Newsies advance presentation

[tazber]

Posted: 9/1/11 at 5:34pm

Some very interesting changes.

Don’t expect to hear the Razzie-winning song “High Times, Hard Times.” That tune, along with showgirl Medda’s “My Lovey Dovey Baby,” was cut (the former at the request of book writer Harvey Fierstein). Expect four or five new songs in their place, including a solo by a brand spanking new character and a number dedicated to the Brooklyn newsies.

Jack Kelly’s back — shorter, hunkier, and without that weird cowboy hat. According to Fierstein, the first element of the film he knew he wanted to drop is the lead character’s obsession with cowboys and the West. The new Jack (a role created by Bale in the film) is a budding artist. And as played by Jeremy Jordan (who’ll play Clyde Barrow in the upcoming Broadway musical Bonnie and Clyde), he’s also stockier and better looking, and a trained singer with a genuine-sounding New York accent.

You’ll still hear Jack’s dreamy ballad “Santa Fe.” But this time around, it’s gotten some new lyrics, and it’s opening the show instead of serving as a mid-story sleeper. Now it’s a duet with fellow newsie Crutchie (first played by Marty Belafsky) that leads to a rousing rendition of the movie’s original opening number, “Carrying the Banner,” with choreography by Tony-nominated Christopher Gattelli (South Pacific) that pays homage to the film.

Girls, there’s now a real heroine for you. Fierstein replaced Bill Pullman’s weathered journalist with a young female lead who gets way more story time than the film’s little-seen female star. Katherine (played by Kara Lindsay) is a wannabe hard-nosed reporter stuck covering flower shows — and she’s a serious love interest for Jack. “It’s a real love story,” Jordan promises EW. She also adds a female element to the formerly all-boy song “King of New York.”



Link

....but the world goes 'round

[breathyfemalevocal]

Posted: 9/1/11 at 9:07pm

Jeremy Jordan sounds pretty amazing in the advance video clips released on BWW and Playbill (two different clips.) The songs sound interesting, too.

I took a chance and bought tickets for 9/22 while in NYC. Hope it is worth the ride out ot Papermill. Early though it is, I'd say it looks promising.

Posted: 9/1/11 at 10:39pm

All the changes make sense, and dropping two awful songs is great, but I think the shwo's book will need a lot more work. I do like Santa Fe as an opening, although the article seems odd implyign that Christian Bale wasn't attractive in the moive--a ton of girls I knew in grade 7a t the time (and some boys) would disagree...

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 9/1/11 at 11:39pm

Jordan reads (to me, in that clip)short and between 25 to 30.
And Bale is much better and interesting looking, but I hope the show does well.

[bryan]

Posted: 9/2/11 at 12:28am

i hope after the paper mill run it will come to nyc.

[bk]

Posted: 9/2/11 at 12:58am

The only thing, for me, that the movie did right was its opening with Carryin' The Banner, a wonderful, energetic, tuneful opening number. I hated the film choreography and the way it was shot, but the number itself was really good. Opening with Sante Fe is incomprehensible and silly. And I'm sure they'll find that out shortly. Although, I'm equally sure there will the the usual youngsters in attendance who'll be hooting and hollering at every high note and song as if they were watching American Idol - that's the way these days. So, in essence it doesn't matter what they do - they'll either be fooled by all the hooting and hollering or they'll hear through it.

All the attempted hooting and hollering and insane reaction that I witnessed at Catch Me If You Can couldn't help that show - why? Because the show ultimately has to deliver beyond the screamers and it didn't.

Posted: 9/2/11 at 1:10am

I dunno, it sounds liek the Santa Fe opening will be brief and segue right into Carrying the Banner which sounds like it could work (and then is it sung in full later on? Anyway I'm completely guessing obviously). This is a show that will thrive on the yougn teen girls who made the movie a cult hit on video, which is another reason I don't see it having a life on Broadway, as opposed to tours, etc.

But yes, Ortega's choreography and direction was pretty ridiculouslly anachronistic for the movie.

[Sean2]

Posted: 9/2/11 at 2:41am

It had some catchy tunes, but 'Newsies' was just one of the most butt-clenchingly embarrassing musicals ever made. I'm with bk, that the film's choreography was unbelievably awful. Then the shirtless orphan boys with perfectly manicured hair and not a trace of dirt? So much for verisimilitude.

