Disney's NEWSIES to Hold Auditions for Male Dancers in Los Angeles, 2/8

Disney Theatrical Productions will hold an open call audition for male dancers for both the Broadway and upcoming North American touring productions of Newsies, the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical smash, in Los Angeles on Saturday, February 8 at 11am at the Hollywood United Methodist Church (6817 Franklin Avenue/Los Angeles, CA 90068). This audition will be first come, first serve and is for technically-trained Equity and non-Equity male dancers between 16 - 22 years old of all ethnicities who can tap and sing well.

This audition will be overseen by Lou Castro (Associate Choreographer for Newsies) who has worked on the Broadway productions of Women on the Verge, 13, and Sunday in the Park with George. Please contact Gregory Hanoian, Gregory.Hanoian@disney.com, to schedule an interview with Castro.

When:

Saturday, February 8, 2014

Starts promptly at 11:00am

Sign in begins promptly at 10:00am in Grant Hall.

Where:

Hollywood United Methodist Church

6817 Franklin Avenue

Los Angeles, CA 90068

Enter through the gate on Hillcrest Road east of the church's main entrance.

Parking is available at the Hollywood/Highlands Parking Structure.

Prepare:

All dancers should bring sneakers, tap shoes, kneepads and a photo/resume.

As previously announced, the Newsies North American tour will play The Pantages Theatre in Los Angeles from March 24 - April 19, 2015. For information or to register for advance ticket access notifications, visit NewsiesTheMusical.com/Tour, Facebook.com/Newsies and Twitter.com/Newsies.

About NEWSIES: Newsies features a Tony Award-winning score with music by eight-time Academy Award winner Alan Menken and lyrics by Jack Feldman, with a book by four-time Tony Award winner Harvey Fierstein. Produced by Disney Theatrical Productions, Newsies is directed by Tony nominee Jeff Calhoun and choreographed by Christopher Gattelli, who won a 2012 Tony Award for his work.

The show received 23 major theatrical nominations - including eight Tony Award nods - and won Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards for Best Score and Best Choreography. One of Broadway's highest profile hits, it has been featured nationally on "Dancing with the Stars," "The View," "Good Morning America," "Nightline," "Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade," and "The CBS Thanksgiving Day Parade."

When Newsies' premiered at Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, NJ it engendered extraordinary interest from the media and public alike, prompting Newsweek.com to call the show, "one of the biggest surprises of the season...the talk of the town."

Set in New York City at the turn of the century, Newsies is the rousing tale of Jack Kelly, a charismatic newsboy and leader of a ragged band of teenaged 'newsies,' who dreams only of a better life far from the hardship of the streets. But when publishing titans Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst raise distribution prices at the newsboys' expense, Jack finds a cause to fight for and rallies newsies from across the city to strike for what's right.

Newsies is inspired by the real-life 'Newsboy Strike of 1899,' when newsboy Kid Blink led a band of orphan and runaway newsies on a two-week-long action against Pulitzer, Hearst and other powerful newspaper publishers.

The stage version introduces seven brand-new songs by the original team of Menken and Feldman while keeping many of the beloved songs from the film, including 'Carrying the Banner,' 'Seize the Day,' 'King of New York' and 'Santa Fe.'

Since the film's 1992 theatrical release and subsequent DVD release, Newsies has grown into a cult phenomenon, and for years had been the single most requested title of all the Disney musical films not yet adapted for the stage. (The film featured a screenplay by Bob Tzudiker & Noni White (Tarzan, 102 Dalmatians).)