Disney finally gets it right - Newsies Preview- Page 3

[best12bars]

Posted: 9/20/11 at 3:30pm

Well, if you watch that Gene Kelly clip, you see a character playing with ideas. His dance is a freeform inner monologue evolving out of the story. There is interaction with the environment, with his emotions, with the props (most ingeniously).

It doesn't take high tech or millions of dollars to create something like that.

Just a talented artist with a vision.

[willrogers2008]

Posted: 9/20/11 at 6:33pm

amoni2, nothing related to Newsies, but your avatar made me cry. Amazing!

[MrMidwest]

Posted: 9/20/11 at 7:24pm

Jeremy Jordan has a lovely voice but he didn't really seem to let it fly on The View. Maybe the accent makes it difficult to do so, I'm not sure.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 9/20/11 at 7:28pm

You can't tell he has a lovely voice from that clip, he seems to be straining to hit some money notes. And he swoops a lot.

[BroadwayBound92]

Posted: 9/20/11 at 8:34pm

" The new Bill Pullman female character
was weak in singing King of New York"


Uh? Female? The song, if I recall in the film, centers on Denton's success on getting "the boys" in the papers. So, now do we have Queen of New York? Then again, with Racetrack's solo during the number, I guess they must have only altered half of the lyrics, right?


Also, "new romance?" Do they delve more into the romance between Jack & Sarah, or does one of the other Newsies fall in love? Sorry, I'm a HUGE fan of the movie, so forgive me for these questions.

[Yero my Hero]

Posted: 9/20/11 at 11:06pm

It's still "King of New York," they just change the verse about Denton.

Katherine (the female reporter) is now Jack's love interest. Sarah is cut.

[Trish2]

Posted: 9/20/11 at 11:33pm

"EDIT: This is a generic dance break. There's no storytelling or character development. What is this, 1922? Did we just sleep through the golden age of Broadway and all of its breakthroughs? This "gymnastics routine" could come from any show in any era. You could dress the same dancers in any costumes you want and make them any character you want. Just change the music. It's a series of steps. No ideas or feelings behind them. No communication of a story. Just leaps and turns. Really good ones, too!

I'm impressed with the dancers' skills but there's no artistry here. And it isn't the dancers' faults. This is what they were given to do. I guess audiences are expecting less these days as well. A high kick and triple turn are all they really want. So that's exactly what they're getting. No more, no less. "

I'm so with you on this one "Best". It was shocking to see the "newsboys" doing ballet leaps in the middle of this dance, let alone all the turns, jumps, etc. I can see some acro movement working within context, but this looked like a jazz class straight out of the Broadway Dance Center. Having the guys doing ballet/jazz combinations on the diagonal, like you would in class. Nothing at all character driven, or inspired.

I realize this is one of Gattelli's first musicals where he can actually do some "dancing", but unfortunately, he's taken the amateur route of showing off spectacle and the technical prowess of the dancers. Nothing more, nothing less.

His past work, Sunday In The Park, South Pacific, High Fidelity, etc. were shows that didn't warrant big , dance numbers, and I'm sure he's been waiting for this moment. It's too bad he didn't put much thought to the style and the period. But, today's public wouldn't know the difference anyway.

[Sean2]

Posted: 9/21/11 at 2:02am

I'm with you as well, Best.

Watching that clip on The View was utterly embarrassing for all the reasons mentioned here. It just comes off as only the gay newsboys of New York going on strike. I wish Disney Theatricals would approach their canon with a little more respect for the medium of theatre, even with the fluff that is Newsies! The Musical (why the exclamation mark?).

[best12bars]

Posted: 9/21/11 at 8:07am

It's too bad he didn't put much thought to the style and the period. But, today's public wouldn't know the difference anyway.

I think you're right, and that's the depressing part for me, Trish2. Maybe not depressing, but definitely frustrating.

There's a sense of "this will do" and "this is good enough" coming from the creative team. If they truly believe audiences won't know the difference, then why not give them something better to see? Aim higher and work harder. Put more thought into it. More heart into it. Why stop at at the lowest level of basic, physical prowess? Show some artistic vision as well, even if "they wouldn't know the difference?" Because there are some people (and I wish there were more) who DO know the difference. And it makes this all the more painful to watch.

I know I'm picking on Newsies, but I see it happening in many other new shows as well. This isn't an isolated incident. It's more a sign of the times.

And just to clarify, there is nothing wrong with physical prowess (leaps, turns, and kicks). That clip of Gene Kelly shows him doing similar quadruple turns on a piece of newspaper. But he does it within the context of a "story" he's telling through his dance. It's his moods and thoughts and his character that drive the number. It's not a dance class exercise featuring a string of "showy" steps.

