Newsies in Los Angeles

I have wanted to see the musical Newsies for such a long time and I finally had the opportunity to do so at the Pantages Theatre in L.A. over spring break!  Sometimes I can't believe all of the incredible things I get to do!  I was momentarily distracted from my anticipation of the show because the Pantages Theatre is absolutely beautiful.  There are opulent gold and silver decorations everywhere in the Art Deco style and I was especially fascinated by the ceiling!  The show was amazing!  As a huge fan of the movie, I had a tendency to want to compare the stage musical to the Disney classic but they were so different.  After a few songs I stopped thinking about the movie because, as my friend Josh said, "this is so much better!"  Jack Kelly (Dan DeLuca) and his fellow "newsies" gather every morning to buy newspapers to sell to New Yorkers.  When Joseph Pulitzer (Steve Blanchard) raises the price of the papers, the newsies decide to go on strike.  With a little bit of help from fledgling reporter Katherine Plummer (Stephanie Styles), the newsies print their own newspaper and get the attention of Gov. Theodore Roosevelt.  I really loved the song "The World Will Know."  It is incredibly powerful and the cast performed it with such passion!  I had goosebumps throughout the whole song and the reprise (I have goosebumps now just remembering it).  Another favorite, of course, was "Seize the Day" and "King of New York" was a lot of fun.  The choreography in this show blew me away, especially when all of the newsies danced in unison with all of the high energy leaps and spins.  The assembled crowd was very vocal in their appreciation of the dancing.  I was also very impressed with the set design.  The three metal towers, which could be moved around and reconfigured to depict New York apartment buildings and printing offices, were very innovative and highly effective at portraying the industrialization of the turn of the century.  I loved it when they were covered with scrims and newspaper type was projected on them.  So clever!  I really loved this show and I'm so glad I had the opportunity to see it!

Note:  Ironically, Broadway in Utah just announced the 2015-2016 season and Newsies will be coming to SLC in June of 2016!  I get to see it again!