Disney finally gets it right - Newsies Preview- Page 4

[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.

Posted: 9/24/11 at 11:49pm

"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."

Fair enough--my two main gripes with Ortega was his directing (you'd think a choreographer would be better at filming dance), and the very circa 1990 dated dance moves, though I can't say this choreography isn't as anchronistic of course.

[steven carter]

Posted: 9/26/11 at 12:59pm

To EricMontreal re: fans of NEWSIES. I can assure you that not ALL of the fans of the original film were only those who saw it as children. When it opened in Manhattan in April of 1992, it opened at the Sutton Theatre (no longer there, it was a beautiful theatre on W.57th St), I was one of MANY, MANY adult fans of the musical. First off, all of us were just thrilled that it was a real, live action musical film! After a bunch of film musicals in the early 80s (Victor Victoria, Best Little Whorehouse, Annie, etc...), by the late 80s/early 90s we musical fans had to make do with only the animated variety onscreen. So many musical theatre people were happy about NEWSIES, since we felt Disney owed Menken and Ashman (and it did start with Howard Ashman before his tragic death from AIDS, at which point Jack Feldman came onto the project) a real human being musical.

Sure, NEWSIES is flawed (and what show or film, on this board, is beloved by everyone? Even what the theatre community long considered, by concensous, perfect musicals: "My Fair lady" and "A Chorus Line" get criticized here), but it was brave to do a live action musical in that commercial environment in 1992, and lots of were were happy Disney took the risk-especially with a period story (with immediate appeal perhaps only to fans of obscure NYC history), without a major love story plot (It seems the major love in the film is between Jack and Davey, or maybe even Davey and Denton; with Jack-Sarah given one quick scene before their finale kiss)

I remember so may theatre people piling into the Sutton (chorus people from many shows, musical theatre students, press agaent emplyees)-it was almost ALL adults here. I guess the few familes seeing it were going to suburban cinemas. I recall enjoying it with the late musical director, John McGlinn (of the definitive EMI "Show Boat" and "Brigadoon" recordings and discussing the excellent orchestrations and vocal arrangements-especially on "Carrying the Benner."). Sure, we didn't think it was on "Mary Poppins" level, but its strengths were many.

Also, to some who have mistakenly thought "Santa Fe" was in any way a "weak" song. You obviously didn't hang around the NY theatre community. "Santa Fe" was immediately recognized as the highlight of the score, and cabaret/theatre artists started including it in their sets immediately! Even before Tony Award-winner Debbie Gravitte made her well-regarded recording of it, the song was becoming a modern standard.

Personally, I enjoyed the Paper Mill production, but the film version of "Santa Fe" is far superior. Christian Bale's natural, rough vocal on the number gives it a vulnerability, and surging emotional power that Jeremy Jordan's much more polished, perfect round-shaped-tones performance lacks. Plus the most poetic of the lyrics "for a dreamer, night's the only time of day" is missing from the new version. The film became a cult film (never out of print on home video formats, massive number of online appreciation sites, etc...) because of the score, the exciting choreography, the unique subject matter, and the talent of the cast. Sure, it's flawed....but many of us love it despite its flaws. And (at the Sutton Theatre back in '92, where it did hang on for several weeks), the audience was an adults who were lovers of musicals! Musicals really do have the last laugh, in a way. So many of the "hit" films that outgrossed NEWSIES in the theatres back in '92 (the horror flick SLEEPWALKERS, the comedy STOP OR MY MOM WILL SHOOT, 3 NINJAS, etc..) have been forgotten, some are not even in print on video formats. While NEWSIES chugs alonng, gaining new fans, inspiring controversy (on this board, for example) and being adapted into a musical theatre work in 2011 (19 years later!!!) Musicals endure.

[dexter3]

Posted: 9/26/11 at 2:43pm

Just saw it last night.

I have to say that I was really blown away. The show is really thrilling and moving. Much improved from the movie.

For the most part really tight. The performances were overall really strong, with Jeremy Jordan and Kara Lindsay carrying the show marvelously.

Some people have mentioned a few weakness which I would agree with.

Starting the show with "Santa Fe" seemed an odd choice, and really created a slow start to the evening. I do understand the decision, though, as after the opening, the rest of the first act moves quickly and I'm sure that "Santa Fe" would have slowed that pace.

The "villian", Pulitzer, does come off as a stereotypical buffoon of a character, and the song-and-dance number that he's given reinforces that. A lot of his dialogue seems a bit forced too, spitting out a lot of exposition without a real reason...

The second act was also weaker than the first act, which was very strong. The duet between Jeremy Jordan and Kara Lindsay is not up to the standards of the rest of the score and also seem fairly contrived (from a plot point) in comparison to the rest of the score.

With that said:

It was a phenomenal experience, with many, many real emotional moments. Moments that were extremely tranportive...musical theater doing what musical theater does best. Some of these are "carrying the banner", "seize the day", and "king of new york". I vaguely remember the movie, and I can't say I was a fan, but those moments were just so effective from the staging, choreography, and vocal arrangement. I wish I could describe it better, but the moments were just totally "joyful" and surreal.

