BWW Reviews: NEWSIES' National Tour Lands in Music City

Christopher Gattelli's superb choreography - spirited and athletic, amazingly theatrical and awe-inspiring - may be reason enough to see Disney's Newsies, the show now ensconced at TPAC's Andrew Jackson Hall through Sunday, where it's entertaining audiences and eliciting some of the loudest responses we've ever heard in that cavernous space.

Would that Harvey Fierstein's book, Alan Menken's music and Jack Feldman's lyrics prove as inspirational and garner such praise as Gattelli's dancing, which is performed by a young and eager ensemble of dancers amidst towering sets (imaginatively designed by Tobin Ost), gorgeous costumes (credit for the period-perfect design goes to Jess Goldstein) and evocative lighting (the ideal atmospheric design is by Jeff Croiter) that help set the tone for the show.

Unfortunately, Newsies lacks the emotional heft and the epic sweep that is needed for a historical saga such as the one told in the musical to totally immerse its audiences in the experience. Newsies lacks the gravitas to place it alongside such shows as Ragtime, Titanic or Les Miserables. And while it's likely that was not the intent of the show's creative team, the comparisons seem logical given the musical's subject matter.

Fierstein's book is clever enough-oh, those wisecracking teen paperboys - and the action moves along at a sprightly pace, but Menken's score is unexceptional and derivative and definitely uninspired. Insofar as Feldman's lyrics are concerned, they are often lost in the muddied and muddled sound design, so who knows what the characters are singing about, save for the price of newspapers in 1899 New York, life in a boys' reformatory and of the near-mythical wonders of Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Based on the 1992 film of the same name, Newsies focuses on the real-life 1899 Newsboys Strike in New York City, in which the horrors and rigors of child labor - and the plight of the poor in general - were brought sharply into focus in the time of yellow journalism and the rampant greed of America's gilded age. We're told throughout the musical that things are bad and times are hard, but gosh darn it!, those aforementioned newsies are an optimistic brood of tough-talking New Yawkuhs who long for the love of a family, three squares and a comfy bed in which to sleep every night.

It's a story that should be told, filled with many untold truths amid the changing times peopled by historic characters like Joseph Pulitzer (whose monetary bequest inspired the prizes for journalism excellence that bear his name; he also gave the money to Columbia University that resulted in the country's first college of journalism) and Teddy Roosevelt (interestingly, Pulitzer was indicted in 1909 for libeling TR and J.P. Morgan via the pages of The New York World). But something is definitely missing from the script: while Newsies seems full of heart, it seems devoid of soul.

That, however, is not the fault of director Jeff Calhoun's cast. Rather, to the very last one, they give vigorous, highly spirited, if earnest, performances. Dan DeLuca is charming and engaging as the head newsboy, Jack Kelly, and he is paired winningly with Stephanie Styles as his love interest, the budding journalist Katherine Plumber. Their scenes together crackle with lovelorn intensity, Jack's a roguish sort with a heart of gold, while Katherine represents those turn-of-the-century women who refused to be constrained by society's rules.

Angela Grovey gives a heartwarming performance as vaudeville theater owner/chanteuse/confidant of TR Medda Larkin, who provides solace and support of a maternal nature to young Jack during difficult times. Jacob Kemp is well-cast as the fledgling newsboy Davey who almost despite his best efforts becomes a catalyst in the burgeoning newsboy union; and Zachary Sayle is terrific as Crutchie, Jack's physically-challenged pal who ends up in the notorious Refuge reformatory that is painted as hell on earth for the ambitious newsboys.

Broadway leading man and national touring company favorite Steve Blanchard makes for a handsome and virile Joseph Pulitzer, although he's as far from the actual Pulitzer as one might imagine. Here's a piece of TPAC theatrical history: Blanchard was last on the Jackson Hall stage, appearing as Pa Ingalls in Little House on the Prairie, the national tour which launched Kara Lindsay (who played Laura Ingalls) onto Broadway in the role of Katherine Plumber in Newsies - pretty swell, huh?

Despite my misgivings, it's clear that Newsies is a successful show, particularly on the road (even if it sometimes may come across like a bus-and-truck company of West Side Story that lost its wardrobe en route, and have to borrow costumes from a really first-rate Oklahoma! production that the local community theater troupe did last fall) and I am not the show's prime demographic (even though I had a paper route growing up and majored in journalism at university). However, other audiences, particularly those featuring a majority of teenaged girls and/or people who love, love, love the movie the show is based on, absolutely adore the show and, as in Nashville on opening night, reward the cast and crew with extended applause throughout the evening, climaxing with a standing ovation that fairly erupts during curtain calls.

• Newsies. Music by Alan Menken. Lyrics by Jack Feldman. Book by Harvey Fierstein. Based on the Disney film written by Bob Tzudiker and Noni White. Directed by Jack Calhoun. Choreographed by Christopher Gattelli. Presented at TPAC's Andrew Jackson Hall, Nashville, through Sunday, May 31. www.tpac.org Running time: 2 hours, 30 minutes (including one 15-minute intermission)

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