Musical engaging, passionate performers

I entered the Nederlander Theatre with little idea of what to expect. With only one experience with Broadway musicals, the first being the day before with Les Miserables. After the lights dimmed and the sets slid behind stage, Disney’s Newsies began, and by the end of the musical, had me loving it.

Newsies details the life of several homeless boys living on the streets of New York in the late 1890s. The group follows one of the oldest boys, Jack Kelly (Correy Cott), and sells papers for The World, published by Joseph Pulitzer (John Dossett). Jack cares deeply for the orphaned and homeless group he sticks with, but dreams of earning enough money to travel to Santa Fe and ditch New York.

Meanwhile, Pulitzer’s paper is struggling so he decides to raise the price of papers the newsies buy without consulting any of them. Enraged, Jack and his friends refuse to buy any papers. After one of the new recruits explains how they could orchestrate a protest, the kids form their own union and go on strike, trying to rally the other newsies in New York to protest as well.

Based on true events and full of witty one-liners and snappy comebacks, Newsies’ story is engaging and exciting. The audience finds themselves rooting for the newsies and connecting with the characters and their varying and unique struggles.

One of the first things that struck me before anything else was the atmosphere and relationship amongst the cast. The whole crew were obviously close, their interactions sincere and choreography well timed. The entire group was cheery and excited and the mood was infectious. They had a great time, so the audience did as well.

In the very beginning of it some of the cast members seemed to struggle with lines. While hardly noticeable, it did seem like a few of the people paused unnaturally before continuing to say their line.

However, the audience showed their support and love for the characters, giving a standing ovation at the end of the play, and cheered as they finished the performance giving a quick little speech.

The cast’s dancing reflected this too. From what I saw that night their choreography was timed well and in sync with the other dancers, in both the stunts, tap dancing and other dance numbers.

The second thing to snatch my attention was the background and various set elements. Special effects are utilized by the musical to project different backgrounds that change, like shots in a movie and sometimes resembling animation. They were used to show montages of the different headlines and articles the newsies sold, as well as showing one of the character’s drawings as he drew it. The technology was well utilized and really caught my attention without being distracting from what actually occurred on stage.

Overall, Newsies does a great job of engaging the audience and getting them invested in the characters and stories. The audience will walk away singing and dancing to the musical numbers or eagerly discussing the story, acting and visual effects. If I had the chance, I would definitely go see it again.

To watch the trailer for the Broadway show, Newsies, visit Newsies, The Musical, on YouTube.

Follow The Feather via Twitter and Instagram: @thefeather and @thefeatheronline. This writer can be reached via Twitter: @ejLadd

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