I should also mention that the set was simple but really effective and provided a lot of variety in the staging.

I think there could be some things that were tightened up, but I seriously hope this show transfers. It is certainly an exciting and thrilling evening, and I think that lots of people would really enjoy this.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 9/26/11 at 2:53pm

Why don't they just use one version of "Santa Fe" as the act one finale? Would that not work? Why does it need to be there twice?

[steven carter]

Posted: 9/26/11 at 4:00pm

I think the main reason that "Santa Fe" is used twice: once to start the show, and then as the big Act One curtain number, is part of what I mentioned in my long post above. It is the best-known, most respected song in the score. The creators are recognizing that by giving it these two prime spots.

For the record, Alan Menken didn't want it to start the stage version, but book writer Harvey Fierstein convinced him that it is the thematic key for the entire work. I love the song, I just miss several of the original lyrics that were revised.

One more-note re: Santa Fe. As I said, back in '92 it was immediately adopted by the musical theatre tribe for cabaret shows, auditions, etc... A few years later, I remember sitting in the wonderful (now closed ) Eighty-Eights cabaret club and hearing a singer (don't remember who, maybe it was you!) do an innovative medley of Newsies' "Santa Fe" and Rent's "Santa Fe." It was an interesting mash-up of two songs with the same title, which both deal with feeling lost in NYC.

Based on what I saw last night, I personally wouldn't start the stage NEWSIES with "Santa Fe", as there is a vibrant thrilling, natural opener with "Carrying the Banner." But I think the producers/creators regard "Santa Fe" as their big song, their "Memory" or "Impossible Dream"; the song that people who buy tickets have come to hear.

Another interesting thing at last night's Paper Mill opening; during curtain calls the current creative team including Jeff Calhoun, Menken, Fierstein, Feldman) took bows (they were not identified to the audience, and I overheard some casual theatre-goers asking "Who are they?") but the two original screenplay writers were ALSO in the house. Didn't get a chance to ask them what they thought of all the changes to their work.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 9/26/11 at 4:22pm

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

Which makes sense if you think about it. When was Newsies ever NOT a musical?

I can assure you that not ALL of the fans of the original film were only those who saw it as children. When it opened in Manhattan in April of 1992, it opened at the Sutton Theatre (no longer there, it was a beautiful theatre on W.57th St), I was one of MANY, MANY adult fans of the musical.

Same with me. And given my age, I've only known adult fans of the film. Come to think of it, the only time I've ever heard anyone say they didn't like the film was when the stage version had been announced on BWW. I knew the film didn't do well upon its initial release, but I had no idea people out-and-out hated it.

Even before Tony Award-winner Debbie Gravitte made her well-regarded recording of it, the song was becoming a modern standard.

Threadjack here, but that entire album of hers is GOLD. Should be part of everyone's personal collection.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 9/26/11 at 9:59pm

Is this Andrew's boyfriend? They look so cute together!

[hyperbole_and_a_half]

Posted: 9/26/11 at 10:16pm

Is that a Betty Crocker cheesecake in his pocket?

[adamgreer]

Posted: 9/26/11 at 10:34pm

No, it's the back cover of the Playbill, which is a full page ad for Papermill's upcoming production of White Christmas.

Posted: 9/27/11 at 4:58am

Steven Carter--I appreciate your post, and stand corrected. I suppose I should have said that I've yet to meet fans who experienced it as an adult. I always thought the oriuginal intention for a live action musical from Disney/Mewnken/Feldman base don A Little princess probably would have had more box office success at the time. (The song Take Care of My Heart, on that Debbie Shaprio Gravitte album is from it. Sidenote, that album *is* terrific--I find it odd that bk, in this thread, says Santa Fe and Carrying the Banner are the only good songs in the musical when he produced that album which includes Seize the Day...)

And for what it's worth, as a teen Santa Fe was often the song I'd use for auditions.

[andi1235]

Posted: 9/27/11 at 8:24am

"(and it did start with Howard Ashman before his tragic death from AIDS, at which point Jack Feldman came onto the project)"

Just so you know, according to Howard Ashman's sister, Ashman was never involved with Newsies.

At the message boards at www.howardashman.com, someone asked her if Howard Ashman ever worked on Newsies, and she said "No, Newsies is by Alan Menken and Jack Feldman. Just another internet rumor."

[steven carter]

Posted: 9/28/11 at 12:28pm

andi1235: Just to clarify regarding Howard Ashman and NEWSIES: You (and Mr. Ashman's sister) are correct in saying that the work onscreen is not Ashman's, it is Jack Feldman's. Didn't mean to imply Ashman's work was there uncredited, and sorry if I did. What I meant to convey was that when the project was first being talked about in '90-91, as Disney was developing it, it was being touted and talked about as another Menken/Ashman musical for Disney-but live action instead of animation. The Hollywood Reporter, and other trade papers, mentioned it as such. Perhaps even Mr. Ashman's sister doesn't know this, and perhaps he would have not ended up doing it, but the industry talk was that it would indeed be the same team as "Little Mermaid", "Aladdin" and "Beauty and the Beast". I like a lot of Feldman's lyrics, but I wish Ashman had been well enough to work on NEWSIES, to hear how his unique lyrical "voice" would work with those turn of the century characters. I think the internet rumours that some of the work is his derive innocently enough from the pre-production talk/early publicity that definitely included his name.

