NEWSIES National Tour Breaks Box Office Record in Minneapolis

Hennepin Theatre Trust announced today that the Bank of America Broadway on Hennepin Season engagement of Disney's NEWSIES set a box office record for the highest-grossing one-week theatrical engagement at the historic Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis. The award-winning musical grossed sales of $1,448,779.50 for the week ending Feb. 14, 2016 and attracted more than 20,000 patrons to the West Downtown MPLS Cultural District (WeDo) during its eight performances.

"We're pleased to include the best of Broadway as part of a wide range of unique and diverse art and cultural experiences for everyone who works, lives in or visits WeDo," said Hennepin Theatre Trust President/CEO Tom Hoch.

"The extraordinary audience demand for NEWSIES has been palpable ever since the show first premiered on Broadway back in 2012, so we're thrilled that theatergoers throughout North America are able to experience this award-winning musical in their own backyards," said Jack Eldon, Vice President, Domestic, Disney Theatrical Productions. "We are humbled by the genuine outpouring of affection from our fans in Minneapolis and thank the entire community for embracing this classic underdog tale."

It is estimated that the Minneapolis engagement of NEWSIES generated a $4.5 million economic benefit to the area from travel, hotels, restaurants, retail, parking and other businesses patronized by theatergoers in the Twin Cities. "Additionally, when touring productions come to the Orpheum, the shows themselves boost the local economy by staying in hotels, eating at restaurants and spending money in Minneapolis," said Hoch.

According to the Economic Impact of Touring Broadway report by The Broadway League, the national trade association for the commercial theater industry, Broadway tours contribute an average economic impact of 3.27 times the gross ticket sales to the Twin Cities metropolitan area's economy.

Season Ticket packages are on sale now for the 2016-2017 Broadway on Hennepin Season at HennepinTheatreTrust.org.

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. 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 and Noni White (Tarzan, 102 Dalmatians).

Photo by Deen van Meer

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