1. 102 November 2015 | FLMag.com Find us on:
of Broadway Across America. The musical,
which won the 2012 Tony Awards for Best
Score and Best Choreography, tells the story
of a group of paperboys in New York City and
their epic battle against one of the most pow-
erful men in the industry.
This classic David-and-Goliath tale is
brought to life onstage by award-winning
Broadway director Jeff Calhoun. As the show’s
Guide EVENT PROFILE
THE CURTAIN RISES on another day at
the docks, the newsboys waiting in line to get
their hands on the morning’s edition. Jack Kel-
ly, his friend Crutchie and their fellow newsies
- mainly orphaned young boys - are notified of
Joseph Pulitzer’s recent increase in newspaper
costs. With the new cost cutting their profits
nearly in half, the newsies take matters into
their own hands and go on strike. The gutsy
move proves to be much more complicated to
pull off than they thought, but the boys find an
unexpected alliance in a young and hungry
reporter named Katherine Plumber and under
Kelly’s leadership, they go from delivering the
headlines to making them.
Straight from Broadway, Disney’s Newsies
takes the stage at the Broward Center for the
Performing Arts as part of the 2015-16 season
director since its Broadway premiere in 2012,
he’s made it his mission to make each produc-
tion better than the last. When Disney decided
to take the show on the road in 2014, Calhoun
jumped at the chance.
“With each incarnation we’ve been able to
make it better, so that’s really gratifying,” Cal-
houn says. “We [the creative team] think this is
the best production of Newsies to date.”
Read all about it!Disney’s Newsies makes its way to the Broward Center. BY JENNIFER LIMA
Details
WHEN: November 17–29. COST: $35–$150.
FOR TICKETS OR MORE INFORMATION:
Visit browardcenter.org, call 954.462.0222
or visit the Broward Center box office.
PHOTOGRAPHY:DEENVANMEER

2. FLMag.com | November 2015
103
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To make the national tour even
better than the Broadway produc-
tion, Disney brought in the big guns
– namely, theatrical producer and
president of the Disney Theatrical
Group Thomas Schumacher. As
the 2014 national tour was being
put together, Schumacher gave the
creative team one task: If you have
“anything you want to do to make it
better, this is your last shot.”
While the book, written by Harvey
Fierstein, is based on the 1992 musi-
cal film of the same name (which was
inspired by New York City’s real-life
newsboys’ strike of 1899), the pro-
duction has a few twists and turns of
its own. The musical strays off course
with a few new musical numbers
and even a new love interest for our
favorite little rebel, Jack Kelly.
Calhoun credits the underlying
message of Newsies for keeping the musical
so close to the hearts of so many.
“I have to believe there’s something in-
fectious about watching these kids triumph
against Goliath,” he says.
Calhoun says the cast was selected with one
thing in mind – do I want to go on a date with
you? Or, essentially, do I want to spend two and
a half hours of my time watching you onstage?
The way he sees it, an evening of live theater is
much more of a commitment than a night at the
movies, and if he’s asking you to see the show,
his show better be worth the trip. With that in
mind, the national tour promises its patrons the
kind of show where they will leave the theater
with more energy than when they walked in,
and maybe even a desire to seize the day.
In the end, Newsies has one message: “Take
responsibility to try to make the world a bet-
ter place,” Calhoun says, “and that’s what
those kids did.”