Newsies (musical)
Newsies: The Musical is a musical with music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Jack Feldman, and a book by Harvey Fierstein. The show is based on the 1992 musical film of the same name, which in turn was inspired by the real-life Newsboys Strike of 1899 in New York City, with Fierstein's script adapted from the film's screenplay by Bob Tzudiker and Noni White.
Newsies
September 25, 2011: Paper Mill Playhouse
2011 Paper Mill Playhouse
2012 Broadway
2014 North American tour
2022 London
The musical premiered at the Paper Mill Playhouse in 2011 and made its Broadway debut in 2012, where it played for more than 1,000 performances before touring.
Productions[edit]
Paper Mill Playhouse (2011)[edit]
Newsies The Musical premiered at the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, New Jersey, from September 25, 2011, through October 16.[1] The production was directed by Jeff Calhoun with choreography by Christopher Gattelli. This production was later transferred to Broadway with several changes in the music and actors.
Broadway (2012–2014)[edit]
The musical opened on Broadway at the Nederlander Theatre for a limited engagement starting in previews on March 15, 2012, and officially on March 29, 2012.[2] On May 16, 2012, Disney announced that Newsies was an open-ended engagement.[3] The engagement was extended through August 19, 2012, after the first previews.[4]
The original cast of the Broadway production featured Jeremy Jordan as Jack Kelly and John Dossett as newspaper tycoon Joseph Pulitzer. The cast also included Kara Lindsay as Katherine Plumber, Capathia Jenkins as Medda Larkin, Ben Fankhauser as Davey, Andrew Keenan-Bolger as Crutchie, and Lewis Grosso and Matthew Schechter sharing the role of Les. Also featured in the cast were Mike Faist as Morris Delancey and Jordan’s understudy and Kevin Carolan as Roosevelt.[5] The Broadway production cost about $5 million to stage.[6] Newsies recouped its initial investment of $5M in seven months, becoming the fastest of any Disney musical on Broadway to turn a profit.[7]
Producers announced on August 14, 2012, due to his commitments with NBC's Smash, leading man Jordan would exit the musical on September 4. It was also confirmed that newcomer Corey Cott (who became his alternate earlier in the month due to Jordan's production requirements for Smash) would be his replacement beginning September 5.[8]
The musical closed on August 24, 2014,[9] having played 1,004 performances.[10]
National tour (2014–2016)[edit]
The musical began a North American tour on October 11, 2014, commencing in Schenectady, New York. During the 2014–2015 and 2015–2016 seasons, the tour was expected to play 25 cities, over 43 weeks.[11] It concluded its run on October 2, 2016, in Austin, Texas[12] after 784 performances in 65 cities across the US and Canada.[13][14]
London (2022)[edit]
On February 21, 2022, it was announced that the musical was scheduled to open that year in London. On March 8, 2022, it was announced that a brand new immersive in the round production directed and choreographed by Matt Cole was to open at the Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre in November 2022 with an official opening on 8 December.[15][16] The original London cast includes Michael Ahomka-Lindsay as Jack Kelly, Bronté Barbé as Katherine Plumber, Moya Angela as Medda Larkin, Samuel Bailey as Specs, Josh Barnett as Race, Cameron Blakely as Joseph Pulitzer, Jack Bromage as Tommy Boy, Alex Christian as Buttons, Arcangelo Ciulla as Ike, George Crawford as Morris Delancey, Ross Dawes as Snyder, Joshua Denyer as Mush, Ross Dorrington as Splasher, Matthew Duckett as Crutchie, Jacob Fisher as Albert, Jamie Golding as Wiesel, Damon Gould as Finch, Alex James-Hatton as Oscar Delancey, Barry Keenan as Nunzio, Ryan Kopel as Davey, Sion Lloyd as Bunsen, George Michaelides as Romeo, Mukeni Nel as Jo Jo, Joshua Nkemdilim as Elmer, Mark Samaras as Mike, and Matt Trevorrow as Henry.[17] The production closed on 30 July 2023.[18] However, the show is teased to return to the UK as at the final performance as Tristan Baker, producer of Newsies, said “That’s it for Wembley, we’ll see you next year!”. The show’s website also says, “Bye for now, but not forever…”.
Synopsis[edit]
Act I[edit]
In July 1899, a group of orphaned and homeless newsboys live in a Lower Manhattan lodging house with their informal leader, seventeen-year-old Jack Kelly. In the early hours of the morning, Jack tells his best friend, Crutchie, of his dream to one day leave New York for a better life out West ("Santa Fe (Prologue)"). As the sun rises, the rest of the newsies awaken and prepare for a day on the job, finding as much joy as they can in their life of poverty ("Carrying the Banner"). At the circulation gate, Jack meets a new newsboy named Davey and his nine-year-old brother Les. Unlike the other newsies, the brothers have a home and a loving family, and have been pulled out of school only temporarily to support their parents while their father is out of work with an injury. Seeing young Les as an opportunity to sell more papers, Jack offers to be their partner. Meanwhile, the publisher of the New York World, Joseph Pulitzer, expresses his displeasure at his newspaper's declining circulation. To increase his profits, he decides to increase the cost of the papers for the newsies, ignoring his secretary's concerns that "it's going to be awfully rough on those children" ("The Bottom Line").
