Newsies Making it's way to the Broadway Stage! with a spring reading!

Looks like Disney will have a new tenet in the new amsterdam theatre come 2011.

Wayman Wong of the NY Daily News has revealed that Oscar-winning composer Alan Menken has told him that he and lyricist Jack Feldman (who together provided the music for the 1992 film) are working on bringing the show to the stage, with a reading scheduled for the Spring of 2010 and a new book being written by Harvey Fierstein.

Newsies was a 1992 Disney live-action musical film starring Christian Bale, David Moscow, and Bill Pullman. Robert Duvall and Ann-Margret also appeared in supporting roles. The movie gained a cult following after its initial failure at the box office.

The film marked the directorial debut of choreographer Kenny Ortega (Dirty Dancing, High School Musical, This is It and upcoming In The Heights).

The film is based on the true story of the 1899 newsboys strike, in which the pint-sized newsboys delivering the New York papers went on strike against the unfair practices of news magnates Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst. The film features 12 songs and multiple dance sequences including Carrying the Banner, Santa Fe, My Lovey-Dovey Baby, The World Will Know, Seize the Day, King of New York, Hard Times, Hard Times, Once and For All and more.

No where in that article does it state anything about a Broadway run, the new amsterdam, or 2011.

There is a spring reading in 2010 - that's it. Full productions take months and/or years to coherently blossom. You're getting ahead of yourself... Chill!

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Have you SEEN Newsies? It's massive. So, actually, it's the complete opposite of what you just said.

eta: quick references - the opening sequence, the street fight/trolley strike, the finale protest, and many other moments in the movie.

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Updated On: 12/27/09 at 07:36 PM

I would hope that they would consider a tryout out-of-town somewhere rather than taking it right to the Big Apple.

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You know I never understood why Disney never has taken advantage of its Walt Disney World vacationers and tested out their theatrical productions there. Why not open a huge Performing Arts Center with two or three theaters? They could have sit-down productions of THE LION KING and/or MARY POPPINS, and use the third theater for various productions (concerts, dance shows, pre-Broadway tryouts, tours of Disney productions, etc.).

LA NOUBA is still running at Downtown Disney after however many years. Honestly, as a person who goes to WDW every year, I've literally done everything and something new here on a grand scale like this would be a breath of fresh air here.

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I'm just glad that they are on track with the project! whats it been 6 years since an announcement.

Downtown Disney is the best place to do it. There's rumors that they are getting rid of Pleasure Island as well as closing DisneyQuest. Virgin Megastore (right next to DisneyQuest) closed down, so they could potentially place a theatre in those two adjoining lots if they do some major construction. Then they have a PERFECT entertainment corner of Downtown Disney: La Nouba, AMC Theaters, and a Performing Arts Center.

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I'm pretty sure that Disney actually has to subsidize the Cirque show, because it does not sell as well as their other shows. As a Florida resident, I think they struggle a lot with what they do at the Downtown Disney area...the end of Pleasure Island is just another example.

too many costs, not enough profit. That's why they don't put any of their MILLIONS upon MILLIONS back into their productions or faithful employees - it's such a joke. Disney Theatrics only looks out for themselves.

Again, I think that's a fantastic idea Capn. But they would never.

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Princess Diana exhibit is not there anymore.

I heard a rumor they were going to move Radio Disney in there...

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Please do ask your students. I would be curious as to whether or not the film still has an audience. I think it's lasted so long, not only for the music, but because of Christian Bale. If he had never been cast in the Batman films and received the popularity and "hunk seal" that he did, NEWSIES would be long forgotten. When I was in high school, students would break out into "Seize the Day" routinely in theatre classes. And that was years after the film's release.

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"You know I never understood why Disney never has taken advantage of its Walt Disney World vacationers and tested out their theatrical productions there. Why not open a huge Performing Arts Center with two or three theaters? They could have sit-down productions of THE LION KING and/or MARY POPPINS, and use the third theater for various productions (concerts, dance shows, pre-Broadway tryouts, tours of Disney productions, etc.). "

Because it's "preaching to the choir." The people visiting Disneyworld are in the theme park mindset, so if it is tacky and theme park-ish then there is no way for the creative team to determine what's really working and what's not. An out-of-town tryout in a theater city like Chicago or any other type of city will give them feedback on how well it will play to a broader demographic.

"LA NOUBA is still running at Downtown Disney after however many years."

LA NOUBA is Cirque Du Soleil, not your typical Broadway show.

"Thomas Schumacher talked about this during his book signing a few years back. Apparently, the intention isn't to bring the show to Broadway, but to tour the show a la HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL."

That was my understanding as well. Along with making it available for local schools and community theaters.

"I'm pretty sure that Disney actually has to subsidize the Cirque show, because it does not sell as well as their other shows."

They probably don't pay any rent, and it wouldn't shock me if Disney covered the initial start-up costs for the production. The show was designed SPECIFICALLY for Disney, so Disney would have had to offer something.

Also, Disney doesn't want an arts center where things are constantly changing (Broadway shows and out-of-town tryouts are relatively short runs). They want something they can market for years. Unlike Disneyland, which is heavily populated by the local market, Disney World is almost entirely tourists. Locals stay away from Downtown Disney for that reason alone, and to that extent you need the local market to thrive. Just look at Broadway...shows that are almost entirely created for tourists (Wedding Singer, Legally Blonde, Footloose, Saturday Night Fever, etc.) have flopped miserably, because locals knew to stay away. Conversely, shows designed for the local market also flopped because they didn't have any appeal to tourists (either by subject matter or unfamiliarity). Shows that had a good balance of appeal (Wicked, Phantom, Chicago, most of the Disney shows) thrived because they offered something to both groups.

The movie is BOOOORING. I love the score, but the script and direction is pedestrian at best.

If they wanted to make it a viable live theatrical property I'm sure they would re-work it and add more songs and cut a lot of the extraneous scenes.

And either give Anne Margret's character a reason for being or cut her out.

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