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I can’t believe it’s actually happening. Almost a year ago I wrote about how “Newsies” was slated for Broadway, but although I read reports about it happening I didn’t quite believe they would come to fruition.
But they have. “Newsies” opens on September 25 at the Paper Mill Playhouse in New Jersey, only 25 miles from Manhattan. It runs through October 16, and if it’s successful, who knows, it could come back for more. In further proof of the musical’s existence the Disney Blog has a variety of videos about the show, from rehearsal clips to an interview with composer Alan Menken, to a performance the cast did on “The View” on September 19.
Now that we know for sure that the “Newsies” musical is happening, how does it look? It’s hard to tell, because the videos don’t reveal a lot. Many of the behind-the-scenes interviews with the actors revolve around them gushing about how much they loved the film growing up, and how the show, although different now, is true to the movie.
The thing is, I don’t really need the stage version to be true to much of the original film. Although I loved “Newsies” as a teenager even then I could understand why it flopped. The music was fantastic and I had nothing to say against it (except for maybe Bill Pullman’s singing, but that was thankfully brief) and most of the acting was fine, but as I’ve gone over before the story had myriad problems.
One major story change that’s mentioned in the videos, and that I’m glad to see happen, is that there’s a stronger female character present. “Newsies” had three female characters but only two who appeared in more than one scene. One was an older vaudeville singer over whom all of the boys drooled, and the other was a weakly written love interest for the main character.
This time around the female character is yet again a love interest for Jack, but apparently that story is stronger and the female character gets more development. I’m glad to see the role expand but part of me wishes she had more of a role outside of the men, but in a story like this, especially given the setting, that’s hard to do so I’ll let it pass for now. Perhaps later iterations of the story will do even more for women’s roles. They could introduce a woman who’s working to aid the plight of the homeless children in the city and who helps the newsies in their struggle.
Most interesting to me are the changes in the songs, as I noticed in the performance from “The View.” Menken talks about the popularity of the “Newsies” soundtrack and how inevitably they had to add some songs for a stage production, and it makes sense that almost 20 years later they’d want to rearrange some of the music. Part of me wants to rail against any changes in my beloved soundtrack, but I can’t possibly be more attached to the songs than Menken (or his children, as the composer added that his now-grown daughters were very possessive of the show and unhappy with any changes).
I wish I could make it out to New Jersey to see the performance. I’ll just have to wait and see how it’s reviewed, and if the reports are good perhaps it’s time for a road trip.
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*(This image by Preconscious Eye is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License.)
