15 things #newsies needs to change before broadway [theater]

in 1992, i was 10 years old, and my parents took me to the movies to see a new movie-musical called newsies. i don't really remember knowing anything about the movie before i got to the theater. but sitting there watching those opening few minutes, i pretty much fell in love. and by the time the credits had rolled, i immediately knew i needed to see again. and again. and again. and after roughly 10 trips to the theater (thanks mom and dad!), it was clear: i was addicted to newsies. 

19 years later, that addiction has not gone away. i've seen newsies more times than i can actually count. can quote the entire movie pretty much scene for scene. heck - i watch some part of newsies every single night of my life. i literally put it on and watch it before bed. love isn't even the word for it. newsies is everything to me. 

so when i heard that disney theatrical was working on a stage production of newsies, i practically lost my mind. talk about a childhood dream come true! the show wasn't officially coming to broadway, but they were work-shopping it out of town. i had to see it. so on saturday, i (and some of my die-hard newsies fanboy and fangirl friends) traveled to the paper mill playhouse in new jersey to see the production.

here are some show clips, so you can see for yourself:

as a whole, the production was fantastic - though it was hard to see everything from the tears of joy running down my face at all times. great performances lead by jeremy jordan as jack kelly and the most ah-mazing choreography (by christopher gattelli) i've seen in a long time. all of your favorite songs from the film are there: "seize the day," "the world will know," "santa fe," "king of new york," etc. yet there were a lot of changes from the film too - most notably to bob tzudiker and noni white's original screenplay, which has been reworked by harvey fierstein. fierstein's book replaces seasoned reporter bryan denton (played by bill pullman) with aspiring reporter katherine plumber (played by kara lindsay). it's a good change - and with the addition of some new songs and the subtraction of some boring scenes, one of the many things that elevates this newsies beyond the film.

but not everything is perfect. as the show makes its way to broadway (it's received extremely positive reviews, and just about everyone is saying broadway is a sure thing), there are a few things i'd change. here's the top 15 that come to mind:

1. open with "carrying the banner"

i appreciate that director jeff calhoun tried to do something different by starting the show with jack and crutchie (the lovely andrew keenan-bolger) singing a modified version of "santa fe." i see how that might help the audience immediately relate to those characters, and their dreams and hopes for a better life outside of new york city. it was a nice moment. but quite frankly: it was boring. it totally takes the excitement out of the show! PEOPLE WANT TO SEE THE NEWSBOYS. my audience was quiet and somber until the opening lines of "carrying the banner" started. literally, one of the guys sang "that's my cigar" and the entire room sat up. there were cheers from the back of the audience. we knew what we were about to see was going to be amazing. that's the kind of energy that needs to exist at the opening of a show. start there and you'll have your audience for the next two hours. 

2. give "santa fe" it's moment...

moving "carrying the banner" back to the top of the show means we have to find a better place for "santa fe." right now, calhoun and company put it at the top of act 1 and then again at the bottom of act 1. i get what they're trying to do - but it just doesn't work. i'd first introduce the song halfway through act 1. i mean, this is jack's major ballad. the moment when we connect with him on a truly emotional level. but we can't just start that way with jack. we have to be drawn into his charisma and charm. there's a reason he's the leader in the first place. so give him the first few scenes to hustle around the stage, beat up the delancey brothers, outsmart wiesel, etc. and then find that perfect moment where jack's finally showing vulnerability. in the movie, that's when jack see's davey's family for the first time. since davey's family didn't make the stage show, i'd pick the moment right after jack talks to katherine at medda's show. it's the perfect time for him to be self-reflective. then give us a reprise right before the closing of act I. and again in act II, right after the rally. use the song to really mark those moments where our hearts are most pulling for jack. 

