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DISNEY THEATRICAL PRODUCTIONS AND FATHOM EVENTS
PARTNER TO BRING
THE TONY® AWARD-WINNING BROADWAY MUSICAL
TO CINEMAS WORLDWIDE EARLY 2017
Starring Jeremy Jordan as “Jack Kelly” with
Original Broadway Cast Members Joining the North American Tour for the Filmed Event
August ##, 2016 – Disney Theatrical Productions and Fathom Events announced today that the
Tony Award-winning musical NEWSIES will make its worldwide cinema debut in early 2017,
starring Jeremy Jordan, reprising his Tony Award-Nominated performance as “Jack Kelly.”
Those joining Jordan from the original Broadway cast include: Kara Lindsay “Katherine,” Ben
Fankhauser “Davey” and Andrew Keenan-Bolger “Crutchie,” with NEWSIES North
American Tour stars Steve Blanchard “Joseph Pulitzer” and Aisha de Haas “Medda Larkin.”
Additional cast from the Broadway and North American tour ensemble will also return, filling
the stage with more ‘newsies’ and more dancing than ever before.
Jordan and the returning original Broadway cast members will join the cast of the North
American tour for one performance only that will be filmed on Sunday, September 11, 2016 at
The Hollywood Pantages Theatre in Hollywood in front of an invited audience.
The NEWSIES 2017 in-cinema release and ticket-on-sale dates will be announced later this year.
Sign up for additional event announcements at www.newsiesthemusical.com.
“From the very beginning, the stage adaptation of Newsies has had an exciting and entirely
unexpected journey, propelled by the show’s passionate fan base,” said Thomas Schumacher,
president & producer, Disney Theatrical Productions. “We are thrilled to be working with
Fathom Events, and to have Tony-nominee, Jeremy Jordan and members of the original
Broadway company join the North American touring cast as we take Newsies on its next exciting
chapter, reaching new audiences around the world.”
“This special cinema event will entertain audiences across the country by reuniting the show’s
original Broadway stars and creating the ultimate Newsies experience at the movie theater,” said
John Rubey, CEO of Fathom Events. “When this production hits the big screen in 2017, Newsies
fans will definitely want to ‘seize the day!’”
Since opening on Broadway in 2011, NEWSIES has played 1,711 performances between
Broadway and North American tour, to more than 2.5 million audience members in 65 cities
across the country.
NEWSIES, the new American musical, features a TonyAward-winning score with music by
eight-time Academy Award® winner Alan Menken and lyrics by Jack Feldman, a book by fourtime Tony Award winner Harvey Fierstein and is produced by Disney Theatrical Productions,
NEWSIES is directed by Tony nominee Jeff Calhoun and choreographed by Christopher
Gattelli, who won a 2012 Tony Award for his work on the show. The entire creative team has
reunited to bring the break-out smash musical to audiences across North America.
When it opened on March 29, 2012 NEWSIES was intended for a Broadway run of just 101
performances. The show’s fiercely devoted fans, self-proclaimed ‘fansies,’ had other ideas,
however; they propelled the show to a run of 1005 performances, attendance of more than 1
million and a gross of over $100M.
While on Broadway, NEWSIES set and broke seven Nederlander Theatre house records and
became the highest-grossing show from the 2011-12 Broadway season. The show received 23
major theatrical nominations – including eight Tony Award nods – and won Tony, Drama Desk
and Outer Critics Circle Awards for Score and Choreography.
Set in New York City at the turn of the century, NEWSIES is the rousing tale of Jack Kelly, a
charismatic newsboy and leader of a ragged band of teenaged ‘newsies,’ who dreams only of a
better life far from the hardship of the streets. But when publishing titans Joseph Pulitzer and
William Randolph Hearst raise distribution prices at the newsboys’ expense, Jack finds a cause to
fight for and rallies newsies from across the city to strike for what’s right.
NEWSIES is inspired by the real-life ‘Newsboy Strike of 1899,’ when newsboy Kid Blink led a
band of orphan and runaway newsies on a two-week-long action against Pulitzer, Hearst and
other powerful newspaper publishers.
The stage version introduces seven brand-new songs by the original team of Menken and
Feldman, including a song written specifically for the tour called ‘Letter from the Refuge,’ while
keeping many of the beloved songs from the film, including ‘Carrying the Banner, ‘Seize the
Day,’ ‘King of New York’ and ‘Santa Fe.’
Since the film’s 1992 theatrical release and subsequent DVD release, NEWSIES has grown into
a cult phenomenon, and for years had been the single most requested title of all the Disney
musical films not yet adapted for the stage. (The film featured a screenplay by Bob Tzudiker &
Noni White (Tarzan, 102 Dalmatians)).
About Fathom Events
Fathom Events is recognized as the leading domestic distributor of event cinema, and ranks as
one of the largest overall distributors of content to movie theaters. Owned by AMC
Entertainment Inc. (NYSE: AMC), Cinemark Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: CNK) and Regal
Entertainment Group (NYSE: RGC) (known collectively as AC JV, LLC), Fathom Events offers
a variety of one-of-a-kind entertainment events that include live, high-definition performances of
the Metropolitan Opera, dance and theatre productions such as the Bolshoi Ballet and National
Theatre Live’s Hamlet, sporting events like FS1 Presents USA v Mexico, concerts with Roger
Waters and One Direction, the TCM Presents classic film series and faith-based events such as
The Drop Box and Four Blood Moons. Fathom Events takes audiences behind the scenes and
offers unique extras including audience Q&As, backstage footage and interviews with cast and
crew, creating the ultimate VIP experience. Fathom Events’ live digital broadcast network
(“DBN”) is the largest cinema broadcast network in North America, bringing live and prerecorded events to 887 locations and 1,354 screens in 181 Designated Market Areas® (including
all of the top 50). For more information, visit www.FathomEvents.com.