Disney's Newsies: The Broadway Musical! (2017)

IMDb plot summary: Filmed live on stage at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood, CA, this is a not-to-be-missed high energy show starring Original Broadway cast members.

Directed by Jeff Calhoun and Brett Sullivan. Starring Jeremy Jordan, Kara Lindsay, and Ben Fankhauser.

Disney's Newsies: The Broadway Musical! is a pro-shot of the 2012 Broadway adaptation of the 1992 musical. This version was filmed in 2016 but featured many of the original cast members reprising their roles. The story follows a group of newsboys at the turn of the 19th century who go on strike after prices are raised, making it harder for them to earn a living. While the real-life strike this story is based on was unsuccessful, Disney's turned it into a more heartwarming underdog story, and it's got some of Alan Menken's best tunes. I'm a huge fan of the original movie despite its many flaws, and this version of the show attempts to address some of those flaws while falling short in other ways. The musical numbers are again the strongest here, with some incredibly moving songs juxtaposed against some pretty sloppy scriptwriting. There are certainly enough musical numbers here to pull the whole thing in a positive direction, but I don't think the lyric changes from the film are particularly strong, and honestly you might as well just fast forward through everything but the songs and have a great time.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Disney's Newsies the Broadway Musical > Kinky Boots the Musical

Disney's Newsies the Broadway Musical < Anna Karenina

Disney's Newsies the Broadway Musical < Die Hard

Disney's Newsies the Broadway Musical > Serenity

Disney's Newsies the Broadway Musical > Y Tu Mamá También

Disney's Newsies the Broadway Musical > The Hunt (2020)

Disney's Newsies the Broadway Musical > Hereditary

Disney's Newsies the Broadway Musical > Hero

Disney's Newsies the Broadway Musical > Creation

Disney's Newsies the Broadway Musical > Incendies

Disney's Newsies the Broadway Musical < The Night Before

Final spot: #1419 out of 3773, or 62%.