Friday, April 6, 2012

Theater Review: Newsies

Read All About it! Extra, Sugar, but Very Wholesome
By Lauren Yarger
Think “Mickey Mouse Club on steroids” and you have a pretty quick picture of Disney’s latest Broadway offering, a staged musical version of their 1992 hit movie Newsies.
The stage is filled with an ensemble of more than 30, most of them males, hopping, tapping, flipping, tumbling, spinning and singing their way through music by Alan Menken (Beauty & the Beast) and lyrics by Jack Feldman (the over-the-top choreography is by Christopher Gattelli). 
Director Jeff Calhoun delivers two and a half hours of non-stop smiles, sweetness and staged cute, but hold the presses, the audiences love the entertaining and family-friendly show. It has been extended through Aug. 19. Indeed, the night I attended, the crowd enthusiastically laughed on cue and willingly delivered thundering applause whenever possible.
This stage version has a book by Harvey Fierstein to tell the story of a group of newsies, boys who make their living delivering newspapers for the World, one of New York’s largest papers at the turn of the 20th century. They go on strike when publisher Joseph Pulitzer (John Dossett) decides to increase the amount the newsies (all except one here, cast as much older than you would expect when thinking newsboy) must pay to purchase their papers.

Leading the revolt is streetwise Jack Kelly (Jeremy Jordan) who teams up with newbie newsboy, Davey (Ben Fankhauser) and his kid brother, Les (shared by Lewis Grosseg and Matthew J. Schechter), who have left school to earn some money to support their family following an accident which has put their father out of work. If he had been in a union, they discover, things might have been different, so they eagerly join the newsies’ efforts to organize and make a stand against the sleazy Pulitzer. 

Assisting them in their efforts are a woman reporter, Katherine (Kara Lindsay), who hopes reporting on the strike will bump her from reviewing theater to the front page. There might also be some romance in store between her and Jack. Entertainer Medda Larkin (Capathia Jenkins) also helps by lending her theater as a rally venue for the strikers. Standing out from the ensemble in other roles are Andrew Keenan-Bolger as Crutchie, a newsie who walks with a limp and who takes a terrible beating (not seen) for the cause, and Kevin Carolan as Gov. Teddy Roosevelt.

The action takes place around or on a three-story, three-piece moving truss (Tobin Ost). Jack’s sketches (he’s an artist) and some location paintings are projected onto it (Swen Ortel, projection design). Costumes are by Jess Goldstein. The score is pleasant, but not Menken’s best. In amongst the 18 numbers is some noticeable repetition. Michael Kosarin supervises the music played by a full-sounding orchestra and provides the vocal arrangements. The nice orchestrations are by Danny Troob.

Newsies runs at the Nederlander Theatre, 208 West 41st Street. Tickets: 866-870-2717
Christians might also like to know: -- No notes. It doesn’t get more wholesome than this. Enjoy.
Posted by at

1 comment:

Lora's ~ Journal said...

Thanks for this review, Lauren.

April 6, 2012 at 11:23 PM

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Gracewell Prodiuctions

Gracewell Prodiuctions
Producing Inspiring Works in the Arts
Custom Search
Our reviews are professional reviews written without a religious bias. At the end of them, you can find a listing of language, content or theological issues that Christians might want to know about when deciding which shows to see.

** Mature indicates that the show has posted an advisory because of content. Usually this means I would recommend no one under the age of 16 attend.