3. ...and let jack dance halfway through it.

i recognize that jeremey jordan isn't the best dancer. this seemed apparent when he ran towards the back during every major dance number. but man - you have to keep in that sweet dance break in "santa fe." it's one of the best male dance breaks on film of all time (right next to kevin bacon's dance in footloose and tom cruise's dance in risky business). take a look:

also: those orchestrations at the beginning and end of the dance break have totally been removed from "santa fe." they sound like they were pulled from beauty and the beast and i love them and i miss them. put them back in please!

4. bring some of the original lyrics back

look, i get why alan menken made some changes to the lyrics here and there. some needed tweaking for sure. and since he expanded some of these songs from the film, he needed more lyrics. no problem, really. but some of the changes he made to the original lyrics completely baffle me. take this one, from santa fe. original lyrics: "when i dream / on my own / i'm alone but i ain't lonely / for a dreamer night's the only time of day." beautiful, right? what a wonderful description into the way jack see's the world. here's the new lyrics: "close your eyes / come with me / where it's clean and green and pretty / and they went and made a city out of clay." wtf is that? those lyrics just feel... pedestrian. oh, or how about the opening of "seize the day," which in the film began with "open the gates and seize the day / don't be afraid and don't delay / nothing can break us / no one can make us / give our rights away / arise and seize the day." now, we get "now is the time to seize the day / stand down the guards and seize the day / minute by minute / that's how you win it / we will find a way / but let us seize the day." ARE YOU KIDDING ME? great change menken. rhyming "seize the day" with "seize the day." that isn't lazy at all! look, i'm okay with new lyrics. but some lyrics are staples. and menken needs to bring those back, dammit. 

5. put patrick's mother back in

while you're making some changes to the lyrics, you may want to put back in patrick's mother's solo. sure, she's an insignificant character who get's a big part in the opening number and then doesn't appear for the rest of the movie. but that solo is one of the best solo's ever! if you're going to keep the nuns in, then give us patrick's mother again! 

UPDATE: the cast of newsies heard me (and the tens of other fansies who complained about this) and compensated by shooting this AH-MAZING video.

6. cast some black newsies

there was at least one in the original movie (boots, played by arvie lowe jr.). and there's one on the poster for the paper mill production (see above). but in the actual cast? we got none! that doesn't seem right. 

7. give les his wooden sword

i know les isn't the the biggest character. but in the movie, les walks around with this small wooden toy sword. it's kind of his thing. and in the stage production, it wasn't there. it's a simple prop, so it shouldn't be hard to put back in. he's really not les without it!

8. make pulitzer and snyder actual threats

when we first meet joseph pulitzer (played by john dossett), we learn that he's a big part of why roosevelt didn't make it into office. when he ups the cost of the papes for the newsies, he knows that all the other publishers will follow. that's a lot of power. that's a strong man. but ultimately, he does both of those things with a silly cackle and cheese-tastic song. he might as well be twisting his mustache and tying ladies to the railroad tracks. he's a terrible villain. you have to wonder why on earth he would attack these kids like this? he needs more of a back story. more of a serious moment. cut his "the news is getting better" song (and the reprise, please). give us at least one more scene of pulitzer and his cohorts in act 1 where he addresses what's happening (and one in act 2 where he interacts with katherine). and somehow involve pulitzer at an earlier time with snyder (who could also use bulking up, rather than just running around on the stage like a pussy). oh, and while we're making changes, can we make pulitzer's assistants less like rooster and lily st. regis from annie? i swear i thought they were going to bust into "easy street" any minute.

9. use medda, or get rid of her all together

it's pretty clear that medda (and her two performance numbers) was only created because the original film producers wanted to cast ann-margret back in a movie musical. it's like gene kelly in xanadu -  not the best performance, but a big-enough part to draw the audience in. but in this stage production, medda doesn't really have anything to do. i appreciate that alan menken at least changed her first song ("my lovey dovey baby" is now the cheekier "don't come a-knocking" - which is an improvement, but still a terrible song). but she really doesn't do anything special. she's only there to really give the boys a place to have the rally. that's not a good enough reason to stick around. figure out something else to do with her or cut her.

