THEATRE REVIEW: "Newsies" at the Cadillac Palace Theatre (Chicago, IL)

      On July 28th, 2016, I saw a performance of  the Alan Menken / Jack Feldman / Harvey Fierstein musical "Newsies," when the National Tour played a two-week engagement at the Cadillac Palace Theatre in Chicago, IL.  The first time "Newsies" came to Chicago, it was for a four-week engagement down the street at the Oriental Theatre (now called the Nederlander Theatre) in 2014.  This time around, Joey Barreiro (Jack Kelly), Morgan Keene (Katherine), Andy Richardson (Crutchie), Stephen Michael Langton (Davey), Turner Birthisel (Les), Aisha de Haas (Meda Larkin), Steve Blanchard (Pulitzer), Michael Gorman (Mr. Jacobi), and Kevin Carolan (Theodore Roosevelt) starred in the production.  Tobin Ost was the scenic designer. 

     

     It has been six years since I had seen this musical (as of 2022).  But from what I remembered, it was great.  The dancing was amazing.  That credit goes to Christopher Gattelli (choreographer) and Lou Castro (associate choreographer).  Associate Choreographers do most of the choreography leg-work in a National Tour... yet they dont change much of the choreography from the Broadway Production.  The songs were great too.  That is understandable though, since Alan Menken was part of the creative team.  

     

     The National Tour of "Newsies" closed later in 2016, but not before stopping at the Pantages Theatre in Los Angeles, CA, where it was professionally filmed so people could watch it at home.  I was a little annoyed when I found that out, because I had just paid money to see a live performance.   But then I thought about it and realized that watching a live recording is a limiting experience with the cinematic cross-cutting  and all that noise.  Nothing beats seeing a show live on stage.  

     While I wasn't much of a fan of Tobin Ost's scenic design for "Newsies," at the same time, it had a creative look to it.  The scenic design consisted mostly of towers of scaffolding, or at least what looked like towers of scaffolding.  Those towers could be moved around the stage.  I guess they had to be, so they wouldn't get in the way of the choreography.  What was not designed into the scenery was projected in the background via video.  Projection design was by Sven Ortel, and Projection adaptation was by Daniel Brodie.  I guess projection design is utilized more and more in Broadway Shows and tours these days.  I'm surprised there aren't ads for theatre concessions and souvenirs projected onto the scrim before the show begins like at movie theaters.  Give it time.

The male ensemble of "Newsies."

     This production of "Newsies" was not part of the Broadway in Chicago 2016 Spring Subscription Series that my parents got me for Christmas the year before (neither was "Kinky Boots," which I saw August 31st, 2016).  I didn't know "Newsies" was going to come back to Chicago.  It was a surprise when I found out there was going to be a return engagement.  Once I found out, I knew I had to see it.  Back then, I didn't know how to utilize the Broadway in Chicago ticket lottery.  I'm not sure if there was a ticket lottery for this production.  I'm sure there was.  Also, this was the third Disney musical I saw.  The first one was "Beauty and the Beast," and the second one was "The Lion King."  I sometimes forget that "Newsies" was a Disney musical.  For shame!  For shame!