NEWSIES to Perform in Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

Viewers from across the country will get a preview of the eagerly anticipated new Broadway musical Newsies during the 85th Anniversary Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade®. Newsies will take to the streets to perform the show-stopping tap number "King of New York" live in Herald Square during the first hour of the television broadcast, beginning at 9AM Eastern on NBC.

Newsies, the breakout new American musical, will move to Broadway's Nederlander Theatre (208 W 41st St) for a strictly limited 101 performance run following its critically-hailed run at Paper Mill Playhouse earlier this fall. The musical, featuring a score by eight-time Academy Award® winner Alan Menken (Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Sister Act) and Jack Feldman and a book by four-time Tony Award® winner Harvey Fierstein (La Cage aux Folles, Torch Song Trilogy), will play its first Broadway preview on March 15th prior to its March 29th opening night; the final performance is scheduled for June 10th. Newsies, produced by Disney Theatrical Productions, is directed by Tony® nominee Jeff Calhoun (Big River revival) and choreographed by Tony nominee Christopher Gattelli (South Pacific revival). Tickets will go on sale January 30, 2012.

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 teen aged ‘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.

America's favorite holiday tradition returns once more to dazzle and enchant millions nationwide with its signature magic. On Thursday, November 24, 2011, the 85th Anniversary Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade will take to the streets of New York City with a cornucopia of whimsical treats for the whole family. Regularly one of the country's most viewed events, more than 50 million viewers tune-in to NBC-TV from 9:00 AM to noon, in all time zones, to watch Thanksgiving's best entertainment special.