If that clip at Paper Mill Playhouse is anything to go by, they haven't done enough work. Not only that awful vocal yodel that so many younger singers do, but there is some SERIOUS heavy-duty schm-acting going on there. Eeeesh. Fingers crossed that at least the choreography will be better?

Posted: 9/2/11 at 2:53am

They have to definitely do a LOT more to the script--

[best12bars]

Posted: 9/2/11 at 3:07am

He may be able to hit high notes and "look hunky," but he can't act his way out of a paper bag in that preview clip. He can sure over-sing a song, though. Good God.

I'm frustrated by what passes for "acceptable" and "exciting" in modern musical theatre sometimes.

Are there no "shorter, hunkier" guys with "good New York accents" who CAN ACT in NYC?

And what's with that A.D.D. song for the (now female) news reporter? It was cute for a couple of phrases, but after a couple of verses of her switching thoughts mid-word, I wanted to pull out a gun and shoot her.

EDIT: I also think it's a shame that they're losing one of the only interesting character traits from the leading characters: Jack Kelly's desire to get out of his own skin and be someone entirely different out west. I really liked Santa Fe because it was so unusual to have the hero want to get out of his own story. But I guess today's New Yorkers can't fathom the idea of a kid in that era romanticizing the Wild West and wanting to change his life completely. After all, "New York is the center of New York!" How dare he want to leave it?


EDIT2: An even better summation: "We decided to take the "I Want" song and make it an "I don't really want but think it's cool anyway" song that now opens the show. But only as a lead-in to the opening number! Way to "fix" the structure, guys!

Updated On: 9/2/11 at 03:07 AM

[ace33]

Posted: 9/2/11 at 10:54am

As long as they do "King of New York" right... ill be happy

[hyperbole_and_a_half]

Posted: 9/2/11 at 12:57pm

Jeremy Jordan looks ridic in this.

[tazber]

Posted: 9/2/11 at 1:15pm

EDIT2: An even better summation: "We decided to take the "I Want" song and make it an "I don't really want but think it's cool anyway" song that now opens the show. But only as a lead-in to the opening number! Way to "fix" the structure, guys!

I had the same thought besty. Santa Fe is a great song (one of my favorite Menken songs actually) but to shoehorn it in as a prelude to the opening number seems pointless.

[best12bars]

Posted: 9/2/11 at 1:20pm

Here's the other thing, and I guess nobody cares about this "creatively" anymore ...

Jeremy Jordan sure looks like guy who's getting three healthy squares a day with plenty of time for working out and resting.

These Newsies were like slave labor and mistreated, with deplorable conditions. They barely ate, they worked horrendous hours, sometimes slept in doorways, and that's the whole big plot point of the show! Not saying Jack Kelly can't be "steely," but he shouldn't look like he just left a West Hollywood gym, either. I know people like to see healthy bodies, myself included, but do pounds of muscle have to be on every young male character now? And are we just to ignore it and treat is as "nice eye candy" rather than a physical type completely inappropriate for the character he's playing?

Updated On: 9/2/11 at 01:20 PM

[best12bars]

Posted: 9/2/11 at 1:29pm

"I had the same thought besty. Santa Fe is a great song (one of my favorite Menken songs actually) but to shoehorn it in as a prelude to the opening number seems pointless."

Aside from being the best song in this material (IMO), it sets up a whole internal conflict with Jack. He wants to get the hell out of NYC. He has dreamed up this "legendary" vision of the Wild West where he could leave "everything he is and has done" behind.

It would be the PERFECT opportunity to open the whole thing up and turn it into a stylized "dream ballet" of sorts (with the right director and choreographer), set on Jack's idealistic interpretation of the "cowboy life" and how it all would be. You could tell a wonderful (and humorous) story of a "clash of the cultures" in it, and involve his NY friends trying to relate to his Wild West fantasy. And it could transport an audience.

Then, as the rest of the plot unfolds, the audience understands how hard it is for him to stay. He's the reluctant hero of the story. He stays to help his friends, because they mean more to him than his dream, and ultimately he stays to fight because it's the right thing to do.

