'Seize the Day!' A Look Back at NEWSIES' Opening Night on Broadway

NEWSIES plays its final performance on Broadway this coming Sunday, August 24, but BroadwayWorld (and the rest of New York, we hope) isn't ready to let the musical leave just yet! All this week we're bringing you snapshots from the NEWSIES "paper route" -- from the movie to how the show got to the Great White Way, to the show's still-burgeoning fandom, and its award-winning cast and creative team.

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.

In honor of the beloved show entering its final week of performances, BWW is taking a look back at NEWSIES' big night on Broadway: its opening at the Nederlander Theatre on March 29, 2012, following an out-of-town tryout at New Jersey's Paper Mill Playhouse.

The original Broadway company of Newsies featured 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.

With the curtain just hours away from rising, Andrew Keenan-Bolger and the boys of NEWSIES brought audiences inside the Nederlander, taking them backstage for a behind-the-scenes peek at the opening night excitement!

New York's A-list came out to support Broadway's newest paper boys, including Alan Menken and Harvey Feierstein. Check out a look back at BWW's photo coverage below!

BroadwayWorld's own Walter McBride was on hand for the show's curtain call on Broadway - check out Jeremy Jordan, Kara Lindsay, Andrew Keenan-Bolger, Capathia Jenkins, and the cast of NEWSIES take their first bows at the Nederlander!

With their first official performance on the Great White Way behind them, the cast and crew of NEWSIES picked up their 'papes' and headed to the after-party, chatting with BWW's Richard Ridge on the show's origins as a 1992 feature film, its tryout at the Paper Mill Playhouse, and more!

For a refresher on what the critics originally thought of NEWSIES, click here for BroadwayWorld's review round-up.

For more on NEWSIES throughout its closing week on Broadway, check back tomorrow for a look at the show's big night at the 2012 Tonys!

Photos by Walter McBride