Screen To Stage: Newsies

Hello & welcome to the very first edition of  Screen To Stage.   What is Screen To Stage? Well, an area that I haven't focused on much outside of music is Disney's stage productions.  Most of them are adaptions of their movies.  Now we are not here to determine, which is better but rather just to look at the play and see what stayed the same and what was changed.  And to start off, we will be taking a look at the latest from Disney.  Mostly, because I just saw it.  On this first Screen To Stage, we are looking at the Broadway adaption of Newsies.   Newsies is based upon the 1992 musical of the same name.  Now I won't be going over everything but just what stuck with me.

What's The Same

Well to start off with. It is surprising to say that while this play had the spirit and charm of Newsies. Not that much remained from the movie but we will get to that in the second part.    Okay, the basic plot of the film being about the Newsies going on strike because of Pulitzer hiking the price is the same and only one song from the film was cut. But honestly, the song they cut was the worst song in the movie. So, that's a plus right there.  We still have the same characters such Jack Kelly, Crutchie , Weasel and The DeLancey Brothers.  That in a way is where the similarities between the two stop really.

What's Different

Now we are getting to the meat of things, because there is a lot that was changed from the movie.   Some of it actually improved upon the flaws of the movie too and in my humble opinion, that is what an adaption should do.  Let's start with the biggest plus, in the original film, Jack's love interest Sally was one of the most forgettable characters.  Well they cut her out of the play.  (She wasn't missed) but at the same time, they also cut out one of my favorite character, Brian Denton and merged the two and we were given..

Katherine Plumber

Katherine is a huge and I mean huge improvement in the love interest department.  As she is a real character and has more at stake because by helping the Newsies, she is putting her neck on the line and also trying to make a name herself because before the story, how she did was entertainment reviews.  And not only that she didn't give into Jack so easily.  Whereas with Sarah (film's love interest), it was just as though, Jack thought she was cute and and we never saw any true chemistry or development between them but with Jack and Katherine, there is development.  Jack actually has to win he over.  THANK YOU!    There was chemistry there. Now I should also make mention that in the film, Sarah was the older sister of the two characters, Davey and  Les but she being cut out had no overall effect on the family relationship.  Okay, I do have one minor gripe with Katherine.  Well okay, it's not so much the character but rather what show reveals in the second act. It turns out that she's Pulitzer's daughter.   Now I don't if he actually had a daughter or not but for the story, that just seemed kind of forced.   It wasn't exactly the Liar Revealed cliche but we never knew that she was related to Pulitzer until late into the play.   Probably, the only groan worthy thing, the play did. 

Now another big change comes in the form of the character of Medda Larkson,  my second least favorite character from the film. Guess what? I like her in the play.  In the play, they took, a character that was a skinny white woman and made her a loud and proud boisterous black woman and that worked.

The big reason,  Medda worked in the play is because she brought in needed comic relief in a rather serious story and even though, she was basically a comic relief,  she still felt like a real character. Honestly, when I was watching the play and I saw Medda, I was dreading her because of how much I disliked her in the movie but this is what Medda should've been in the film.

Now another character who went through a lot of change and I'd actually argue  felt more developed was Jack Kelly himself.

Now you see in the movie, Jack was a tough guy and that was still very much present in the play but I think the play did one thing better then the movie, in how it showed that even though Jack knew he was doing the right thing, he was scared.  Just because he was the leader of the Newsies doesn't mean he wasn't scared and that came through perfectly and  you could actually see there were moments when Jack questioned his position as leader and wanted to throw in the towel.   Now another thing they added to his character is that he is an artist and this pays off quite well as it helps him to save his friend Crutchie from The Refugee, a boy's prison. Now this does happen in the film too and while we do see the poor condition of The Refugee, it's almost worse in the play. Because the conditions, these boys were living in there, was concentration camp level conditions.    And this also explains in the play why Jack was trying to escape from that place because he was trying to get food and clothes for the other boys whereas in the film, it seemed as though he was just making a run for it.   To be honest, most of the characters were great in the play.