So ... let's just "kill" all of that, shall we? Because we can't deal with him preferring the Wild West. We'll just mention it in passing, up front, and move on. This is a New York story, people!

Updated On: 9/2/11 at 01:29 PM

Posted: 9/2/11 at 6:19pm

To be fair, if they want to cast it with a guywho's had some pro musical theatre background and can dance (and I know NOTHING about Jordan at all, so could be off on this), in the current climate it'd be pretty hard to find someone who didn't look at least slightly gym toned, I mean check out recent West Side Stories, or even the original Newsies movie, though it was maybe a bit more realistic in that sense. But it's a valid point. And the Santa Fe point is a good one (a dream ballet of sorts, instead of that laugh out loud embarassing dance break in the original movie--poor Bale--actually would even make sense).

Judging by the bits of that new song, it certainly doesn't sound like Jack Feldman has improved as a lyricist in the past 20 years...

[best12bars]

Posted: 9/3/11 at 6:54am

Not all dancers are built like "Marky Mark," even if big biceps seem to be more common today, particularly on Broadway. If they wanted to cast a dancer physically appropriate for the role of Jack Kelly, they could easily do that.

I think producers and creative teams are playing to the lowest common denominator. They figure that even if a show is boring its audience to death, they can always look at the gym rats in the chorus. It's exactly the same as the "big boobed" chorus girls of the old Burlesque shows.

To me, it always wreaks of theme-park casting or cruise-ship casting. I expect more from Broadway (or Broadway-bound) productions. At least I used to.

EDIT: And by the same token, there are definitely shows and roles that DO lend themselves to "beefy" chorus boys. But a show about Newsies struggling and starving on the streets while they try to earn a penny a "pape" isn't one of them. They're serving a generic trend (and so, apparently, is their choreography) rather than serving the material.

Updated On: 9/3/11 at 06:54 AM

Posted: 9/3/11 at 8:30am

Besty have you seen the movie? My memories of it are being embarassed and many girls my age being into it. I don't see why they would even try to reach a broader audience with the material.... I don't think this is going to Broadway, it's a show that was largely a novelty with some good songs (and Santa Fe was my fave audition song as a teen) , that can try to improve on the mess of a movie as something regional theatres can do.

But I stand by what I said--if he could pull off Tony, why is this a stretch?

[RainbowJude]

Posted: 9/3/11 at 9:52am

I love the idea of the female journalist, but I really don't like the idea of opening the show with a duet version of "Santa Fe" at all, no matter how brief it may be before it segues into "Carrying the Banner". I'm also unsure about this idea of cutting out Jack's obsession with the West. I just don't get it. Guess we'll have to see if it plays when the show opens.

[best12bars]

Posted: 9/3/11 at 10:01am

Eric---I'm not a "Newsie" freak or anything ... and it's a FAR from perfect piece to adapt. But why go at it from such a lowball/conventional angle? Why not try to improve it, and, you know, actually make it GOOD.

Did I see the movie?

I saw it six months before it was released at a special screening in Burbank. The creative team and marketing teams were there. Afterwards, we filled out cards with our thoughts, and then they selected a small focus group from the larger audience to stay and talk with them about the movie. I was part of that group, too. We were there for a couple of hours, telling them everything we liked and didn't like about the movie, and, believe me, I had a lot to say. They were interested, too.

The result? Not a damn thing. The movie, six months later, was exactly the same (except we saw it without titles or the end credits). All the "focus group" crap, and they nodded their heads and acted involved and engaged ... and nothing changed.

I've seen it a couple of times since then, and I own the DVD (which I've watched once). Not a mega-fan or anything, but I'm quite familiar with the material.

I just don't like it when anyone takes a property, even if it's a mediocre one, and then adds even more mediocrity to it. What's the point? Why not sieze the opportunity to create something fresh or (God forbid!) BETTER than the source material?

As far as your memory, there may have been one or two "built" guys in the ensemble for the film. Most of them were skinny or wiry. And pale. Not West Hollywood gym rats. They didn't look like the walking dead, either, and they were definitely "Disneyfied" street urchins. But compared to that stage show clip, they looked "authentic."