to EricMontreal: Thanks for your thoughtful comments. I just wanted to make sure you did "meet" an adult fan of NEWSIES-at least a few of were there in '92. Waymon Wong of the Daily News is also a big fan and reported online about a packed showing of the film in a Brooklyn bar earlier this year. A couple of summers ago , I experienced the film on a big screen again (for the first time since 1992) at some midnight showings (4th of July weekend) at Manhattan's Sunshine Cinema on Houston St. in the East Village. No kids at those midnight screenings (though I guess some who came were kids at the time of the original release). And like all modern film musicals, it really benefits from the wide-screen composition.

I'm so glad that you were perceptive enough to use "Santa Fe" as an audition piece-it's poetic and moving. In the original film, the way Kenny Ortega silhouetted Christian Bale's face backlit by the night torchlight-really stunning and beautiful visual imagery.

[gypsy4]

Posted: 9/29/11 at 12:07am

It also has been stated several times by the original creative team that just like BATB the Project was not originally intended to be a Musical, infact Menken was do in a Production Meeting on Newsies 1 day after ashman's memorial along with working recording sessions on Aladdin and post-production for Beauty and the Beast.

Posted: 9/29/11 at 12:35am

I do wonder how much work between Feldman and Menken went on with the planned live action Disney A Little Princess, besides that song on Debbie's album. I've never found a demo of more. I suspect it would have been more what movie audiences at the time would have been ready for in a live action musical.

I've always felt it was too bad Menken didn't do the score for Newsies (by score I mean the incideental music). I've loved his score work for the animated features (and random other things like the Lincoln TV movie). It seems odd he could score The Shaggy Dog but not Newsies, but I guess he was uber busy at the time. It did mean he couldn't mine the score for melodies for new stage songs like he did in Mermaid, Beauty and Hunchback.

[denali.fire]

Posted: 9/29/11 at 10:37am

I saw this last night...I really enjoyed it. Lots of great dancing. At intermission I heard that part of the opening Santa Fe duet that Jack and Crutchie do to open the show was posted on the web. I was up til 2am looking for it. If anyone knows where it is please advise or post it. Thanks!

[andi1235]

Posted: 9/29/11 at 1:13pm

I would have LOVED to see Ashman work on Newsies. That's fascinating, thanks for the info! :)

[the.hard.part]

Posted: 9/29/11 at 1:37pm

Anyone know of any unauthorized recordings that have popped up yet?

[denali.fire]

Posted: 9/29/11 at 2:34pm

Hard part, That unauthorized recording is what I am hoping pops up. I would buy the recording when it came out but I am still plagued by the earworm that was implanted last night. Tired of the da da da da da lyrics. i might have to write my own! That is a scary thought.
DF

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 9/29/11 at 4:19pm

Did anyone ever leak an audio of Aladdin at 5th Avenue? I've almost convinced myself that there won't be one for Newsies either.

[AKarp2013]

Posted: 9/29/11 at 5:13pm

I have the pleasure at working at the Paper Mill Playhouse as an usher so I know the show very well by now. It has improved over the last few days. So far audiences have loved every moment of it. Pretty much immediate standing ovations when the cast comes out for the curtain calls.

We've had people come as far away as California just to see the show. It's quite a thrill. People keep asking me (since they've seen it a couple times), knowing that I'm an usher, they ask me "Do you ever get tired of seeing this show?". And I always say "No." It's the most fun I've ever had with a musical. I agree, I think it's the best Disney has done with a musical so far!

And don't forget, this is the very first time the show is being done live on a stage. If they have any further production plans with this cast and creative team, I'm sure they will be going to work to fix any problems with it. Updated On: 9/29/11 at 05:13 PM

[TheHowardAshman]

Posted: 10/6/11 at 2:57pm

Hey Steven! I'm just seeing your message here regarding Howard Ashmans involvement in Newsies. I'd like to invite you to talk about it in Howard Ashman's memorial forum on his official website, FeedMe, which is maintained by his sister, Sarah Ashman. I'm sure she'll have some feedback on the matter!

There's a great dialogue there regarding his work-- you can check it out by visiting: http://howardashman.com/FeedMe/

Best--

[April Saul]

Posted: 10/7/11 at 1:04am

Okay, so my daughter is a HUGE fan of the film and once she heard there were changes made, she wanted no part of the Paper Mill production. But I couldn't resist, and I have to say, I really, really enjoyed myself at this production. I thought Jeremy Jordan was great, the sets were terrific and the dancing blew me away.

I may be crazy--and my daughter was of course scoffing as she perused my playbill, complaining about all the new characters and material--but I can totally see this one on Broadway, guys.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 10/7/11 at 10:19am

Saw the show again last night and it was really tight, even better than the last time I went.

Jeremy Jordan is just outstanding. His voice is phenomenal, and he's got presence and charisma. The kid's going to be a star- you can just tell.

The choreography remains thrilling and the show is just a whole lot of fun. Audience loved it.