Alan Menken & Jack Feldman Win Tony for Best Original Score for NEWSIES

Alan Menken and Jack Feldman are this year's recipients of the Tony Award for Best Original Score(Music and Lyrics) Written for Theatre for NEWSIES.

For Disney, Menken has scored The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and Pocahontas, each of which won him two Academy Awards. He also composed the scores for The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hercules, Enchanted, and Tangled. Menken has collaborated on several occasions with lyricists includingHoward Ashman,Tim RiceandStephen Schwartz. On Broadway, Menken has composed for The Little Mermaid, Little Shop of Horrors, King David, Beauty and the Beast and, now, Sister Act.

NEWSIES, the new American musical opened at the Nederlander Theatre on March 29th. The show features music by eight-time Academy Award® winnerAlan Menken (Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Sister Act), lyrics by Jack Feldman and a book by four-time Tony® Award winner Harvey Fierstein(La Cage aux Folles, Torch Song Trilogy). The score includes songs from the feature film such as "Carrying the Banner," "Seize the Day," "King of New York" and "Santa Fe." It also features six new songs, three of which ("The Bottom Line," "That's Rich" and "Something to Believe In") have been added for the Broadway production.

Newsies, produced by Disney Theatrical Productions, is directed by Tony nominee Jeff Calhoun (Big River revival) and choreographed by Tony nomineeChristopher Gattelli (South Pacific revival).

The Broadway company of Newsies features Jeremy Jordan (Bonnie & Clyde) as Jack Kelly, John Dossett (2003 revival of Gypsy) as Joseph Pulitzer,Kara Lindsay (Little House on the Prairie) as Katherine Plumber,Capathia Jenkins (Caroline, or Change) as Medda,Ben Fankhauser (Spring Awakening national tour) as Davey, Andrew Keenan-Bolger (Mary Poppins) as Crutchie, and Lewis Grosso (Mary Poppins), and Matthew Schechter (Elf) alternating the role of Les. Jordan, Dossett, Lindsay, Fankhauser and Keenan-Bolger will all reprise the roles they created in the Paper Mill Playhouse production last fall.

The ensemble of Newsies features Aaron J. Albano, Mark Aldrich, Tommy Bracco, John E. Brady,Ryan Breslin, Kevin Carolan, Caitlyn Caughell, Kyle Coffman, Mike Faist, Michael Fatica, Julie Foldesi, Garett Hawe,Thayne Jasperson,Evan Kasprzak,Jess Le Protto,Stuart Marland,Andy Richardson, Jack Scott, Ryan Steele, Brendon Stimson, Nick Sullivan, Ephraim Sykes, Laurie Veldheer, Alex Wong and Stuart Zagnit.