Review: NEWSIES THE BROADWAY MUSICAL, Selected cinemas, 19 February only

Newsies is a big Broadway show. Based on Disney's film tracking (well, sort of tracking) the 1899 strike called by New York's newsies, the largely orphan workforce of teenage boys who hawked newspapers on the streets for pennies, the musical played over a thousand times on Broadway and nearly as many times on a US tour. It has never come to the UK, but now Brits can see the show on 19 February in selected cinemas nationwide.

What will you get for your money (apart from a lot more change than you would in on Broadway or in the West End)?

The show's unlikely subject matter - a 19th-century strike championing the cause of free collective bargaining, produced by Disney, a company not always known for its enlightened disposition towards its own workers - slides a little into the background and, in Harvey Fierstein's book, the tale becomes one of the little guy triumphing over The Man, a sweet romance between an unlikely pair and, yes sirree, the Great American Dream. Well nobody was expecting The Condition of the Working Class in England were they?

With a fare of good, if not great, Broadway numbers by Disney regulars, Alan Menken and Jack Feldman, many of the original cast go through their paces. Jeremy Jordan is all rough charm and charisma as the newsies' leader, Jack Kelly, and, if his pursuit of posh totty Katherine (Kara Lindsay) stretches credibility, well, it's showbiz not documentary. And Lindsay nails her tricky patter song, "Watch What Happens" with aplomb, so much is forgiven.

The principals get strong support from Steve Blanchard, stopping just short of twirling his moustache as prize bully, publisher Joseph Pulitzer, Andrew Keenan Bolger as Crutchie, Kelly's disabled buddy and Ben Fankhauser as Davey, educated and wise. Best of all is Kevin Carolan's turn as Theodore Roosevelt, exuding wit and warmth as the Governor of New York on his way to the White House via a bit of populist lobbying for the newsie boys - no newsie girls, I'm afraid.

Where the production scores (for good and ill) is in capturing the Broadway experience. Though there are more cameras and (hence) more cutting between shots than I have seen in other cinema presentations of operas and plays, you still feel like you are in the audience in New York itself, albeit sitting on a drone.

We get plenty of wide angle views of a large and extremely enthusiastic house and a sense of the "bigness" of the show, something that also comes through in the adaptability of the set, sliding steel grids suggesting urban fire escapes. There's plenty more too, including award-winning choreography that is part Billy Elliot and part West Side Story. It's great to be up close and personal with the cast, even if it makes Jordan and Lindsay look as convincing as teenagers and John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John did in Grease. And, as is always the case, the street urchins are decked out in best "Consider Yourself" rags and grime, but nevertheless possess teeth showing the benefit of thousands of dollars of orthodontic work. Those casting agency photos don't lie!

Quibbles aside, the one test that really matters for a presentation like this is, "Is it An Event?" And the answer is an unequivocal, "Yes". Suitable for 12 year-olds and above, don't be surprised if the kids are soon pulling your coat asking to go to see a show for real in the West End - and that's a good thing for everyone (except your bank manager).

Newsies The Broadway Musical is in selected cinemas in the UK on 19 February only.

Photo Disney Theatrical Productions

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