The Dr. Phillips Center and Broadway Across America announced this week that “Newsies” will be part of the first Broadway series at the new Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts.
The building is scheduled to be complete next Fall.
“This is the ideal opportunity to announce one of our inaugural season shows with the launch of the Newsies national tour.” said Dr. Phillips Center President Kathy Ramsberger in a written statement. “The overall support for the project is increasing as our inaugural season takes shape. We wanted to ensure our community hears the news from us.”
No specific date was given for the show but the broadway season usually starts in October.
We’ll continue to keep you updated on the progress they are making on the building.
Story was updated to reflect that Newsies was the first show announced and not the first broadway show.
Here is the complete press release:
Orlando, FL (November 13, 2013) – Just days after celebrating a construction milestone, the concrete pour of the Alexis and Jim Pugh Theater stage, the Dr. Phillips Center has another exciting announcement. They are giving the community a “sneak peek” at the much-anticipated 2014-15 inaugural Broadway Season, by announcing the Tony Award®-winning Broadway musical smash, Newsies, as part of their lineup.
While Newsies isn’t the first show in the Center’s Broadway season, it’s the ideal community tease, given it is produced by Disney Theatrical Productions, a division of the Walt Disney Company, a naming rights donor of the Center’s 2,700-seat Broadway theater.
“This is the ideal opportunity to announce one of our inaugural season shows with the launch of the Newsies national tour.” said Dr. Phillips Center President Kathy Ramsberger. “The overall support for the project is increasing as our inaugural season takes shape. We wanted to ensure our community hears the news from us.” She also notes great show announcements help get subscribers and future subscribers excited about the Center’s opening.
While the entire season will be announced early 2014 and exact show dates for Newsies are still being finalized, subscribers to the current Broadway Season will be the first to ensure access to the best seats in the new Walt Disney Theater. “It’s not too early to guarantee your seats by subscribing to the 2013-14 season,” she added.
“We continue to be overwhelmed by the passion and support for Newsies on Broadway and are elated that the show will continue on the road,” said Thomas Schumacher, president and producer, Disney Theatrical Productions. “The enthusiasm from North American audiences and theatres for a Newsies tour has been palpable, proving that the affection for this title is deeper and more widespread than even we imagined. I am so proud that patrons will soon have the opportunity to enjoy Newsies in their own backyards.”
Newsies has consistently exceeded expectations since premiering on Broadway at The Nederlander Theatre in March 2012. Originally transferred to Broadway as a limited engagement of a few dozen performances, the breakout hit is now approaching its 700th performance.
In a remarkable demonstration of the breadth of the title’s appeal, ticket orders arrived from all 50 states within weeks of its first Broadway performance. Since then, Newsies has set and broken seven Nederlander Theatre house records and became the biggest hit of the 2011-12 season.
For information on the Newsies national tour, visit: NewsiesTheMusical.com/Tour Facebook.com/Newsies and Twitter.com/Newsies. For information concerning auditions for the tour, visit: http://www.newsiesthemusical.com/auditions. To subscribe, visit www.broadwayacrossamerica.com or call 800.448.6322.
About Newsies
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.
The show received 23 major theatrical nominations – including eight Tony Award nods – and won Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards for Best Score and Best Choreography. One of Broadway’s highest profile hits, it has been featured nationally on “Dancing with the Stars,” “The View,” “Good Morning America,” “Nightline,” “Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade,” and “The CBS Thanksgiving Day Parade.”
Included in the best-of year lists for Entertainment Weekly, USA Today, and The Daily News, Newsies can be counted one of the most critically praised shows of recent seasons. Entertainment Weekly raves, “Stop the presses! Newsies is an irresistible, high energy winner… a surprise sensation!” Time Out New York calls Newsies, “an invigorating extravaganza! A barnstorming, four-alarm delight,” and The New York Times hails it, “a musical worth singing about,” praising the “terrific songs – buoyant melodies by Alan Menken and rousing lyrics by Jack Feldman – and a sweet, funny, emotionally satisfying book by Harvey Fierstein.”
When Newsies premiered at Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, NJ it engendered extraordinary interest from the media and public alike, prompting Newsweek.com to call the show, “one of the biggest surprises of the season…the talk of the town.”
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 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).
About Broadway Across America
BROADWAY ACROSS AMERICA is part of the Key Brand Entertainment family of companies which includes Broadway.com and is operated by British theatre producer John Gore (Owner & CEO). BAA is the foremost presenter of first-class touring musicals and plays in North America, operating in 40 markets including Orlando.
As a leading Broadway producer, BAA is dedicated to the development and production of new and diverse theatre. Current/upcoming productions include Beautiful, Betrayal, Big Fish, Bullets Over Broadway, Little Miss Sunshine, Million Dollar Quartet and Pippin. Past productions include Hairspray, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Memphis, Promises, Promises, The Producers and War Horse.
Broadway.com is the premier theater website for news, exclusive content and ticket sales. For more information please visit BroadwayAcrossAmerica.com and Broadway.com.
Photo courtesy Dr. Phillips Center for Performing Arts