Disney’s Newsies: The Broadway Musical

Seize The Day This Sunday, 19 February! 

If you’re a Broadway buff that thought they’d missed the boat on Newsiesonce it bumped out of New York in 2014, this Sunday brings a rare and absolutely unmissable treat to you! For one day only, Australian cinemas will be joining the rest of the world in celebrating Disney’s Newsies: The Musical as a filmed event.

A Disney-adopted story inspired by true events in 1899, the musical follows the story of the news boys working in New York who, already scraping by and sleeping in the streets, come face to face with a nasty raise in distribution prices imposed on them by big publishing giants, Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst. Led by charismatic Jack Kelly, the boys come together to create a union and stand for their worth in a strike against the papers. The show draws us into a non-fiction tale of the working people’s uprising, finds distinctions between the struggling boys and their dreams, and delivers with a flare of romance as well.

Newsies: The Musical is everything we want it to be. It’s straight-up addictive. Even more, it’s feel-good Disney, and without the glitter!  The film, directed by Jeff Calhoun, has done a fabulous job at capturing the show’s live energy. With a cast that’s been bulked-up for the filming, the infectious choreography - debatably the show’s greatest asset - is a near-constant source of gasps and ‘wows’. This is credited, of course, to choreographer Christopher Gatelli, a visionary.

The cast have been selected especially, bringing back some prized members of the original team to be united with other stand-outs from the American tour and other Newsies ensembles. Each character comes to life perfectly. The lead, Jeremy Jordan as Jack Kelly, is the heart-beat of the performance. His “Santa Fe”becomes more than an ‘I want’song, grounded by his vivid frustration with life as he knows it; a truly edgy, passionate performance that anyone would believe. Another shining moment for Jordan comes with the brief romantic duet “Something to Believe in”. The song is performed so minimally, relying on the two superb actors to make genuine, raw connections with one another. A fantastic duet cannot be carried by just one, which leads me to Kara Lindsey as Katherine. Lindsey is eye-catching throughout. Her number “Watch What Happens”is dynamic, with fast changes and quick wit. At the same time, the audience is invited to empathise with her vulnerability. The two leads are a perfect fit for their roles. Other stand-outs are Ben Fankhauser as Davey, and Andrew Keenan-Bolger as Crutchie.

The set is very clever, and perhaps more captivating for being basic. I say this because I’m led to believe it’s all about the newsies, the boys, leaping about the stage and singing their hearts out. That’s how you know you’re sitting through a musical with a book and score that can carry itself. In case you haven’t yet heard the soundtrack, I promise you Disney and Broadway’s beloved composer Alan Menken delivers again. The music is heartfelt, catchy and infectious. 

The experience of watching a vibrant stage show like this on screen is, granted, a little strange. During the first few numbers many patrons around me, and myself, were drawn to join in on the applause. Of course, that rings a little unusually when we’re just clapping at the big screen! However, this is something you grow used to. The film allows you to watch the performance up-close (better seats than we’d ever get in the theatre!), and is able to do this with clever use of pre-filmed cutaways. These are then, of course, combined with footage from a real audience performance. There is something really nice in the pans over the auditorium where we in the cinema can capture a glimpse of the live audience’s reactions. You can expect to be filled with envy for them, sure, but will be heartened that the magic of live theatre has been captured so well.

Overall the film experience manages to make us feel like we’re right there with them.

Sally Alrich-Smythe