By Rex Reed 4/04/12 10:03am

theater

Jordan, center, leads the Newsboy Strike. (Deen van Meer)

New Newsies Is Newsworthy: Watch All About It!

From their vast catalog of whimsical mermaids, flying nannies, royal lions, talking cars, sleeping beauties and singing teapots, the folks at Disney have plucked another gang of family-friendly folk heroes and landed them on Broadway, and if the performance I saw of Newsies the Musical is any evidence, the Disney marketing geniuses will make it a solid success. There wasn’t one available seat, not even in the men’s room, and the Nederlander Theatre was packed like a jar of maraschino cherries with school groups, parents, teachers and ticket buyers young and old, desperate for good old-fashioned entertainment. They left with sore throats and callouses on their hands from screaming so loud and applauding so long. They got their money’s worth, and so will you. Read More

By Drew Grant 3/14/12 9:00am

theater reviews

Newsies vs. Newsies

Newsies: The Musical Wants to Occupy Broadway

“Pulitzer and Hearst, they think we’re nothing! Are we nothing?”

“No!”

The opening chords of “The World Will Know,” the anthem of 1992’s live-action Disney film Newsies, are as recognizable to a generation of cult fans as “A Whole New World,” “Under the Sea” or Celine Dion crooning “Beauty and the Beast.”

Led by Christian Bale’s horrendous “New Yoik” accent, first-time director Kenny Ortega’s film about the 1899 newsboy strike was, superficially, a huge flop. It cost $15 million to make and brought in only $2 million at the box office. And the critics hated it: Roger Ebert called it  “warmed-over Horatio Alger” and included his review in his 2000 book, I Hated, Hated, Hated This Movie!

David Rooney of The New York Times was even harsher, saying that the film “suffers from sluggish storytelling, a vocally challenged cast (led by an uncomfortable-looking Christian Bale) and poorly shot dance numbers bursting with anachronisms.

“It’s Oliver! meets Annie with quasi-breakdance moves,” he added derisively.

Yet somehow the cult of Newsies survived the film and now, two decades later, it’s back and headed for Broadway; the show begins previews next week at the Nederlander Theater. And this time, it has the whole world on its side. Read More