Since it opened on Broadway two and a half years ago, I have wanted to see this show and finally that dream became a reality. Suddenly sitting in the third row of the Nederlander theatre staring at the enormous Newsies set in front of me. It was a surreal moment. Based on the 1992 film of the same name, starring a much younger Christian Bale, the story follows Jack Kelly and his fellow newsies as they attempt to take on the injustices thrown against them - a typical David and Goliath story. When the hegemony put up the prices of the newspapers to 60 cents per hundred instead of 50, at a time when the headlines were so incredibly tedious that they were failing to sell, the news boys take it upon themselves to fight for the rights of the working kids in New York City. Behind the story of the newsboys is the courageous young journalist, Katherine, who is fighting a battle of her own in a time when women reporters are scarce. This show is incredibly high in energy with brilliant choreography from Christopher Gattelli. The audience was in awe after all the big dance numbers, like Seize the Day and King of New York, that they continued applauding for what felt like forever afterwards. What I enjoyed was the news boys never actually danced together in unison until Seize the Day when they finally become a unified force. Genius! Disney veteran composer, Alan Menken and lyricist Jack Feldman teamed up once again to adapt Newsies into a stage musical. With the help of book writer, Harvey Fierstein, the team were able to successfully rework the story and add thrilling new numbers to the show. Memorable songs such as "Carrying the Banner", "The World Will Know", "Seize the Day", "Santa Fe" and "King of New York" have all been kept with minor modifications here and there, but with a new female character added into the mix it inspired them to write a new song "Watch What Happens" and a few others too. "That's Rich" is one of my personal favourites yet I feel like it's an underrated song in the show. Director, Jeff Calhoun, cleverly uses up every inch of the stage and keeps the entire show very upbeat and fast-paced. The set designs are breath-taking. Tobin Ost has done a magnificent job in creating a set that resembles New York City by the use of three huge towers. Not only that, but the enormous size of the towers really emphasises how small the newsies are in a city that is so large. Throughout the show, the news boys work their way up the different levels of the towers and it's during "Once and For All", when they accomplish their goal, that they eventually cover all levels of the towers. It's symbolic and represents their triumph. Corey Cott is a natural-born actor who has absolutely no trouble what-so-ever in maintaining a strong stage presence, even with the distraction of uberly-talented male dancers doing pirouettes and tumbles around him. As for the rest of the cast, every single one of them has flawless and remarkable talents. All I could think throughout the entire show was 'why is this closing?' This show is certainly the King of New York right now! See it before it closes! _________________________________________________________________ Rating: ★★★★ Comment: An uplifting story about the little guy's taking on the big guys and winning. It's the kind of story that will make you walk out of the theatre with a huge smile on your face. The dancing alone is worth seeing this show for. Have you seen Newsies? Do you agree or disagree with any of the points I have made? If so, I'd love to here from you so send me a message! | |
1 Comment
andrea
21/7/2014 11:31:13 pm
Hey I love your review and I'm so glad you enjoyed the show! The only nit-picky thing I have is that the name of the song Katherine sings is called "Watch What Happens" and not "Write What You Know." Sorry about the pickiness, I just thought the proper title would be better in case someone else who hasn't seen the show wanted to listen to it. :)
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Hello there, friend!Welcome to my blog. I tend ramble on a bit about theatre, books and Disney. Archives
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