Musical theatre fans are rejoicing as Disney’s “Newsies the Musical” the popular stage musical which was filmed and released early this year is released for streaming on Netflix.
The musical tells the story of a group of newsboys in New York City at the turn of the century who live on the streets, selling papers and living off of next to nothing. When the owner of the paper, Joseph Pulitzer, raises the price of the paper, the newsies decide to strike back.
The ilm description on Netflix reads, “In a time o unbridled corruption and greed, they had the audacity to raise their voices in solidarity and song.”
“Newsies the Musical” is a stage adaptation of Disney’s 1992 musical film, “Newsies” directed by Kenny Ortega. The musical is the same story as the original movie which was inspired by the newsboys strike in New York City if 1899.
The musical, however, has a new book and features new characters and new songs, breathing life into an old movie and adapting it for Broadway. With music by Disney go-to Alan Menken, lyrics by Jack Feldman and a book by Harvey Fierstein, the musical opened in 2011 at the Paper Mill Playhouse before making it’s move to Broadway in 2012.
The music was led by some Broadway talents such as Jeremy Jordan as lead Jack Kelly, Kara Lindsay as Katherine Plumber and also included John Dossett as Joseph Pulitzer.
The release comes after a successful run on Broadway and national tour that lasted two years. The musical was nominated for eight Tony Awards. On the day, the musical took home two, one going to Christopher Gattelli for best choreography and another to Alan Menken and Jack Feldman for best original score.
The live cast recording was filmed in Los Angeles, California where many original cast members such as Jordan and Lindsay returned to reprise their original roles they took on on Broadway. The cast included Broadway and the national tour cast. Ensemble roles were also added in just for filming for swings.
The recording was released numerous times for special showings in theaters. Ultimate Disney announced the recording would be available for streaming on Netflix.
There is no news yet on how long the recording will be available on Netflix, but with Disney’s plans to remove all of its content in early 2018 to create its own streaming service, it may not be here for long.
