Newsies The Broadway Musical

I recently watched the broadway musical Newsies on Disney+ and I absolutely loved it. It is in every aspect a story for the underdogs. You get to see the lives and conditions of the average 1890s newsboy and their demand for respect. The attention paid to detail is insane and keeps you engaged the entire time. 

The characters (aged from 10-17) are poor children, and orphans, and after a raise in prices of newspapers they form their own union and go on strike. It also touches on feminism and the patriarchy in the late 1800s with one of the main characters, Katherine Plumer, the female journalist.  

Each character had their own problems as well as their collective issues they faced together and it gave them all a lot of depth. The choreography was incredible, I especially loved the tap number. There were constant tricks and acrobatics which gave the boys more of a feel of adolescence. Every song was strong and powerful, I loved it.

There were definitely a few areas that made me roll my eyes. After the main character, Jack Kelly who is one of the Newsies, sees Kathrine twice and has one conversation with her, he starts singing about how in love with her he is. The fight scenes were also a little rough. I know the musical wasn’t intended to be violent or graphic but you could legitimately see the space between the fists and the person being “punched”. The last scene felt kinda goofy to me, they made Rosevelt almost seem like a magical being, like Santa at the end of a Hallmark movie. Overall though, I really enjoyed Newsies.