New Music

Here in this section, I'll be taking a look at the new songs written for the play.   With that out of the way, let's begin.

Santa Fe (Prologue) 

Okay,  so this song was in the film but this song went through the most changes for the play and while I love the film version, this version does serve it's purpose for the play. In a way, I think the stage version of this song is  more tragic.  And definitely feels much more like an "I Want" song. And I think the big thing, that I take away from this song is you can feel how much Jack cares for his  fellow Newsies.  Also this song has one of my favorites lines from any musical ever.

You keep your small life in the big city. Give me a big life in a small town.

I can't explain it but I found  it very poignant and it summed up Jack's character perfectly. The emotion of   this is hauntingly beautiful.



The Bottom Line





Yeah, this is my least favorite song in the play and perhaps my least favorite Newsies song.  Is it bad? No and does set up why the price hike happened but the thing that kills this song for me is the speak song nature of the song.  It's cheesy and not a good kind of cheesy either. I like the background music though but this song is one I probably won't be listening to much.

That's Rich

That's Rich is Medda's new song which replaced the horrid My Lovey Dovey Baby and once again, this is an improvement.   This song is FUN!!!    This is what I want from this character.   She is fun and has such a great spirit to her.   The best way to describe this song is by say play it again!  

I Never Planned On You/Don't Come a-Knocking






I have to be honest, this song is a mixed bag. I love Jack's portion and that could stand on it's own as a great love ballad but the background song, I could do without it.  Is it bad? No but I feel like it distracts a wee bit.



Watch What Happens







I LOVE this song,  it is a great character song for Katherine and maybe it's just me but the background music makes me think of Wicked.  Even without that thought, this is one of the best songs in the play.   Again, it is just fun and in my opinion of the most important songs for the story.   As this song reveals what Katherine is putting on the line.




Santa Fe

Again, like the prologue, this is Santa Fe. But in name only.  Being a fan of the movie or  a Fansie as we call ourselves,  I was at first not happy about one of my favorite songs from the movie sounding nothing like the original but after seeing it in the play, it is good.  And while isn't the same as the movie, it does still deliver the emotion that I expect out of Santa Fe and in a way, Santa Fe plays a bigger role in the play then it does in the movie. If you recall I mention that Jack in the play is an artist. Well, some of the things, he paints are portraits of Santa Fe.  It is so much clearer in the play that Jack sees Santa Fe as his only means of escape.



Watch What Happens (Reprise)





The reprise of Watch What Happens comes after Jack is ready to give up and it's just as good.  I have nothing bad to say about this song.  I love how in this song, we get to see Jack's friends rebuild his confidence and let him know, that they have his back.


The Bottom Line (Reprise)





This reprise comes when Jack invites Pulitzer to speak at the Newsies' rally and what do I think  of it.  Not much really,  again, take it or leave it.


Brooklyn's Here






Yeah, this is AWESOME!!!  This is a great rally song.  This song makes me want to throw my fist in the air and say "Yeah!"   Once again,  all I gotta say is "Play it again!"



Something To Believe In






My thoughts on this song. Well it is a much needed love song and it's cute but I prefer the Newsies songs as those are more inspiring.  Maybe it's just me but I find the songs where the Newsies are singing about not giving up, more entertaining as that's what I want to see.  But not looking at those songs, I like this one and it does help to show the relationship between Jack and Katherine.



My Final Thoughts



Is the play better then the film? Well, I can't say yes or no to that.   The film is one of my all time favorite movies and the musical is going to land on my list of favorite musicals.  I'd say I enjoy them both equally but looking at the play, it is one entertaining show.  I highly reccomend this show if it plays near you. You will not regret seeing this.   Out of all the Disney stage productions, I've seen, which include The Lion King, Mary Poppins, Beauty and The Beast and now Newsies.  I'd say Newsies is Disney's best work on stage and this is coming from someone who claims that the stage production of The Lion King is better then the movie. So yeah, see Newsies.