A strike 125 years ago is the subject of a musical to be presented at Centre Stage Theatre in Summerland later this month.

Drama students at Summerland Secondary School will stage Newsies, a musical inspired by the Newsboys Strike of 1899 in New York.

The musical is based on the 1992 musical film of the same name. As a stage musical, Newsies premiered in New Jersey in 2011 and opened as a musical on Broadway in New York in 2012.

Heather Ayris, drama teacher at Summerland Secondary School, said the students at the school wanted to perform this musical.

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鈥淭hey fought for this one. They could really connect with it,鈥� she said.

The youth-led strike in 1899 addressed compensation paid to newspaper hawkers by the New York World and New York Journal. The strike lasted for two weeks and stopped the circulation of the two papers during that time.

Ayris said some of the issues addressed during the strike, especially surrounding minimum wage and poverty, are relevant today. In addition, the students involved in the production were around the same age as the newspaper hawkers during the strike of 1899.

She added that the musical is a positive family-based production.

The musical has lots of quick scene changes and as a result, a large cast and crew were needed. More than 80 students from the high school are involved in the production.

The musical was chosen in late spring and students have been preparing since September. Those in lead roles have been working on their parts since the end of the last school year.

Because of the time commitment involved in the musical, Ayris said students in the drama program form close friendships as a result of their time together on the sage.

The musical will be at Centre Stage Theatre from Feb. 15 to 17 and Feb. 22 to 24, with the show beginning at 7 p.m. each evening.