Disney Theatrical Productions and the Tennessee Performing Arts Center announce that the Tony Award-winning smash hit musical, NEWSIES, will make its Nashville debut with a limited one-week engagement at TPAC’s Andrew Jackson Hall, May 26-31.
Tickets go on sale Friday, February 20, at 10:00 a.m. at TPAC.org, by phone at (615) 782-4040, and at the TPAC Box Office, 505 Deaderick Street, in downtown Nashville. For group tickets, please call (615) 782-4060.
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.
“This season has been filled with Tony Award-winning shows, and introducing Nashville to the inspirational production of NEWSIES is the perfect way to close our year of top-notch Broadway entertainment,” says Kathleen O’Brien, TPAC president and chief executive officer. “This show comes to us straight from Broadway during its very first national tour, and it has the high-energy that all of Disney’s productions bring, from high-energy choreography to fantastic songs. With the storyline of the little guy trying to beat big odds, everyone in the family will enjoy this show.”
When it opened on March 29, 2012, NEWSIES was intended for a Broadway run of only 101 performances. The show’s fiercely devoted fans had other ideas, however; they propelled the show to a run of 1,005 performances with attendance of more than one million and a gross of over $100 million.
While on Broadway, NEWSIES set and broke seven Nederlander Theatre house records and became the highest-grossing show from the 2011-12 Broadway season. The show received 23 major theatrical nominations, including eight Tony Award nominations, 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 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).
For more information, visit NewsiesTheMusical.com/Tour, Facebook.com/Newsies, and Twitter.com/Newsies.
NEWSIES is the seventh production featured in the 2014-15 HCA/TriStar Health Broadway at TPAC season, and is presented locally by The Tennessean. Performance schedule, prices, and cast are subject to change without notice. The season is supported by The HCA Foundation on behalf of HCA and the TriStar Family of Hospitals. Institutional sponsors for TPAC include Nissan North America, and Coca-Cola. TPAC is funded in part by support from the Tennessee Arts Commission and the Metropolitan Nashville Arts Commission. TPAC reminds ticket buyers that the only official place to buy tickets online is TPAC.org.
TPAC is an accessible facility that provides a variety of services including wheelchair accommodations, accessible parking, and assistive listening devices. Open captioning, American Sign Language, audio description, and large print and Braille programs are offered at the Sunday matinee performance of each Broadway Series and Broadway Special show. For more information about accessible services, contact Lori Ward at (615) 782-4077.