EDIT: I will add this, too ... there were high expectations placed on the film, because of Menken's involvement. He was the "golden child" at Disney, having come off of Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast, and the upcoming Aladdin (also released in 1992, and I saw that at an advance screening as well--three months before its general release). Newsies was definitely being watched by everyone in the industry to see if Alan Menken and the genre could make the jump from modern, successful, original animated musicals to live-action.

Updated On: 9/3/11 at 10:01 AM

[bk]

Posted: 9/3/11 at 1:17pm

First of all, everyone should read every post made by best12bars in this thread. They perfectly sum up much that is wrong with today's "creative" teams and now everything is being pandered to the lowest common denominator. And teens. That's because the movie business has taken over Broadway.

Second of all, Newsies was a huge flop as a film. HUGE. Total loser. But, like many 1980s films, the people who saw it back then, mostly on cable or video, LOVE it because they saw it as kids - same with many mediocre 80s films, like The Goonies. They are fanatical about their childhood films in a way no other generation has been, even if some of those films were critical and box-office disasters. That's where Newsies got its "cult" and it wasn't a huge cult either. I think Disney was fooled by the rabid posters on chat boards - it happens a lot. But 100 or even a 1000 rabid 80s babies waxing euphoric doesn't translate into interest in a general sense. The simple fact is that Newsies was a movie with potential that had a poor screenplay, a score that had two good songs in it (Santa Fe and Carrying The Banner), and was horribly directed and choreographed. No one was having it then and I'm not sure people will be having it now, especially if that horrid clip was anything to go by. Lord, I hate that "style" of singing, which is more like caterwauling - young singers have no ability or interest (and directors don't help them) in letting the song do some of the work - they just lay on so much stuff that the song is lost in all that crap - and the kiddies love it because it's like American Idol and they get to cheer and scream.

It's horrible, but that's what musical theater, for the most part, has devolved into. I'm sure someone at Warner Bros. is thinking "The Goonies, The Musical." And yes, they'll cast a bunch of twenty-something hunky boys who scream and sing high B-flats and have shaved chests.

[dexter3]

Posted: 9/3/11 at 7:55pm

Hmmm. All this NEWSIES hate?! From the video preview? I actually got kind of excited when I watched it...

How about we all GO SEE IT and then decide if it's better?

I, for one, think that embarking on a stage production in hopes to "improve" upon the story/songs is a pretty good reason to work on a stage adaptation. But honestly, let's see how it goes...that seems like a fair way to judge.

Disney was inundated with requests from community/schools/regional theaters for the rights to produce Newsies. So much so that they decided to work on creating a legitimate stage production in order to eventually release the rights. It will probably be a popular show in those markets...not sure if Broadway is in their trajectory.

And best12bars, sorry they didn't take your advice in the focus group...perhaps your advice wasn't any good...

[jovie27]

Posted: 9/3/11 at 8:14pm

You know what is funny KILL is that me and a friend of mine were having this exact same conversation about gym bodies etc with How To Succeed. He was pissed that Chris Hanke (even though he is nice to look at), was tonned and good shape for the role of FRUMP. My friend wanted a real "character actor" for the part; friend was mad that they all are hunky, but though some costumes pieces on him that make him look nerdy or weird and there you go.

Also, on that same subject I am a casting director in CA and in a recent show a guy was cast who is sexually beautiful. In a recent review the critic only mentioned this about the actor.." (actor's name) is beautiful to look at, as the character..."--lol that is all the critic wrote. I mentioned that to my friend and he's response was..."That's enough, as long as he's hot" (as in it should not matter if you he could act, as long as he is hot).

So, yeah that is the common sense of what people want...HOT!
Updated On: 9/3/11 at 08:14 PM

[gypsy4]

Posted: 9/4/11 at 1:08am

The creative team should check out this footage I think they could learn a few things casting wise.
Newsies Backstage!

[bk]

Posted: 9/4/11 at 2:27am

"Disney was inundated with requests from community/schools/regional theaters for the rights to produce Newsies. So much so that they decided to work on creating a legitimate stage production in order to eventually release the rights. It will probably be a popular show in those markets...not sure if Broadway is in their trajectory.

And best12bars, sorry they didn't take your advice in the focus group...perhaps your advice wasn't any good..."

Why, you seem to know so much about all this - makes you wonder, doesn't it? It sounds like they didn't take ANY advice from anyone on the film of Newsies. And they should have.