Newsies: Disney announces further casting

Disney Theatrical Productions have announced further casting for the Broadway premiere of the musical Newsies.

The musical, which had its world premiere at Paper Mill Playhouse earlier this fall, will premiere on Broadway for a strictly limited 101 performance engagement at the Nederlander Theatre from 15 Mar 2012 through to 3 Jun 2012. Opening night is set for 29 Mar 2012.

Joining the previously announced Jeremy Jordan, who created the role of rebellious newsboy leader 'Jack Kelly' in the musical Newsies last fall, will be John Dossett (2003 revival of Gypsy) as 'Joseph Pulitzer,' Kara Lindsay (Little House on the Prairie) as 'Katherine Plumber,' Ben Fankhauser (Spring Awakening national tour) as 'Davey,' Andrew Keenan-Bolger (Mary Poppins) as 'Crutchie' and, Lewis Grosso (Mary Poppins), and Matthew Schechter (Elf) alternating the role of 'Les.'

Dossett, Lindsay, Fankhauser and Keenan-Bolger will all reprise the roles they created in the Paper Mill Playhouse production last fall. Casting for the role of 'Medda' will be announced shortly.

The ensemble of Newsies will feature Aaron J. Albano, Mark Aldrich, Tommy Bracco, John E. Brady, Ryan Breslin, Kevin Carolan, Caitlyn Caughell, Kyle Coffman, Mike Faist, Michael Fatica, Julie Foldesi, Garett Hawe, Thayne Jasperson, Evan Kasprzak, Jess Le Protto, Stuart Marland, Andy Richardson, Jack Scott, Ryan Steele, Brendon Stimson, Nick Sullivan, Ephraim Sykes, Laurie Veldheer, Alex Wong and Stuart Zagnit.

Tickets for the show will go on sale to the general public on 30 Jan 2012.

Newsies has a score by eight-time Academy Award winner Alan Menken (Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Sister Act), lyrics by Jack Feldman and a new book by four-time Tony Award winner Harvey Fierstein (La Cage aux Folles, Torch Song Trilogy), adapted for the stage from the 1992 live-action Disney feature film musical of the same name.

The musical, directed by Tony nominee Jeff Calhoun (Big River revival) and choreographed by Tony nominee Christopher Gattelli (South Pacific revival), is set in New York City at the turn of the century, and tells the tale of Jack Kelly, a charismatic newsboy and leader of a ragged band of teenaged 'newsies,' who dreams only of a better life far from the hardship of the streets. But when publishing titans Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst raise distribution prices at the newsboys' expense, Jack finds a cause to fight for and rallies newsies from across the city to strike for what's right.

Newsies is inspired by the real-life 'Newsboy Strike of 1899,' when newsboy Kid Blink led a band of orphan and runaway newsies on a two-week-long action against Pulitzer, Hearst and other powerful newspaper publishers.

Newsies played at Paper Mill Playhouse in New Jersey from 15 Sep - 16 Oct 2011 for what was originally intended to be a pilot production before the title was licensed for regional, professional and amateur productions.

However, such was the popular response to the production from critics and audience members that Disney Theatrical Productions have decided to bring the show immediately to Broadway.

The New York Times, for example, praised the musical for its "terrific, rousing songs and a sweet, funny, emotionally satisfying book," calling it, "a stirring crowd-pleaser" and "a musical worth singing about."

Thomas Schumacher, Producer and President of Disney Theatrical Productions said, "In this company's 17-year history, we have never seen a show so immediately and fervently embraced this early in its life. It's clear that the themes of Newsies - of the younger generation taking their place, of the underclass righting injustice - are extraordinarily timely. We could never have imagined our show would be called to Broadway in the way it has but we could not be prouder that it's resonating so deeply."

The musical is adapted from the 1992 movie which also features a score by Alan Menken ad lyrics by Jack Feldman. The stage play for the movie was written by Bob Tzudiker and Noni White.

The film contains a score of 12 songs including "Carrying the Banner," "Santa Fe," "Seize the Day," "The World Will Know" and "King of New York." The stage version introduces several brand-new songs by the original team of Menken and Feldman while keeping many of the songs from the film.

The movie was not a commercial success for Disney and was badly received by critics. Since that time the film has steadily gained a cult following and fans petitioned Disney to release the film on DVD, which it did in 2002. There had also been an ongoing petition by fans for Disney to create a musical stage production.