Newsies is a musical I keep coming back to. It is always my go-to for introducing new people to musical theater–mostly because there is a professionally filmed version of the 2012 Broadway production on Disney Plus, but more importantly because it stands out in terms of music, plot, and dance.

Newsies originated as a 1992 Disney film based on the real Newsboys Strike of 1899.  The film was made into a stage show that debuted on Broadway in 2012, which is the version I am familiar with. The original film was also a musical, with many of the songs staying the same during screen to stage adaptation.

Newsies is a large ensemble show, with many actors playing the roles of New York City newsboys (newsies)–young and impoverished boys who would sell newspapers to people passing by on the street–in the late 19th century. When the publisher of the New York Globe, Joseph Pulitzer, raises prices for the newsies buying their daily share of papers, the protagonist newsie, Jack Kelly, raises awareness among the newsboys and they choose to organize a strike. The show follows them attempting to earn fair wages and workers’ rights. A main subplot of the show involves Katherine, Jack Kelly’s love interest (of course, since she is the only woman in the show *eye roll*), who wants to become a journalist despite journalism being a male-dominated profession at the time. The show is quintessential Disney (other than the talk of unions and such) with music by Alan Menken (composer of The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Tangled, Enchanted, the list goes on) and dialogue that is overly-dramatized and easy to follow, with the consequence of sounding unnatural or poorly-acted on occasion.

The best part about Newsies, however, is the dancing. As a dancer, this is one of my favorite shows since the entire ensemble is made of performers who are clearly dancers first. There is a dance break in almost every song, plus minutes of singing while performing advanced leaps and turns. powerful dance-heavy songs such as “Carrying the Banner”, “The World Will Know”, and “Once And For All” provide the ultimate theater-going experience. It is clear, though, that the leads of the show were not cast for their dance skills, but rather name recognition and voice. In the 2012 Broadway production, Jack Kelly was played by Jeremy Jordan, who is well-known in the theater world and has an insane vocal range, while Katherine was played by Kara Lindsay, who is known for playing Glinda in Wicked (again, insane vocal range). When it comes time for a dance break, Jordan and Lindsay simply walk off stage, which is quite funny in my opinion. It would be cool if they could also dance, but logically it makes sense to cast the people who can sing the best as the characters who sing the most.

The writers of Newsies also incorporated by second favorite aspect of theater: motifs! Katherine sings an aspirational song entitled “Watch What Happens”, which is reprised and has a melody that keeps coming back when she’s involved in a scene, while Jack sings the ballad “Santa Fe”, which has multiple reprises and another repeating melody that can be heard during scene transitions. There are also jokes that continue throughout the show that add to the humor.

All in all, I highly recommend Newsies to friends who have not seen much theater. Impressive dancing, easily accessible viewing, and catchy songs make the whole experience well worth anyone’s time.