As I sat in my seat at Arena Stage’s theater in the round waiting for Newsies to begin, my friend was in the midst of filling me in on some very juicy gossip. Mid-dish, the lights dimmed and the orchestra began to play the reedy start to the epic Newsies tune “Seize the Day.” I was somehow 13 again. My affection and anticipation for Newsies is such that I was not disappointed to be left on a chinwag cliffhanger for an hour—I was just thrilled for the show to begin.

This is the bias I am operating with when it comes to Arena’s adaptation on the 1992 Disney film-turned-Broadway show about a bunch of kids who sell newspapers on the streets of 1899 New York City, and form a union to protect themselves from the brutal business practices of publisher Joseph Pulitzer (yes, that Pulitzer, who is among this show’s villains). I just unabashedly love this dang show and I was not disappointed by Arena’s production, which made my pre-teen soul swoon and squeal with every synchronized pirouette.

In a show that is all about the importance of, as the Newsies might put it, “stickin’ togeddah,” the actors best embody this value through their dancing. Choreographed by Parker Esse, the moves are designed for the audience to enjoy from 360 degrees. It’s the best use of Arena’s intimate, in-the-round theater that I’ve ever seen, as actors weave their way around the stage and sometimes sit in the audience. The dancing includes acrobatics and the kind of tap dancing that would go viral if it were on YouTube. It is a joy to watch.

And that’s good, because Newsies tackles some bleak subject matter: Kids toiling on the streets, knowing that the more vulnerable they appear, the more likely they are to get a cast-off penny, while the bosses and policemen exist to exploit them. While it’s set more than a century ago, the topics they’re tackling remain fresh, like transit workers striking (in the case of the Newsies, it’s the trolley workers), how profit-driven, sensationalist headlines shape the news the public reads, and the frustrating cliche that female journalists always end up sleeping with their sources.

That role of female journalist, filled by Erin Weaver with humor and killer pipes, represents the biggest change from the film version, as she functions as both the reporter who covers the strike and hero Jack Kelly’s love interest. Daniel Maldonado plays Kelly as a big-hearted wise guy with almost enough braggadocio to make up for his pain. Honestly, put him on the cover of Tiger Beat, if that publication is still around.

We can talk all day about the political implications of this story, which sometimes feels like a Democratic Socialists of America rally with more tap dancing (at least until the corny, Disney-approved ending). It fits in the vein of Arena’s liberal-leaning productions. Indeed, in promotional materials, the theater has tied the Newsies’ struggle with the Parkland students fighting for gun control and the youths like Greta Thunberg calling for climate change action.

But that feels beside the point. What sticks with me isn’t the fact that they’re pirouetting for justice, it’s just those incredible, perfectly synchronized leaps, turns, and twists.

Newsies runs at Arena Stage through December 29. Tickets $51-105. Runtime approximately two hours and 15 minutes, including a 15-minute intermission.