THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
A Broadway hit from 2012, Newsies is relentless, but in a good way. From the outset it catches you in its grip and doesn't let go. It has probably the most spectacular dancing you will see this or any other year in London and it is staged on an expansive apron stage of an impressive new theater in north London. Disney, for it's their show, has joined forces to make this a destination venue and you can't miss it as you exit Wembley Park station. It is a great addition to the London entertainment scene.
You could be in Vegas. Newsies is big, it's brash, it's never head of 'less is more'. The dancing, from a 20 strong young ensemble is so spectacular it literally stops the show, with ovations mid scene, also a very Broadway thing. It has the audience rapt from the very beginning.
Based on a 1992 film musical, it tells the story of a legendary newsboys strike in New York City in 1899. Yes, Disney does industrial relations! The boys/young men were mostly orphans, eking out a miserable existence on the streets and trying to avoid being dumped in grim institutions for the destitute, where they would be abused.
After newspaper magnate Joseph Pulitzer (Cameron Blakely), hikes up the wholesale prices he charges the newsies to sell his paper on the streets, Jack Kelly (Michael Ahomka-Lindsay) rallies his fellow 'newsies' in an attempt to protest the change, eventually leading to a strike, even though they are not unionized. Along the way he falls in love with a young reporter, Katherine (Bronté Barbé) who is assigned to the story and later turns out to be the bosses rebellious daughter. The book does stray into the corn too often but the piece bristles with an electric energy which is totally infectious, and the ensemble are as drilled as The Rockettes.
Matt Cole's direction is fluid and insistent and his virile, gymnastic, choreography makes huge demands on these young dancers; the result is a joy to behold. Morgan Large's design (the high fire escapes echo West Side Story) is wonderfully integrated into the movement with the ensemble making full use of the gantries and walkways to create a fully immersive experience. The audience are steeply raked on three sides, adding a great buzz to the auditorium. The thrills keep coming in Act 2 with a barnstorming tap number played out on tables and swinging from lamps.
While the songs, by 8-time Oscar winner Alan Menken, are tender and often catchy, the book is underwritten and really doesn't gain any heft until Act 2. This puts an added burden on the leads to anchor the piece dramatically. It is interesting that the baddie here is Pulitzer, he of the prizes. His methods were beyond appalling but typical of the era and yet those prizes haven't been 'canceled' over his reputation. Then again, Nobel made bombs.
Ahomka-Lindsay, who so impressed in Legally Blonde earlier this year, is a real find. Blessed with a rousing tenor voice, he has the presence to carry the piece and to find some nuance in Jack, whose hinterland is art and who longs for escape to Santa Fe. Barbé too holds her own really well and gets the best number, a Sondheimesque 'Watch What Happens'.
This will run and run.
