From Broadway to the big screen

newsiess — A scene from *Newsies – The Broadway Musical*, to be seen at Umhlanga’s Cinema Nouveau at 7.45pm on February 22.

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BY BILLY SUTER

IT STARTED life as a 1992 Disney movie musical with Christian Bale – a film that bombed at the box-office, did very well on DVD, then was turned into a hit stage musical.

Now that stage musical success has been filmed for a one-off screening scheduled for Umhlanga’s Cinema Nouveau, and other select Ster-Kinekor cinemas countrywide, at 7.45pm on February 22.

It’s Newsies – The Broadway Musical, a Tony Award-winning show from the producers of Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King.

Jeremy Jordan, who stars in this high-energy explosion of song and dance set in 1890s New York City, plays Winslow “Winn” Schott jnr in TV’s Supergirl, was the voice of Varian in Tangled: Before Ever After and might also be remembered for appearing in the TV series, Smash.

Filmed live on stage at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood, the film also stars Kara Lindsay as Katherine, Ben Fankhauser as Davey and Andrew Keenan-Bolger as Crutchie. They are joined by Steve Blanchard as Joseph Pulitzer, Aisha de Haas as Medda Larkin and Ethan Steiner as Les.

Newsies, a Disney Theatrical Production under the direction of Thomas Schumachter presents Newsies, music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Jack Feldman, book by Harvey Fierstein, starring Jeremy Jordan (Jack Kelly), John Dossett (Joseph Pulitzer), Kara Lindsay (Katherine Plumber), Capathia Jenkins (Medda), Ben Fankhauser (Davey), Andrew Keenan-Bolger (Crutchie), Lewis Grosso (Les) and Matthew J. Schechter (Les) under the direction of Jeff Calhoun, choreographed by Christopher Gattelli, World Premiere, Paper Mill Playhouse, in Millburn, New Jersey on September 25, 2011 — Jeremy Jordan, star of TV’s Smash and Supergirl, as he appears as Jack Kelly in Newsies – The Broadway Musical.

Based on a true story, Newsies tells the rousing tale of Jack Kelly (Jordan), a charismatic newsboy and leader of a ragged band of teenage “newsies”, who dreams only of a better life far from the hardship of the streets.

However, 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 and take a stand for what’s right.

The film, which runs for 150 minutes, was inspired by the real-life Newsboys Strike of 1899 in New York City.

The show features music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Jack Feldman, and a book by Harvey Fierstein.

The stage adaptation writes out Jack’s original love interest Sarah Jacobs and the New York Sun reporter Brian Denton, who writes about the Newsboys. They are replaced by the composite character, Katherine Plumber, a reporter whose pen name is explained later in the musical.

The show was nominated for eight Tony Awards – including best musical. It took the Tony for best choreography (Christopher Gattelli) and best original score (Alan Menken and Jack Feldman).

The musical premiered at the Paper Mill Playhouse in 2011 and made its Broadway debut in 2012. It closed in August 24, 2014 after 1 005 performances.