Later, Jack, Davey, and Les are selling their final newspapers of the day when the corrupt Warden Snyder of the Refuge, a juvenile detention center, recognizes Jack as an escapee from his institution. He attempts to chase the boys down, but they find cover in a vaudeville-style theatre owned by Jack's friend Medda Larkin, whom he regularly paints backdrops for. As Medda performs ("That's Rich"), Jack spots a young female reporter named Katherine Plumber. She rebuffs Jack's attempts to flirt with her, but she is then charmed when he leaves her with a sketch of her portrait ("Don’t Come A-Knocking/I Never Planned on You").
The next morning, the newsies discover that the cost of newspapers has been raised to sixty cents per hundred. Outraged, Jack declares the newsies to be a union and organizes a protest ("The World Will Know"). Katherine decides to cover the strike, seeing it as an opportunity to be taken more seriously as a journalist ("Watch What Happens"). The next day, the boys have informed the rest of the city's newsies about the strike, but each neighborhood claims that they will only join once Spot Conlon, leader of the Brooklyn newsies, gives the okay. The newsies are discouraged by the lack of support, but Davey convinces them to protest regardless of who shows ("Seize the Day"). Scabs arrive to take the newsies' jobs, but are persuaded to join the strike by Jack, who delivers an impassioned speech condemning child labor and the city's treatment of the poor. The protest appears to be headed for success, but is soon cut short when Pulitzer's goon squad and the police arrive to break it up by force. During the ensuing fight, Crutchie is apprehended, badly beaten, and taken to the Refuge. A devastated Jack escapes to the lodging house rooftop and, blaming himself for the protest's failure, fantasizes about running away forever ("Santa Fe").
Act II[edit]
The next morning, Katherine finds the battered and bruised newsies in Jacobi's Deli, only to learn that no one knows where Jack is as rumors circulate about his whereabouts. She cheers the other newsies up by showing them that her article about the strike made the front page of the New York Sun. Thrilled, the boys rejoice at making the headline and imagine what it would be like to be famous ("King of New York"). However, Pulitzer has declared a blackout on strike news, meaning Katherine's story will be the only one to run. Meanwhile, Crutchie writes a letter to Jack, describing the filthy and abusive conditions at the Refuge. He asks Jack to make sure the newsies continue to look out for one another, signing the letter, "your brother, Crutchie" ("Letter from the Refuge"). Later, Davey finds Jack hiding out in the basement of Medda's theatre and informs him of his plan to hold a citywide rally in the theatre. Jack, distraught over Crutchie's arrest, refuses to put the other boys back in danger, but Davey, along with Katherine and Les, convinces him that their fight is too important to quit ("Watch What Happens (Reprise)").
Back at the World, an angry Pulitzer plots with Warden Snyder about how to stop Jack. Snyder reveals that Jack was originally sentenced to the Refuge for vagrancy, but has since become a "frequent visitor," with his most recent arrest being for trafficking stolen food and clothing. Jack soon arrives with an invitation for Pulitzer to attend the rally Davey has planned. Pulitzer declines, assuring Jack that no newspaper will violate the blackout order by covering the rally. Pulitzer claims that if it's not in the papers, it never happened. Jack attempts to counter by claiming the newsies already have a reporter on their side, but Pulitzer reveals that Katherine is his daughter and that "Plumber" is only her pen name. He offers Jack a choice: if the strike is called off, Jack will be cleared of all charges and given enough money to leave for Santa Fe, but if not, he and the other newsies will all be arrested and sent to the Refuge ("The Bottom Line (Reprise)"). Katherine, who has been listening in secret, attempts to apologize to Jack, but he brushes her off as he is detained by Pulitzer's goons and led into the cellar.
The next morning, Spot Conlon and the Brooklyn newsies declare their support of the strike and head to the rally ("Brooklyn's Here"). Jack, believing there is no way the newsies can win against Pulitzer's money, power, and connections, shows up to the rally to reluctantly suggest the strike be called off. He accepts the Santa Fe money from one of Pulitzer's men as Davey, Spot, and the other newsies watch in disbelief, calling him a traitor and a scab. Jack flees to his rooftop, only to find that Katherine has beaten him there. She has discovered Jack's drawings of the abuse he suffered at the Refuge among his belongings and realizes that he stole to feed and clothe the other boys. They argue about their respective betrayals and the fate of the strike, but the argument is cut short when she impulsively kisses him. Katherine has a new idea: use Jack's drawings and one of her articles to print their own newspaper, calling for every worker under 21 to strike alongside the newsies. Jack agrees, recalling an abandoned printing press in Pulitzer's cellar, but before getting to work, they share a romantic moment, each stating that the other has given them "something to believe in" ("Something to Believe In").
The other newsies join Jack and Katherine in printing their own paper, the Newsies Banner, and distribute copies throughout the city ("Once and for All"). A copy reaches Governor Theodore Roosevelt, who arrives in full support of the newsies' cause. Roosevelt gives Pulitzer an ultimatum, forcing the latter to concede to Jack's demands. Jack proposes that Pulitzer buy back every paper the newsies fail to sell each day. Initially reluctant, Pulitzer agrees when Jack points out he will still ultimately benefit from the increased sales. Jack and Roosevelt inform the newsies that the strike is over and they have won. As the newsies celebrate, Roosevelt informs them that he has shut down the Refuge, citing Jack's drawings as his motivation to do so. Crutchie returns to his friends, and Snyder is arrested. Impressed at the influence Jack's drawings had on the governor, Pulitzer offers him a job as a daily political cartoonist. Jack declines, claiming it is time he leaves for Santa Fe, but Davey, Katherine, and Crutchie remind him that "New York's got us, and we're your family." Ultimately, Jack decides to stay and chooses to remain a newsboy as well as accept the cartoonist job ("Finale").
