NEWSIES / DISNEY & ARTS ALLIANCE PRESENT

Happy February 💛

I've got a little bit of a different post today - I'm going to be talking to you about a super exciting upcoming Disney cinema event! Newsies is a Tony award winning Broadway musical, with music by Disney legend Alan Menken, and lyrics by Jack Feldman. I was invited to attend an exciting preview of this show at the Walt Disney Company in London which is happening today, but unfortunately was unable to attend quite last minute - I thought I'd let you guys know about it nonetheless, just minus a review.

“From the very beginning, the stage adaptation of NEWSIES has had an exciting and entirely unexpected journey, propelled by the show’s passionate fan base,” said Thomas Schumacher, president & producer, Disney Theatrical Productions. “We are thrilled to be working with Arts Alliance and to have had Tony-nominee Jeremy Jordan and members of the original Broadway company join the North American touring cast as we take NEWSIES on its next exciting chapter, reaching new audiences around the world.” Nick Varley, co-CEO of Arts Alliance Distribution said “We are pleased to be working with our colleagues at Disney Theatrical Productions to bring this very special production of NEWSIES to cinema screens across the world. NEWSIES is one of the most successful family musicals of our time and this big screen outing will allow audiences in both urban and rural locations worldwide to experience the spectacle of a Broadway show from the comfort of their local cinema”.

If you're an avid film watcher, you'll know that it's really common nowadays to watch ballet, opera and various theatre productions right from the comfort of your local cinema - working in a cinema I am certainly familiar with this concept, and actually watching something in the cinema actually gives you such a great perspective when watching a show like this. You get to see something from various, different angles rather than watching from a static spot in an auditorium. You're also treated to close up shots, and pan-outs which really adds to the atmosphere of what you're watching.

Newsies is based on the book 'Children of the City' by David Nasaw, and is in a nutshell about the real-life Newsboys' (Newsies) Strike of 1899. The Newsies of New York actually went up against two newspaper publishers to get a fair price for newspapers. They went on strike, which lasted two weeks from July 19 to August 2 1899, and during that time managed to get support from newsies, messenger boys, bootblacks and young factory workers from all over the Northeast United States. The production was in great hands from the beginning, with screenwriters Bob Tzudicker and Noni White (Tarzan, 101 Dalmatians, Hunchback) fictionalising the story as a non-musical screenplay which went on to be turned into the musical released in 1992 starring Christian Bale. 

The production being screened to cinemas was filmed live on stage at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood, and stars Original Broadway cast members Jeremy Jordan as “Jack Kelly,” Kara Lindsay as “Katherine,” Ben Fankhauser as “Davey” and Andrew Keenan-Bolger as “Crutchie”. They’re joined by North American Tour stars Steve Blanchard as “Joseph Pulitzer,” and Aisha de Haas as “Medda Larkin,” and Ethan Steiner as “Les” along with members of both the Broadway and North American Tour ensembles, filling the stage with more “newsies” and more dancing than ever before.

Newsies 2017 will be released in cinemas in UK, Germany, Australia and New Zealand on February 19 2017. It will be released in other cinemas worldwide on or after February 22 2017.

If it sounds like something you definitely don't want to miss, then simply visit newsiesthemusical.com to find your local showing!

Before I sign off I'd just like to quickly say a big thank you to Kate at Arts Alliance for getting in touch, inviting me to the screening, and providing me with all the info I'd need to put this post together.

I hope you guys are excited for this event! Thanks for reading 💖