Originally premiering in 1992 with music by Alan Menken, and marking Kenny Ortega’s directorial debut, Newsies tells the story of the historical 1899 Newsboy strike. In this version, the strike is led by Jack Kelly (Christian Bale in the original film, and Jeremy Jordan in the original Broadway cast), the charismatic union organizer who dreams of leaving the city of New York to move out west to Santa Fe, New Mexico. With the help of the brainy, if slightly awkward David Jacobs (David Moscow in the original film, and Ben Fankhauser in the original Broadway cast, the newsboys of New York strike against the publishing tycoons, Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst, after they raised the price of newspapers for the newsies, as at the time the newsies had to buy them from the distributors to resell on the streets.
At the time of the film’s original release, Newsies was critically panned and performed poorly in the box office, making back less than $3 million of its $15 million budget -- and it’s not hard to see why. Critics felt the story moved at a languid pace, with the peak highlights being the larger, more energetic ensemble numbers like “Seize the Day” and “King of New York.” And while the cast was overflowing in boyish charm and enthusiasm, the lack of professional singing or dancing training for a large portion of the cast is evident in many of the performances. The “Newsies! Newsies! See all about it!” featurette for the film, narrated by Max Casella who played Racetrack Higgins, detailed the extensive dance training the cast and ensemble underwent as some of them had no prior professional dancing experience, but its clear the training could not create years of professional experience. However, despite the criticism of the musical, it still found its niche within audiences and created a dedicated fan base who dubbed themselves the “fansies”.
Not only this, the representation of boys who could both be masculine and tough, but also enjoy singing and dancing would lead to many finding solace in its characters. When guesting on the Stars in the House “Newsies Reunion” live stream, Jeremy Jordan, who would go on to receive a Tony nomination for his role as Jack Kelly in 2012, explained that he, “used to love the movie because it felt like it was something that I could watch that I wouldn’t be made fun of, because it was a musical and I secretly loved musicals as a boy from Texas, where they generally frown upon that thing.” Many of the Broadway cast expressed similar sentiments, as the film offered a cast with a style not often portrayed in musical theater movies.
Almost two decades after the movie hit theaters, Disney Theatrical Group decided to produce an adaptation of the film for high schools to legally license, as there was previous interest in the property (which came in the form of illegal productions). With its transition from screen to stage, the story and characters saw a fair amount of change to suit the new medium. Despite having similar run times, the musical cut and combined extraneous scenes to instead put emphasis on ones that would further characterize its leads.
No longer was Jack Kelly the orphaned wannabe cowboy who puts up a tough front as a means of survival on the streets, even though he truly cares about the rest of the newsies on the inside. In this version, Jack Kelly is an idealistic and sentimental artist, who paints sets for Miss Medda Larkin’s Burlesque shows and wants nothing more than to ease the pain of the other newsies around him. He still retains the charm and flirtatiousness original to the character, the latter trait being played up in the musical, but the significant changes in his motivations are best reflected in his titular solo song “Santa Fe” which had been moved to the Act One closer in the Broadway production.
In the original film, “Santa Fe'' is the third song in the score and takes place after Jack meets David Jacobs’ family. The scene shows Jack trying to convince himself that a family isn’t what he needs because he has dreams out in Santa Fe. He lies and says that his reason for desiring Santa Fe is that his parents are waiting for him out there, but really in this version Santa Fe symbolizes Jack’s desire for freedom. By comparison, the Broadway production’s “Santa Fe” takes place after the newsies are beaten by the police for striking, with Jack’s best friend, Crutchie, being arrested and sent to a juvenile jail called the Refuge. “Santa Fe” takes a more agonized tone in this version. Here, Jack relies on the fantasy that Santa Fe holds for him, that there could be a place where he feels like he belongs and nothing will be hard or painful ever again. In the film, Santa Fe merely represents freedom, whereas in the musical it's about doing what you can to find a safe place for you and your friends.
Another of the more significant changes in the musical’s overall structure comes in the merging of two of the film’s characters: Sarah Jacobs - Jack Kelly’s love interest and David’s sister, and Bryan Denton—the news reporter who works for The Sun and is covering the story of the strike. In the Broadway production, these two characters are replaced by Katherine Plumber (Kara Lindsay), a budding entertainment news writer looking for the big scoop that will legitimize her work to her superiors. Compared to Sarah Jacobs, whose character simplifies down to just caring about her younger brother Les and being generally nice, Katherine is witty and bold, with goals centered in trying to push the boundaries for what was expected of women at the time. Not only this, she also drives Jack to be better through their relationship. She encourages him to pursue the art career that he previously thought impossible and to also be more honest with himself about his motivations in regards to the family he has with the newsies. She helps him realize he isn’t alone.
The musical also highlights the most exhilarating parts of the film by taking the energetic choreography of Kenny Ortega and having Tony-nominated choreographer, Christopher Gattelli, enhance it. The film had a dance style that was incredibly dynamic and athletic, incorporating acrobatics to create a more combative atmosphere. Gattelli clearly pays homage to the film’s original choreography but takes it one step further by placing a heavier focus on traditional ballet and including more intense acrobatics. Every major dance number, now being performed by dancers who have been classically training for years, contains energetic back handsprings, leaps, splits, and jumps, which makes every scene feel like the highlight of the show. The Broadway show has more spectacle and adrenaline for the audience, with a graceful yet untamed energy not previously seen in the film.
The musical production had a limited run at the Papermill Playhouse in Millburn, New Jersey with the intention of just completing the small run before potentially sending the show on tour and opening the rights for licensing by schools and smaller theaters. This would quickly change, however, once the massive amount of success that the show was seeing became obvious. While on a livestream hosted by Broadway’s Calling, Ben Fankhauser told of how at the Papermill production’s closing matinee reception, there was a secret announcement that the cast would be performing on the 2011 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. But Fankhauser thought that this felt unusual to him considering that it was uncommon for a closed regional production of a show to perform on the holiday special. “It was in between those two weeks of rehearsal [for the Macy’s performance] that I got a call from my agent, so we were already rehearsing for this parade and still didn’t quite know what was going on, [...] and he said ‘How would you like to make your Broadway debut?’” Fankhauser explained, telling of when he received the surprise news of the Broadway transfer.
Newsies went on to open at the Nederlander Theatre on Broadway in March of 2012 for another limited engagement. Originally, Newsies was scheduled to play for three months with 101 shows, but by the end of its run and multiple extensions, the musical ran for over two years and played just over 1,000 shows. The cast would be invited for numerous television performances, and even perform at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom, the Walt Disney Studio Lot in Burbank, and even the White House. The Broadway musical was nominated for eight Tony Awards, most notably for Best Musical and Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical, and winning Best Choreography and Best Original Score.
Once the Broadway show closed, the production went on tour around the United States for another two years, and in 2016 it was announced that there was to be a live capture of the Broadway production to release in theaters the following year. The professional recording would feature a combination of the original Broadway cast and the tour cast, with all of the leads returning to reprise their roles. The recording was shot over the span of five days at the Hollywood Pantages Theater in Los Angeles and would culminate in a one-night-only performance as the ultimate version of the Broadway musical.
Next year marks the thirtieth anniversary of the original film and the tenth anniversary of the Broadway production. Newsies continues to have a thriving and dedicated fan base among theatergoers, and you can find many of the cast members who made their debuts in the Broadway production in big-name projects today. In the end, Newsies was the fastest of any Disney musical on Broadway to recoup its initial investment, turning a profit in only seven months, outpacing even The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, and Aladdin.
Both filmed versions are available to stream on Disney+.