While in NYC last weekend I saw the Broadway musical “Newsies”, which is based on the 1992 Disney film that starred a young Christian Bale and Robert Duvall. The movie pretty much bombed, but the show is surprisingly good.
The story, which set in 1899, is about the poor, mostly orphan boys who sold the daily newspaper on the streets of NY. The tycoon they’re working for is publisher Joseph Pulitzer, who wants to increase the amount of money each boy has to pay to get the papers each morning that he needs to sell. So the Newsies decide to protest and go on strike, in hopes of getting Pulitzer to change his mind.
“Newsies” is very entertaining, with interesting sets and catchy musical numbers. Jeremy Jordan (who co-starred with Queen Latifah and Dolly Parton in “Joyful Noise”) leads the talented cast of actor/singers/dancers. “Newsies” is geared to an older audience than previous Disney Theatrical shows. More than half of the seats in the sold-out theater were filled with teenage girls there to see Jordan and the other male performers in the cast. It was recently nominated for several Tonys and won two: Best Choreography and Best Score – both of which are very well deserved.
After the show I got to meet Jordan, who seems to be a nice guy. And I also met and spoke with filmmaker Michael Moore, who had also been in the audience. What a surprise. I took a picture with him and he told me he liked my “Lights Camera Jackson” name. He also said that he enjoyed “Newsies” as well. Disney definitely has another Broadway hit on it’s hands.
Because of the success of the show you’ve got to wonder if the studio is thinking about doing a re-boot of film, with Jordan as the lead.