Armed with only their strong determination, impressive dance moves and talented singing, the newsboys of New York City strike against injustice brought on by newspaper tycoon Joseph Pulitzer’s unfair prices in this year’s all-state show. On Jan. 9 and 10, senior Lincoln Pixton performed in “Newsies,” the Illinois 2026 all-state musical, at Illinois State University.
The all-state musical is performed each year at the annual Illinois High School Theatre Festival, a convention for high school students across the state interested in theater. At the festival, professionals lead workshops for both actors and members of the technical crew, and there are a variety of shows that students can attend, one of which is the all-state show.
Cast as a member of the adult ensemble, Pixton’s roles included newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer’s bookkeeper, Bunsen; a goon that appeared during one of the fight scenes and a newsie from Bronx. Pixton was also given the part of Pulitzer’s understudy.
With hundreds of students across the state auditioning for a part in the musical, the all-state show was very challenging to get into, marking a major accomplishment for Pixton.
“It was a really, really big honor for me, and honestly, a dream come true,” said Pixton. “Performing at Theatre Fest, you’re in a room with thousands of theater kids that all love ‘Newsies,’ and it’s just insane. … It was such a cool experience to be surrounded by so many people that just love theater, and I think that’s something that I will always remember and always be thankful for.”
There were many significant parts of the show for Pixton, one of which was the opportunity to sing with other talented actors.
“The main bad guy, Pulitzer, has this amazing song, and I have a small solo in it. It’s called ‘The Bottom Line,’ and I got to sing in four part harmony with these three other incredible performers,” said Pixton. “It was just so cool to be able to create something that awesome, something so beautiful.”
Pixton enjoyed the many challenges that came with his role, one of which was learning the combat scenes.
“There’s a point in ‘Newsies’ when all the newsies are striking after ‘Seize the Day.’ It’s this huge celebratory moment, and then out of nowhere, these bad guys come in and start beating up the newsies, and I was one of the bad guys,” said Pixton. “I liked the fight scene because I got to do fight choreo[graphy] for the first time, and that was really challenging, but also really fun.”
Students interested in auditioning for “Newsies” received the information for the show in April 2025, which included materials for the singing, acting and dancing components of the audition. The auditions then took place in June, with callbacks occurring a few weeks later.
The entire directing staff of “Newsies” was composed of teachers, who worked to make sure rehearsals did not interfere with education.
“They put very special emphasis on the fact that they don’t want the students who are in the show to be missing school in order to be at rehearsals,” said Pixton. “Because it’s students from across the state, they try to make it so that all the rehearsals fall on long weekends so students can travel up.”
Weekend rehearsals took place at Addison Trail High School and ramped up to every day rehearsals a week prior to performing.
“At those rehearsals, we learned choreo. We learned fight choreo. We worked on bringing out the most of our characters,” said Pixton. “In our downtime, we would just talk to each other, talk about the kids. [We] would talk about shows we loved, shows we want to do, what our plans were after ‘Newsies’ and after high school, and it was a lot of fun.”
The North students that went to the Illinois High School Theatre Festival enjoyed seeing Pixton’s talent and passion in “Newsies.”
“[Lincoln’s] just so talented in so many aspects of theater. He has such a connection to the piece that he’s performing,” said sophomore Gabriel Lotfi, who attended this year’s all-state show. “He’s so dedicated to what he does. He has a passion for the arts, and he has a passion for the theater, and I truly admire that about him.”
Being a part of musical theater has had a significant positive impact on Pixton’s life, and he plans to attend Illinois State University after graduation to pursue this passion.
“I have found a lot of really meaningful community through theater, and I cannot recommend it enough. If anybody’s curious about doing theater, I would say absolutely give it a try,” said Pixton. “It’s incredible. My life has been changed because of theater in so many positive ways.”
Pixton’s love of musical theater comes from the creativity and community that people can take for granted.
“I think my favorite part of theater is the sort of shared humanity we all get to participate in,” said Pixton. “It’s easy to just get distracted by so much chaos in our lives, and I think the ability to create works together with a group of people, and to share it with a live audience, is something that is sort of taken for granted sometimes.”
Khaliel Kelly • Jan 16, 2026 at 9:32 am
This is a very
well written article about an excellent human. Great job!