"Newsies" Musical: Start Spreading the News

The show's director talks Tony awards and other successes.

Screen-to-stage adaptations are a winning combo

Hit plays might be bombing on screen this year, but in recent years, hit movies have been fodder for some of Broadway’s biggest successes. This year was a banner year for screen-to-stage adaptations, with “Once” and “Newsies” among the most-nominated shows for this year’s Tony Awards, and “Bonnie & Clyde,” “Ghost,” and the beleaguered “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark” capturing a few nods, too.

‘Newsies’: Broadway’s latest hit goes back to basics

The first thing you are likely to notice about the new hit Broadway musical “Newsies” is the refreshingly human scale of this show about a newspaper delivery boys’ strike in New York City a century ago.

Although it is a Disney production — based on a flop movie from 1992 — the musical is not over-produced in the style of the same company’s “Tarzan” or “Aida.” You never get the feeling, so prevalent at other contemporary musicals, that the creators are trying to camouflage bum material with technical razzle dazzle.

“Newsies” backed into Broadway with unusual modesty a month ago after a successful 2011 try-out engagement at the Paper Mill Playhouse in New Jersey. The Disney organization hedged its bets in New York City by announcing the musical would have a limited engagement at the Nederlander Theatre through the end of the summer.

Reportedly, the property was originally selected by Disney for development — with a new book by Harvey Fierstein — primarily for school productions around the country. With a large cast of characters made up mostly of young people under the age of 20, the show would be perfect for high schools and community theaters.

The New Jersey test run demonstrated a larger commercial potential in “Newsies.” And, judging by the tumultuous audience response at the Broadway performance I caught last week — and the multiple Tony nominations yesterday — the “limited engagement” should continue for several years to come.

Without ever feeling heavy-handed, the show deals with serious issues — the abuse of working class people by their bosses, the way that city life can grind the spirit out of ambitious young people — but it’s all done in a lucid, entertaining style that is pleasingly old-fashioned.

“Newsies” is a throwback to a Broadway era when musicals were meant to play to large audiences of all ages and backgrounds by wrapping good stories and well-drawn characters in a strong book, tuneful score, and show-stopping dance numbers.

Unlike many of the Disney productions, which play like well-oiled machines, “Newsies” derives much of its power from the strong personalities of the actors on the stage.

Jeremy Jordan gives a genuine star-making performance as Jack Kelly, the newspaper hawker who leads the strike against management trying to squeeze more money out of the poor kids who sell papers on the street.

Like Hugh Jackman, Jordan is a potent combination of charisma and talent — a real leading man in a theater scene dominated by female musical comedy stars and eccentric male stars like Nathan Lane, Sean Hayes and David Hyde Pierce. Jordan is in the tradition of Robert Preston and Jerry Orbach — a real actor who can carry a show without overpowering it and who has all the necessary equipment for romantic leading man roles.

Here’s hoping that Broadway doesn’t quickly lose Jordan to the movies or TV.

SourceL CT News

Broadway's Newsies Take a Trip to Memphis

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The Reviews Are In: Lea Salonga Reviews 'Newsies'

‘Newsies’

Based on the Disney movie of the same name (remember a teenage Christian Bale in the role of Jack Kelly?), “Newsies” is a showcase of energetic male singing and dancing, and a leading man oozing with charm, sensitivity and a great singing voice.

Set in New York City in 1899, “Newsies” is about newsboys that are not treated well by their employer, the newspaper The World. They are poor, starving and neglected, and depend only on whatever income they can get from selling the paper on the street. When the newspaper’s price goes up, the boys are directly affected and they decide to go on strike.

Jeremy Jordan plays Jack Kelly on the Broadway stage. He’s a great singer for sure, but he’s also an emotive actor, engaging us from start to finish. All the other newsies are equally talented, including four male dancers from “So You Think You Can Dance.” The dancing was ridiculous (great) and the music by Alan Menken and Jack Feldman, infectious and catchy. We were on our feet!

Source:  Inquirer Entertainment

Newsies Lyricist Jack Feldman Achieves a Lifelong Broadway Dream

The morning the Tony nominations are announced, phones start buzzing with texts and calls for the happy few who get nods. As usual, Broadway.com is among the callers offering congratulations and getting responses. Here are the first reactions from 2012 Tony nominees. Congrats to all!

Jack Feldman
Nominated for Best Score, Newsies

“I turned on NY1 to watch the announcement because I knew Newsies would be nominated in a bunch of categories. Since I’m five years old, all I ever wanted to do was write for musical theater. I didn’t know exactly what that meant when I was five, but I remember saying it to a neighbor of mine! This whole experience, long before Broadway was even a fantasy, has been the best professional experience of my life. Even when we thought it was going straight to licensing, the opportunity to revisit this material has been a gift. To go to the theater and listen to the reaction and see the faces on those kids... at Paper Mill Playhouse, they never held for applause—a number would end, and they’d go right to the next cue. For this production, they do hold for applause, and when a number gets a reaction and I see the faces on that stage, I just lose it. It’s 12 Broadway debuts, and it is worth everything to see that. [A Best Score Tony nomination] is like the icing on the icing on the icing.”

Source: Theatre Tickets Broadway

Ben Fankhauser photographed by Jenny Anderson for Broadway.com