10. give us the "seize the day" chorale

i'm not sure why it was cut, but it certainly needs to be there - with steel drums and all! 

11. change up that set 

tobin ost's set design is inspired, but distracting. the metal scaffolding certainly makes for a lot of variety. but it couldn't look less like the time period the show is set in. make it (and the projections) a bit closer to the overall tone of the production. 

12. make the bronx newsie a boy

there's one scene where all the different boroughs newsies show up, and scream the name of their respective turf. and it's all tough and cool - "MANHATTAN! BROOKLYN! QUEENS!" - etc. until we hear this little whimper... "the bronx." yeah, it's a girl. i'm not sure if they were low on casting and she's supposed to be a boy. i'm not sure if she's supposed to actually be a female newsie, but wants to be one of the guys, a la west side story's anybody. what i am sure is that i shouldn't be spending this much time thinking about her. it was totally random. totally out of the blue. and totally takes you out of the moment. 

13. let the boys spin from the ceiling fans in "king of new york"

"king of new york" is one of the best numbers in the show. calhoun and company have completely punched it up, turning it into an act 2 opening tap number that's probably worth the price of admission alone. but not having the boys swing on ceiling fans is a major disappointment. i'm sure this will probably cost a ba-jillion dollars, but believe me, it'll be worth it. see: 

14. give us a song after the curtain

we get a little bit of a "king of new york" reprise. but the audience wants more, dammit. mainly, an opportunity to sing along with "seize the day." give us some participation please! 

15. more shirtless newsies, please! 

this is by far my creepiest request. but we had two shirtless boys, right in the beginning - and then nothing. come on boys - the meat is there. take your shirts off!

did you see newsies at paper mill? any changes you want to see? 

Comments

[NewsiesWhatsNew]

Hi, NineDaves. Great post! I saw the show twice and agree with many of your points.

Santa Fe song: it was odd (having the movie as a background) that Santa Fe opened the show since it's is a New York story. It is slow. But it serves several purposes: sets up the friendship between Jack & Crutchie; shows us Jack's hangout, the special "storage" space; and is his "I want" song which makes up question his later commitment to the cause and the girl. The placement of Santa Fe has been called into question by others as well, so I can't wait to see what they do for the Broadway show (My gut says it will get to Broadway once the behind-the-scenes deals are worked out).

Jack's lack of dance: yeah, it wasn't until the second time I saw the show that I noticed Jeremy Jordan (partially) dance during one song. I figured he needs the songs to take a breather from carrying the show, so I forgive him.

Casting: it was pretty obvious the discrepancy between the ad and the featured cast. Don't know what that's about.

Medda: Sure her role sounds vital when you lay it all out: she provides Newsies a private meeting place, Jack a safe haven (and the backdrop for budding romance), a way to show-off his special talent, and a special connection to the Governor (wink-wink). Oh, and she's another woman in a testosterone-heavy cast. But the character lacks "real" purpose. She's a device. All the plot points happen around her - she doesn't move the story forward. That, in my opinion, may be one of the most difficult issues for Harvey and crew to solve.

My additional notes:

"Never fear, Brooklyn is here!": this phrase (or a variation of it) is sung. It's lost. Spot is a fan favorite (I'm a Davey girl if you're wondering). His line is hugely popular. Why not sing it AND have Spot say it? Give the fans what they want (and judging by the squeals on Fan Day, fans want Spot - both new and old).

This is more about casting than story structure: The actress who plays Katherine: she's plucky, a good actress, and tap dancer...but some of the notes she delivered sounded flat. I was hoping it was a fluke and that it wouldn't happen as much the second time I saw her, but it was still there (usually when she belted. She would at first sound fine and then all of a sudden, her tone shifted). Maybe that's the tone they're going for (it's, uh, unique?), but my group of theatergoers (one of whom was a musical theater major) agreed that her voice sounded off. Overall, she was great and performed well in the role.