Gregory Banks, who plays newspaper boy Specs in Newsies at Toby’s Dinner Theatre, leaps into the air in a scene from the musical, which is filled with song, dance and acrobatics. Photo by Jeri Tidwell Photography

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The ragtag group of orphans and homeless youth who hawked newspapers on street corners in 1899 never could have dreamed how the delivery of news would be transformed 120 years in the future. Nor could they have imagined that their story would be danced across stages throughout the country.

But the story told by Newsies has quite literally leapt from a dusty corner of history into an adroitly acrobatic musical. Now onstage at Toby’s Dinner Theatre, the show tells the story of how the impoverished New York newsies staged a strike against the newspaper magnates of the day, Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst.

It’s not exactly the kind of story you’d expect from Disney, but the company known for generally fluffier fare attempted to breathe life into the tale as musical movie in 1992 — and it promptly bombed at the box office.

However, it found a cult following on video, and Disney took it to Broadway a decade later, where it played for two years and garnered two Tony Awards: for Best Score, by Alan Menken and Jack Feldman, and for Best Choreography.

The same infectious energy that helped Newsies win for choreography carries over to Toby’s small stage at its theater-in-the-round. A dozen newsies manage perfectly synchronized dance moves, handstands and even aerial flips without crashing into each other as they move the story along.

On strike

And the story is this: Pulitzer decides he wants to add to his vast fortune by forcing the newsies to pay a higher wholesale price to buy the papers (or “papes” as they’re called in the vernacular of the time) that they sell on the streets.

As the boys bemoan this latest twist of fate, leader Jack Kelly takes a stand and calls for a strike by the newsies in his neighborhood. Then he works to organize a strike throughout all of New York’s boroughs.

Scabs are called in to take over the jobs. Thugs crash onto stage to bash the newsies in several scenes of violence.

Somewhat incongruously tacked onto this is a love story between Jack and reporter Katherine Plumber, who endeavors to cover the strike before her boss censors her.

Katherine, along with the sporadic appearance of Medda Larkin, who owns a vaudeville theater, may be in Newsies because they are the only two women with roles of any substance in a show filled with young men portraying the newsies and older ones in the newspaper’s management.

At the same time, the story of the newsies seems to flag a bit in the middle, and all the fleet-footed dancing can’t disguise a book by Harvey Fierstein (who also wrote La Cage aux Folles and Kinky Boots) that can be a bit flat.

Excellent, energetic cast

Toby’s has worked to overcome that by casting superb actors in many roles. Nine-year-old Cooper Trump as the youngest newsie Les may be Toby’s most outstanding newcomer. In his first acting role ever, he’s both adorable and shrewd, not to mention gymnastically gifted as he walks on his hands across the stage.

Tyler Smallwood, who played Michael in Toby’s production of Mary Poppins, portrays Les on alternate nights.

Matt Hirsh ably carries the role of Jack, who before leading the strike, pines to leave New York for the wide open space of Santa Fe. He implores his friend Crutchie (movingly played by Tyler Witt), so named for a disability that makes it difficult for him to walk, to go with him instead of dodging incarceration in the ironically named orphanage, the Refuge.

Gregory Banks, who plays newsie Specs, is a standout dancer and gymnast, defying gravity again and again.

In fact, all the newsies deserve credit for their agility and sheer energy, clambering up and down the scaffolding that cleverly serves as additional performance space above the audience. Each hour-long act, while they are in near-constant motion, must be exhausting, but they appear to never tire.

In an era of fake news accusations and ever-shrinking newspaper newsrooms, it’s refreshing to see just how dynamic and vital newspapers — and the boys who sold them — were to the fabric of daily life in the 19th century.

Newsies continues through June 10 at Toby’s Dinner Theatre, located at 5900 Symphony Woods Rd. in Columbia, Md.

The show runs every day except Mondays, with evening and matinee performances. Doors open at 6 p.m., Monday through Saturday, for dinner prior to the evening performances, which begin at 8 p.m. For Sunday evening performances, which begin at 7 p.m., doors open at 5 p.m. for dinner.

On Wednesdays and Sundays, there are matinee performances, which open for brunch at 10:30 a.m., with shows beginning at 12:30 p.m.

Reservations are required. Ticket prices range from $45.50 (for children under 12) to $64, depending on the performance. Ticket prices include buffet dinner or brunch, tea and coffee. Alcoholic drinks are extra.

The buffet meal features a selection of meats and sides (all helpfully marked vegetarian or gluten-free if applicable), including prime rib, roast turkey, fried fish, cocktail shrimp, a variety of vegetables, salad bar and more. Included on the menu during Newsies are Pulitzer’s Pasta with a three-cream sauce and Crutchie’s Chicken, with apples, onions and peppers.

Cake and unlimited ice cream are also included. You can also arrange to have coffee or alcohol brought to you during intermission.

At Toby’s, the show’s actors also wait on tables. Their tips constitute much of their pay for their performances, so be sure to tip well.

For more information or to reserve tickets, call (410) 730-8311 or visit http://www.tobysdinnertheatre.com.