‘Newsies’ shows off Music Theatre Wichita’s deep roots for director, actress

Besides entertaining south-central Kansans every summer, Music Theatre Wichita has a mission to pave the way for its college-age performers who, like many of its alumni, could end up on Broadway.

Two veterans of the MTW resident company program are making homecoming visits in what they’re both calling full-circle moments: as director and leading lady of the Disney musical “Newsies,” which opens Wednesday.

Chaz Wolcott, who spent his summer of 2007 with MTW, is directing “Newsies.” A veteran of the “Newsies” national tour, Wolcott has been involved with the musical “pretty much nonstop since 2014, at least one a year,” even during the pandemic, he said.

Becca Petersen, who plays reporter Katherine Plumber, is a 2014 veteran of MTW and was also in the touring “Newsies” ensemble, as well as understudying the role she’s playing at Century II.

For MTW artistic director Brian J. Marcum, the choice of bringing in Wolcott was an easy one.

“Chaz has directed this show probably more times than anyone else ever. He’s directed it 13 times and he knows it inside and out so well,” said Marcum, who was Wolcott’s instructor at Oklahoma City University. “He knows this place, he loves this place, and he understands what we’re trying to do here with the ensemble.”

Wolcott, who previously directed 2023’s “Cats,” set in Joyland Amusement Park, said, “It’s such a good full-circle moment for me.”

“This is the show I’ve felt most at home with because I’ve done it so many times,” he said.” “It’s nice to bring a show I’m so familiar with to a place I’m so familiar with. You don’t always get to do something like this, so it’s very fun.”

Wolcott praised the resident company ensemble, 18 years after he was among their ranks.

“They seem more professional than professionals sometimes,” he said. “It’s hard to believe they’re still in college.” 

Petersen, a cast member of Broadway’s “Back to the Future” and the Broadway and touring runs of “Mean Girls,” says she owes a part of her success to MTW.

“Wichita was the place that taught me to become who I am now, and continues to teach me how to be better and do better and bring goodness to more people,” she said. “It’s so cool to come back with a new set of eyes and more life experience and be around such lovely young people who are in the same spot that I was. It feels very inspiring for me and also very reflective of how grateful I am for the training I received here. 

“It really prepared me to dive into the Broadway world and to feel really confident,” Petersen added. “It’s been such a gift.”

Petersen has fond memories of her time on the “Newsies” tour.

“’Newsies’ is such a special show and to do that production on the road, all these years later some of my best friends were from that production,” she said.

Petersen said she was glad to return to the role of Katherine, a hard-nosed reporter in what was a man’s world, with “more life experience.”

“She is so inspiring to me because she was stepping out of her comfort zone as a woman and standing up to family members and having a different point of view from the people that she loves,” Petersen said.

“Newsies” is the musical dramatization of the real-life Newsboy Strike of 1899, where the young title characters – many runaways and orphans – stand up to publishing titans Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst after increases in the cost of the publications dig into the young entrepreneurs’ profits.

The first telling of the “Newsies” story was in a 1992 Disney movie musical with Christian Bale as the group’s leader, Jack Kelly. With a $15 million budget, the movie earned a meager $2.8 million.

Wolcott was enthralled by the original movie.

“I’ve been one of those loyal fans since I was a child,” he said. “It inspired me to become a dancer, because it was one of the first times we saw athletic men dancing on film besides Gene Kelly, who’s my idol.”

Giving in to fans, Wolcott said, Disney produced a stage version of “Newsies” in 2011, with music by Alan Menken (“Little Shop of Horrors” and dozens of Disney credits) and a book by Harvey Fierstein.

“The musical has been a huge hit for them, and Disney was surprised since the original musical didn’t do so well,” Wolcott said.

In Wichita

In MTW’s edition, Jack Kelly is played by Brendan Dellaire, a recent graduate of the University of Michigan, who watched a video version of the theatrical musical with Wolcott in the cast.

“It’s a rush to play a role that has extreme catharsis onstage, and Jack in particular has a lot of layers to him,” Dellaire said. “On the outside he’s this tough, charismatic leader but his true colors are the fact that he’s such a vulnerable dreamer and he’s an artist.”

During auditions, Marcum said he was easily convinced to cast Dellaire when he heard his version of Jack’s song “Santa Fe.”

“You will never hear it sung like you’ve heard him sing,” Marcum said.

Music director Thomas W. Douglas, who was also at the baton for the 2017 edition that was directed by Wayne Bryan and choreographed by Marcum, said it’s gratifying to see the progression of the young performers.

“It’s my desire also to see them grow from who they are into the professional world. This environment here in Wichita is perfect for that,” he said. “I haven’t seen an environment this structured to help young people anywhere else. I want the kids to understand more about music and technical stuff. It doesn’t help them in an audition, but it informs them as musicians.”

A professor and director at Carnegie Mellon University, Douglas’ students include Kara Lindsay, who played Katherine during the Broadway run.

Marcum said Wolcott and Petersen are among the resident ensemble alumni who have a soft spot for MTW and feel their summer in Kansas gave a boost to their careers.

“It does speak to the legacy of this place, that we hire great people who like to come back, and people want to come back,” he said.

Flipping the script

In his 13th outing as director of “Newsies,” Wolcott is flipping the script a bit.

“We’re not just a boy-band, we’re an all-gender band,” he said. “There’s some special treats for those who want to see a gang of gal Newsies take over for a couple of minutes.”

Through the years, “Newsies” has gained a loyal, near-“Hamiliton”-esque following among both performers and audience members.

Wolcott said it’s easy to see why.

“It’s inspirational,” he said. “There’s a David vs. Goliath aspect to the story that can provide inspiration for anyone who needs it to overcome some challenge in their life. 

“Getting down to it, it’s almost like a boy band,” Wolcott added. “A lot of the fans tend to be people who like athletic, talented, dancing boys.”

Wolcott said he doesn’t think he’ll ever take off his “Newsies”-directing cap.

“It’s the gift that keeps on giving. It’s also a show I love so much and it’s such a huge challenge to work on, which is my favorite type of show,” said the performer who auditioned seven times for the tour before being cast. “There’s no getting me out of the ‘Newsies’ world.”

‘NEWSIES’ BY MUSIC THEATRE WICHITA

When: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday-Thursday, July 30-31; 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday, Aug. 1-2; 2 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, Aug. 2-3; 7 p.m. Aug. 3

Where: Century II concert hall, 225 W. Douglas

Tickets: $25-$83, from mtwichita.org, 316-265-3107 or the Century II box office

This story was originally published July 27, 2025 at 4:24 AM.