Newsies

[cornerofmadness]

My cousin's boss has season tickets to the Benedum Theatre in Pittsburgh. He gave her the tickets then she couldn't go either so mom and I went to see Newsies.

Benedum is a lovely old theater (and I swear the lower level is haunted but that's another story). Let's just say Cousin's Boss has great seats in the orchestra. Roomie, leg room, great view. Yay.

You can read more about Newsies at the above link but basically it's about a bunch of homeless and/or poor boys who deliver the papers in 1890s NYC who just got screwed by the 1 percentagers of the day, i.e. Pultizer. They go on strike and it is loosely based on real events.

Mom liked the first act better and I preferred the second. I liked the more solo songs and really none of them seemed that catchy to me. That's not to say I didn't like them. I did. It was a lot of fun and I can watch young men dance all damn day really. I can see why the choreography won a Tony. It's high energy and fun. The love angle seems a tad tacked on but let's face it, completely expected. There are some musicals with 5 or 6 strong songs and the rest is acting. This was almost operatic in the fact that nearly everything was sun.

Had a lot of fun. I DO miss this living where I do, the ability to just run out, drive a half hour and be in a city with so much to do. Missed my h.s. reunion for this. I think I got the better bargain.

Watch on YouTube

Comments

[dragonydreams.livejournal.com]

You beat me to this one. I can't wait for it to get to Boston next year. I adored the movie. (I know it's not a great movie, but I was a theatre geek in high school and it came out when I was a senior. Singing and dancing boys! Gotta love that.) Been waiting for a while for the show to travel.

So glad you enjoyed it.

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

It was entirely new to me. I knew what it was about and nothing more. It was a lot of fun. It's a rare thing I get to see anything. And fate likes to taunt me by having something I want a week before or a week after I leave my parents.


Witness Beauty and the Beast being a week after spring break in 2015. Sigh.

Hope you get to see it soon.

[wildrider.livejournal.com]

I'm dying to see this play. As with dragonydreams, I'm a big fan of the movie, and I had heard that Menkin wrote a lot of new music for the play and cut out the stupid songs (and there are a few in the movie) -- but I still have "Santa Fe" on my "never get tired of" playlist (Cowboy is played by a young Christian Bale in the movie).

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

Love your icon.

I didn't even know there WAS a movie.

Santa Fe was nice. It might be my hearing issues but in the chorus songs I had trouble understanding them so yeah, liked the solos better

[wildrider.livejournal.com]

It came out at the height of the "musicals all suck!" era of the 90's, and it didn't help that there are some serious clunkers in there -- it won a "Razzie" for Worst Song of the Year (one that was cut from the play) -- and I think Disney swept it under the rug for a while until they were able to bring it back for Broadway.

That said, I loved it, and have owned it all these years! :)

Hell, I saw an interview with Christian Bale where someone brought it up and he refused to sing "Santa Fe" for them. :)

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

Oh geez. A razzie, that is bad. I'll be honest, unlike a lot of musicals, there weren't any songs here I think I'll be hanging onto. Not that they were bad but none resonated much with me.

Ha, I can believe that of Bale. I've never heard him sing. Can he?

[wildrider.livejournal.com]

I think so -- at least, his version of "Santa Fe" is awfully good.

And I was surprised the first time I heard him speak with his native accent! I didn't know he was English.

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

Cool

Yes it's always surprising to hear that when you aren't expecting it

[seta-suzume.livejournal.com]

Ooh, great to hear that you enjoyed the performance...especially because a friend just invited me to come see it in March when they make it out to LA! XD

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

I thought it was a lot of fun. Hope you enjoy it when you get there next year

[evil-little-dog.livejournal.com]

One of my online friends adores Newsies; I've never seen it. Sounds like fun, though! Yay for a good night!

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

It was a lot of fun