New Band of NEWSIES Joins the National Tour, Starting Tonight in Hartford

Disney Theatrical Productions welcomes six new principal cast members to the North American tour of Disney's NEWSIES: Joey Barreiro as "Jack Kelly," Morgan Keene as "Katherine," Aisha de Haas as "Medda Larkin," Stephen Michael Langton as "Davey" and John Michael Pitera and Ethan Steiner alternating the role of "Les." These new cast members, aside from Pitera, will begin performances at The Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts in Hartford tonight, October 13. Pitera will debut at the Providence Performing Arts Center on Tuesday, October 20.

Joey Barreiro (Jack Kelly) is making his national tour debut and has performed in regional productions of Witches of Eastwick (Ogunquit), Ragtime (Westchester Broadway), A Chorus Line (Connecticut Rep) and Into the Woods (Studio Tenn).

Morgan Keene (Katherine) recently performed in the ensemble and as the "Katherine" understudy in the NEWSIES North American tour. Regional credits include Next to Normal, Grease, Fat Camp, Happy Days, Annie, Sound of Music, Jane Eyre and Songs for a New World.

Aisha de Haas (Medda Larkin) was most recently seen in Nora Ephron's Love Loss And What I Wore, has appeared on Broadway, TV and Film, including Caroline, Or Change; RENT (Broadway & Movie) and "Law & Order" and has sung back-up for Oleta Adams and Patti Austin.

Stephen Michael Langton (Davey) is a recent graduate of Pace University and is making his national tour debut.

John Michael Pitera (Les) is making his national tour debut and has previously been seen in productions with Kidz Theater and In the Wings Productions.

Ethan Steiner (Les) is 11 years old and lives in Ann Arbor, MI and is making his national tour debut. Recent credits include The Music Man (Winthrop), Caroline, or Change (Noah Gellman) and Pippin (Theo).

These new principal cast members will join Steve Blanchard as "Joseph Pulitzer" and Zachary Sayle as "Crutchie."

Rounding out the cast are Josh Assor, Evan Autio, Bill Bateman, Josh Burrage, Kevin Carolan, Benjamin Cook, DeMarius Copes, Nico DeJesus, JP Ferreri, Sky Flaherty, Kaitlyn Frank, Michael Gorman, David Guzman, Jeff Heimbrock, Stephen Hernandez, Meredith Inglesby, James Judy, Eric Scott Kincaid, Eric Jon Mahlum, Nicholas Masson, Alex Prakken, Michael Ryan, Jordan Samuels, Melissa Steadman Hart, Andrew Wilson and Chaz Wolcott.

Since launching in October 2014, NEWSIES has emerged as one of the most successful new tours, having grossed almost $50 million at the box office and entertained nearly three-quarters of a million theatergoers during 27 engagements. The tour is currently booked through summer of 2016, with additional engagements still to be announced.

NEWSIES, the new American musical, features a Tony Award-winning score with music by eight-time Academy Award winner Alan Menken and lyrics by Jack Feldman, a book by four-time Tony Award winner Harvey Fierstein and is 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 entire creative team has reunited to bring the break-out smash musical to audiences across North America.

When it opened on March 29, 2012 NEWSIES was intended for a Broadway run of just 101 performances. The show's fiercely devoted fans had other ideas, however; they propelled the show to a run of 1005 performances, attendance of more than 1 million and a gross of over $100M.

While on Broadway, NEWSIES set and broke seven Nederlander Theatre house records and became the highest-grossing show from the 2011-12 Broadway season. The show received 23 major theatrical nominations - including eight Tony Award nods - and won Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards for Score and Choreography.

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, including a song written specifically for the tour called 'Letter from the Refuge,' 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).)

Photos Courtesy of Disney Theatrical Productions