Theater Critic Lauren Yarger

Theater Critic Lauren Yarger

My Bio

Lauren Yarger has written, directed and produced numerous shows and special events for both secular and Christian audiences. She co-wrote a Christian musical version of “A Christmas Carol” which played to sold-out audiences of over 3,000 in Vermont and was awarded the Vermont Bessie (theater and film awards) for “People’s Choice for Theatre.” She also has written two other dinner theaters, sketches for church services and devotions for Christian artists. Her play concept, "From Reel to Real: The Jennifer O'Neill Story" was presented as part of the League of professional Theatre Women's Julia's reading Room Series in New York. Shifting from reviewing to producing, Yarger owns Gracewell Productions, which produced the Table Reading Series at the Palace Theater in Waterbury, CT. She trained for three years in the Broadway League’s Producer Development Program, completed the Commercial Theater Institute's Producing Intensive and other training and produced a one-woman musical about Mary Magdalene that toured nationally and closed with an off-Broadway run. She was a Fellow at the National Critics Institute at the O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford, CT. She wrote reviews of Broadway and Off-Broadway theater (the only ones you can find in the US with an added Christian perspective) at http://reflectionsinthelight.blogspot.com/.

She is editor of The Connecticut Arts Connection (http://ctarts.blogspot.com), an award-winning website featuring theater and arts news for the state. She was a contributing editor for BroadwayWorld.com. She previously served as theater reviewer for the Manchester Journal-Inquirer, Connecticut theater editor for CurtainUp.com and as Connecticut and New York reviewer for American Theater Web.

She is a Co-Founder of the Connecticut Chapter of the League of Professional Theatre Women. She is a former vice president and voting member of The Drama Desk.

She is a freelance writer and playwright (member Dramatists Guild of America). She is a member if the The Outer Critics Circle (producer of the annual awards ceremony) and a member of The League of Professional Theatre Women, serving as Co-Founder of the Connecticut Chapter. Yarger was a book reviewer for Publishers Weekly A former newspaper editor and graduate of the University of Missouri’s School of Journalism, Yarger also worked in arts management for the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts, the Hartford Symphony Orchestra and served for nine years as the Executive Director of Masterwork Productions, Inc. She lives with her husband in West Granby, CT. They have two adult children.

Copyright

All material is copyright 2008- 2024 by Lauren Yarger. Reviews and articles may not be reprinted without permission. Contact reflectionsinthelight@gmail.com

Search

Key to Content Notes:

God's name taken in vain -- means God or Jesus is used in dialogue without speaking directly to or about them.

Language -- means some curse words are used. "Minor" usually means the words are not too strong or that it only occurs once or twice throughout the show.

Strong Language -- means some of the more heavy duty curse words are used.

Nudity -- means a man or woman's backside, a man's lower front or a woman's front are revealed.

Scantily clad -- means actors' private areas are technically covered, but I can see a lot of them.

Sexual Language -- means the dialogue contains sexually explicit language but there's no action.

Sexual Activity -- means a man and woman are performing sexual acts.

Adultery -- Means a married man or woman is involved sexually with someone besides their spouse. If this is depicted with sexual acts on stage, the list would include "sexual activity" as well.

Sex Outside of Marriage -- means a man and woman are involved sexually without being married. If this is depicted sexually on stage, the list would include "sexual activity" as well.

Homosexuality -- means this is in the show, but not physically depicted.

Homosexual activity -- means two persons of the same sex are embracing/kissing. If they do more than that, the list would include "sexual activity" as well.

Cross Dresser -- Means someone is dressing as the opposite sex. If they do more than that on stage the listing would include the corresponding "sexual activity" and/or "homosexual activity" as well.

Cross Gender -- A man is playing a female part or a woman is playing a man's part.

Suggestive Dancing -- means dancing contains sexually suggestive moves.

Derogatory (category added Fall 2012) Language or circumstances where women or people of a certain race are referred to or treated in a negative and demeaning manner.

Other content matters such as torture, suicide, or rape will be noted, with details revealed only as necessary in the review itself.

The term "throughout" added to any of the above means it happens many times throughout the show.

Reviewing Policy

I receive free seats to Broadway and Off-Broadway shows made available to all voting members of the Outer Critics Circle. Journalistically, I provide an unbiased review and am under no obligation to make positive statements. Sometimes shows do not make tickets available to reviewers. If these are shows my readers want to know about I will purchase a ticket. If a personal friend is involved in a production, I'll let you know, but it won't influence a review. If I feel there is a conflict, I won't review their portion of the production.

All Posts on this Blog