Theatre in Review: Newsies (Nederlander Theatre)

"I don't need the limp to sell papers; I've got personality!" So says Crutchy, a gimpy-legged newspaper boy in Newsies -- and, oddly enough, he could be speaking about Disney Theatrical's new musical, too.

Much has been written about Newsies, but in just about every case they've buried the lede: The really exciting news about Newsies is that Disney has rediscovered the joys of musical comedy. You may think this is a rather odd statement to make about an organization devoted to the production of musical theatre, but its recent history has not been a happy one, as the search for another Julie Taymor-style blockbuster has resulted in a series of spectacularly designed, but lumbering, film-to-stage adaptations. There's nothing lumbering about Newsies; from the moment its spectacularly gifted chorus all but leaps across the proscenium line in the number "Carrying the Banner," it is pugnacious and pulsing with energy. Even more impressive is how all involved have rescued the flop 1992 movie, about a turn-of-the-last-century strike against the newspaper baron Joseph Pulitzer, giving it a theatrical identity all its own.

In the hands of librettist Harvey Fierstein, Newsies is a classically structured book musical. "Carrying the Banner" gets things off to a high-kicking start, but it also makes clear that the title characters are mostly orphans, struggling for survival in a Darwinian society that relies on child labor. The action is triggered when Pulitzer (John Dossett, practically oozing self-satisfaction) decides to squeeze extra profits out of his New York World by upping the price of the papers ("papes" in newsboy parlance) the newsboys purchase to sell on the street. It's too much for the boys -- who already struggle to get by -- to bear, and Jack Kelly, their unofficial leader, rounds them up into an ad hoc union, leading to rallies, riots, abductions, and betrayals before Jack and his companions turn the tables on their tycoon nemesis, and an eleventh-hour ride to the rescue by none other than Teddy Roosevelt wraps it all up in a populist bow.

The show is at its best when the newsies are massing on the front lines or when Alan Menken's rabble-rousing score and Jack Feldman's exuberant lyrics are propelling them up, down, and around Tobin Ost's spectacular triplex set. (Christopher Gattelli's choreography weds raised fists and furious stomps to spins and leaps from the ballet barre, creating a dance vocabulary that is both scrappy and elegant, loaded with untamed adolescent energy.) In addition to the insanely catchy "Carrying the Banner," there's the thumpingly assertive "The World Will Know," when the boys first decide to strike; "Seize the Day," when they face off against an army of Pulitzer's goons; "King of New York," in which, having landed in the headlines, they revel in their newfound notoriety; and "Watch What Happens," sung by Katherine, the rebellious girl reporter who takes on the newsies' cause as her own.

A number of changes have been made since the premiere engagement at Paper Mill Playhouse last fall, resulting in a much-improved entertainment. The role of Medda Larkin, the music hall queen who supports the newsies, is now in the hands of Capathia Jenkins, who sasses her way through an enjoyable new number, "That's Rich." Pulitzer has a new number, too, "The Bottom Line," which lays out his motivations with considerable elan. And possibly because the Nederlander Theatre is a rather more intimate space, many of the characters' relationships -- especially the romance between Jack and Katherine -- come across more strongly.

Feinstein's libretto is still drawn in pretty broad strokes, and his dialogue, full of his distinctive wisecracks, is also marred by anachronisms and clichés, like "a place at the table," "deal with it," and "I get it." And I still wish he had found a better place for the big ballad, "Santa Fe," which opens the show and is frankly overused. Fierstein practically admits as much when, late in Act II, he has an impatient Katherine ask Jack if he's ever going to shut up about his dream of Santa Fe; the line gets a big laugh because Katherine says out loud what we've been thinking all night long.

But as a shrewdly conceived, rousingly staged pop entertainment celebrating the world-changing propensities of young people, Newsies is pretty hard to beat. Credit Jeff Calhoun, whose staging keeps things moving at a tornado pace, and a superlatively gifted young cast. As Jack, Jeremy Jordan is that rarest of things, a newly minted Broadway star. Armed with a James Cagney strut and a wise-guy delivery, complete with perfectly tuned Noo Yawk vowels, he's the hero of every Warner Brothers melodrama you ever loved, brought to life -- and he has a voice that reaches several feet past the last row of the balcony. As Katherine, Kara Lindsay is smart, skeptical, and capable of lifting her skirt and raising a leg as high as the traffic will allow; she also belts "Watch What Happens" right out of the theatre. Ben Fankhauser is appealing as Jack's lieutenant, as is Andrew Keenan-Bolger, channeling all of the Dead End Kids as Crutchy.

Obst's set consists of three erector-set towers that move all over the stage; they are fronted by screens for Sven Ortel's evocative projections, which offer an endless variety of period New York views -- streets, building facades, and images of the orphanage the newsies are determined to avoid at all costs. There's also an upstage skyline that melts into a collage of newspaper headlines. Jeff Croiter's lighting works the stage from every available angle, pacing the numbers until they reach the maximum level of excitement; his early experience as a designer for dance has never been put to better use. Jess Goldstein's costumes include the newsies' ragged outfits, the robber barons' three-piece suits, and the' scandalous tights and feathers of Medda's showgirls. Ken Travis' sound design is appropriately hard and bright; the lyrics are always intelligible, even when the chorus is singing en masse.

The result of Disney's back-to-basics plan is a bright, brassy brawl of a show, and it offers incontrovertible proof that what makes an enjoyable musical is (a) a strong book, (b) a tuneful score, and (c) some talented people. Newsies has all three in spades. And if that's not headline news, I don't know what is.--David Barbour