart with joy," said Chris Rubio who created Arms Wide Open in 2008 for a very personal reason. "I have a brother who is special needs, he is 42 now. He has autism," said Chris who wanted to create a space where everyone was welcome.
Arms Wide Open is a remarkable organization that offers performing arts classes and performance opportunities to people with disabilities. When we interviewed actor Bryce Johnson, his immediate instinct was to share the spotlight. "This is our cast members of Newsies say hey!" said Bryce.
Arms Wide Open is offering a new program called INSPIRE that puts performers with and without disabilities side by side. Actor Michael Mercadante joined this production with his parents. "I think they are doing pretty good," said Michael.
His father Sean added, "It's like a life long dream to be able to share a stage with my wife and my son." Decades ago, Sean auditioned for his high school musical. "Didn't make it past the tryouts," Sean said but now he's on the stage with his son. "Yes, that is what Inspire is all about."
It's also about entertainment. The production is outstanding and inclusivity was on full display.
As the actors lined up to shoot the promos for our segment, the entire cast stopped to demand we wait for Caleb Norling to have time to join them on stage.
"Yay, alright there is a good spot for you!" said Chris as we helped Caleb on stage with his walker. "When people are together and they have all of these different backgrounds and different influences, we actually learn from each other."
Newsies: The Musical is about the little guy standing up to repressive newspaper companies in New York City. Claire Arnold says the musical's message carries a familiar theme. "Stand up for what you believe and these boys believe in their rights. They are saying that they are just as important as any other newspaper or anybody in New York City," said Claire.
"I promised myself that I would want to use my God given talent to give back to the community to create a space where people with special needs or disabilities could come to and express themselves and perform and feel like a star," said Chris. "It feels amazing. When you do what you love it feels like you have never worked a day in you life and I feel blessed to have had that opportunity."
"One for all and all for one," said the cast. Arms Wide Open has been awarded grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, California Arts Council, Conrad Prebys Foundation, and many others.
Newsies: The Musical runs May 10-19 at the Sonrise Church in Santee. For ticket information, visit armswideopensd.com.
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