[CateBroadway]

Posted: 9/21/11 at 9:03am

Y'all need to chill out. This is Newsies! The dancing should be all about athleticism, tumbling and pulling out every stop. The View clip looks like pure fun and it's my guess that in the scheme of things, you're a tiny fringe group of people who didn't enjoy how exciting it is to watch these young boys go for broke and give it all they've got.
In any case, my friends and I just bought tickets and judging by the seating availability, this clip did some good.

[Trish2]

Posted: 9/21/11 at 10:49am

Nice for you Cate, though we never did say it wasn't exciting to watch. There are some talented dancers up there in search of a style. But truthfully, you could watch this generic type of dancing for free on television on So You Think You Can Dance.

[the.hard.part]

Posted: 9/21/11 at 9:44pm

Any recommendations of where to sit??

[RainbowJude]

Posted: 9/21/11 at 11:58pm

I generally agree with what has been said about the choreography of "Santa Fe": it is generic, HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL-style nonsense. What happened to the idea of choreography being integrated into the story you're telling in a musical? Where are today's Jerome Robbinses and Michael Bennetts? This isn't even as good as a Rob Ashford number - and that's saying something!

Also - listening to the new "painter" lyrics in "Santa Fe", I am less convinced than ever about this idea of supplanting Jack's obsession with the West with an obsession for art. It feels so contrived and jarring.

NEWSIES on THE VIEW

Updated On: 9/22/11 at 11:58 PM

[Yero my Hero]

Posted: 9/22/11 at 8:57pm

You were definitely thinking of the film. In the stage show, unless they changed it since the final dress rehearsal, Jack is never called Sullivan, and in fact Snyder calls him Jack Kelly the first time he sees him.

Posted: 9/22/11 at 9:08pm

I like most of the music for the film (though not Feldman's pedestrian at best lyrics), but the film really is awful. ALL of its fans (and I honestly don't know any exceptions) were people who saw it as kids and have deep nostalgia for it. (And I agree with whoever said that the villains in the film were mainly shown as buffoons and even comic relief)

That said, the stage version looks... so so. The set seems pretty good, and it looks better and more theatrical than some screen to stage adaptations, and I respect that they tried to change and improve a lot--which I can't comment on.

As for the dancing--it's a difficult issue because a large part of what sold Newsies to preteen and teen girls (and some boys) was the guys doing very athletic dancing. The choreography looks better than Ortega's stuff in the movie at any rate--the Gene Kelly steal doesn't really bug me as it at least kinda makes sense for the Newsies (plus Gene was on the set of the film a lot and apparently was "blown away' by the film choreography lol--which makes me think he wouldn't mind the nod). But yeah, it's not exactly dance as storytelling. Then again Newsies isn't all that deep--and like I said I think fans of the movie would be pretty mad if that element was changed, so...

[RainbowJude]

Posted: 9/22/11 at 10:51pm

EricMontreal22 wrote: As for the dancing - it's a difficult issue because a large part of what sold NEWSIES to preteen and teen girls (and some boys) was the guys doing very athletic dancing. The choreography looks better than Ortega's stuff in the movie at any rate

I don't think so at all. Orega's choreography at least looked like it was a bunch of young, athletic newsies dancing. The dance in this extract looks like a dance class.

[Trish2]

Posted: 9/22/11 at 11:15pm

You took the words right out of my mouth...or should i say 'my post" ?

[thismyshow]

Posted: 9/23/11 at 10:28pm

Saw the show tonight, Jeremy jordan said as of tonight the show was frozen. I really enjoyed it (having never seen the movie) Disney theatrical would be very stupid not to try and transfer it....

[adamgreer]

Posted: 9/23/11 at 10:50pm

I also saw the show tonight, and had a great time, despite some issues with the book. I did feel that the changes Fierstein made were all for the better, though I think the show starts way too slowly.

Jeremy Jordan, however, was spectacular.

John Dossett...was not. I don't know what show he's performing in, but it certainly isn't Newsies.

[thismyshow]

Posted: 9/23/11 at 11:44pm

^ who did dossett play again?

[adamgreer]

Posted: 9/23/11 at 11:54pm

^Joseph Pulitzer.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 9/24/11 at 12:51am

What is the set like? And how are Sven Ortel's projections?

[thismyshow]

Posted: 9/24/11 at 1:19am

@adamgreer where were u sitting town? i think u might have been next to me

[thismyshow]

Posted: 9/24/11 at 2:17am

also another interesting note, the curtain/projection no longer says Newsies! The Musical, just Newsies!

[adamgreer]

Posted: 9/24/11 at 9:56am

I was in P27 in the orchestra for act 1, then moved to the center somewhere (a little farther back) for act 2.