BREA : ‘Newsies’ Not Bad for Young Actor

The news hasn’t been good for the feature film “Newsies,” a musical that survived in the theaters seemingly about as long as the early 20th-Century newsboys’ strike on which the movie is based. But a Brea youth who appeared in the movie hasn’t let the bad news get him down.

“I really liked it and I don’t know why it didn’t last,” said Joseph Creagh, 17, a junior at Brea-Olinda High School who appeared as Jake, one of the vast cast of newsboys in the film.

Although “Newsies” was Creagh’s first feature film, he already has extensive show business experience. He’s appeared on the Disney Channel children’s show, “Kids, Inc.,” the television pilot “Hull High,” and has also competed on “Star Search.” He’s a familiar face in numerous commercials too.

Creagh--who performs under the stage name Joseph Conrad--got his start in Orange County, performing in numerous community theater productions such as “Peter Pan,” “Oliver!” and “Bye, Bye Birdie.”

In many ways, Creagh owes his start in the business to his sister, Jennifer. When she began to take dance classes, she taught her younger brother, then 9, all her moves. He was so impressed that he kept going to the classes even after his sister quit.

At first, Creagh said, some of his peers teased him about his dancing. “But once my friends saw it wasn’t all tutus and tights, they thought it was cool.”

For “Newsies,” Creagh took a semester off from school, studying and doing his homework on the film’s set. He and his fellow newspaper boys rehearsed from February to April last year, then filmed from the end of April through July.

To prepare for his role as Jake, Creagh took classes in voice and dance as well as in the martial arts. Yet for all of his work, Creagh discovered at the film’s Hollywood premiere that his two lines of dialogue had not made the final cut.

The cheerful Creagh wasn’t too upset however.

“I was surprised at how much I was in it,” he said.

For now, Creagh has another year of high school to complete and has sworn off appearing in films until then, although he will continue to do commercials and local theater.

“I’m really content being a student now and doing student things,” Creagh said. “I want to graduate with the kids I grew up with.”

Creagh hopes to attend a college with a film program, a direct result of his experience in “Newsies.”

“I was fascinated with the process of making movies,” he said.

He also said that acting has brought new and fruitful relationships. He met his current girlfriend in an acting troupe, and he keeps in touch with many of his fellow “newsies” from the film.

“I made friends with them,” Creagh said. “We became like a family.”