Extra! Extra! Read all about it: Disney's Newsies is busting a move in Vancouver!

I never knew this but Newsies' story is based the real-life Newsboys Strike of 1899 in New York City! It's about a ragtag bunch of orphan and runaway "newsies" who stand up to powerful newspaper publishers when they raise distribution prices at the newsboys' expense.

When the boys first came out, I found myself thinking if kids will know what paperboys are nowaways! When the Joseph Pulitzer, played by Steve Blanchard, said paper sales declining since the war, all I could think about was it kept declining and is almost dead now. Thanks to the Internet those boys would be working in tech instead today! But I digress. The overall story itself is still relevant today because it's a classic David versus Goliath story!

The cast are awesome dancers and acrobats! I am amazed that they can both sing and dance through that strenuous choreography! Keep an eye out for the newsboy named Specs, played by Jordan Samuels; he does a lot of impressive flips! It's no surprise that Newsies was the winner of the 2012 Tony Awards Best Choreography,

Being up seated up close to the stage was great because we got to see the cast's expressions more clearly but we had to look up a lot. The set utilized a lot of vertical space. Though it wasn't an elaborate set it had depth and brought the streets and rooftops of 1966 New York alive.

My favourite song is "Seize the Day". It's the most recognizable song in the set. Though all the songs are really high energy and I loved them all! The lead newsie, Jack Kelly, played by Joey Barreiro, has a strong set of pipes! All his songs were spot on. The little boy, Les, played by Turner Birthisel at the opening performance, was very cute and always stole the scene. He had very funny bits and always stole a laugh from the audience.

Newsies was very enjoyable to watch. The dancing was very impressive and the singing and script always manages to keep a smile on my face. It's a great family musical!

Don't forget to take a picture in the lobby before leaving the theatre! You can be the picture in the headliner and be famous!

Disney's NEWSIES is here in Vancouver for one week only! Performances run from now through Sunday, July 10, 2016 at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre. Tickets are available through ticketmaster.ca or by calling 1-855-985-5000. Reservations for groups of ten or more are now being accepted by calling 1-800-889-8457.

For more information, visit NewsiesTheMusical.com, Facebook.com/Newsies and Twitter.com/Newsies.

The Vancouver engagement of NEWSIES is presented by arrangement with Broadway Across Canada and is a subscription offering of the 2016/2017 Series.




Disclosure: Tickets to the show were received from Broadway Across Canada free of charge for review. The opinions expressed in this post are entirely my own and have not been influenced in any other way.