Broadway Review: Disney's 'Newsies!'
Get can’t-miss family activities sent to you!
Get the Best Family Activities
In the "controversial" Katherine part (not so controversial if you just sit back nonjudgmentally and enjoy the ride), is the lovely young actress Kara Lindsay in her Broadway debut. Having starred as Laura Ingalls in the Paper Mill Playhouse’s production of the musical Little House on the Prairie, the Carnegie Mellon graduate was encouraged to audition for the female lead in the theater’s upcoming mounting of Newsies.
“I immediately contacted my agent to submit me even though I didn’t know what they were expecting,” she recalls. “I just worked my butt off beforehand and went in and did my best. Fortunately, I was the right fit.”
Since the move to Broadway, Lindsay has been pretty much walking on air. With a naturally bubbly personality, the Rochester, NY native cannot hold back how thrilled she is to be sharing her big break with her fellow cast members, many of whom are also making their Broadway debuts. And, she adds, her joy peaks during her favorite moment in the show.
“It’s when Elizabeth is taking a flash photograph of the newsies as they stand posed in front of the camera, because it’s at that moment I get to see [the] boys’ faces, dripping with sweat from dancing,” she says. “[I see] how happy and rewarding it is for their characters, and how equally wonderful it is for them...as performers. So I guess what I’m trying to say is how much I love that I get to see so many dreams come true in their faces at that moment.”
At the Stage Door
Kara Lindsay dishes about this post-show tradition.
On Jeremy Jordan: “If you were at a Justin Bieber concert, Jeremy is absolutely Justin—the screams he gets when he comes out! [His fans] just eat it up… He’s so magnetic and charming—and so good about talking to everyone and signing their programs. It’s amazing watching him—and, of course, working with him!”
On reactions to her performance: “Every so often I’ll find myself being approached by a high school kid who’s aspiring to have a career in the theater. They’ll say, ‘I want to be up on the stage like you’ and I realize that not all that long ago, that was me. I tell them: ‘If I can, you can, you absolutely can—follow your heart and take the risk. And remember that when you don’t get chosen for a role, it’s not about your talent, but rather being who [the casting people] envisioned.’ ”
On who lines up to greet the cast: “Lots and lots of kids—teens and younger—because this is such a family-friendly show. And they are just so happy! It’s all very overwhelming in the best possible way.”
The Details
What: Newsies
Where: Broadway’s Nederlander Theatre, 208 W. 41st St. (between Seventh and Eighth avenues), Midtown Manhattan
When: Mondays at 7pm; Wednesdays at 2pm and 7:30pm; Fridays at 8pm; Saturdays at 2pm and 8pm; Sundays at 1pm and 6:30pm. (Call or visit website for variations in playing schedule.) Open-ended run.
Who: Family friendly overall, but not for very young children; 8 and older seems a pretty safe age range.
Running Time: 2½ hours with one intermission
Tickets: $93-$137. Lottery: 2½ hours before every performance, patrons are invited to take place in a lottery drawn two hours prior to curtain. Winners may purchase up to two tickets for that day’s performance for $30 each (cash only). Winners must be present with valid identification at the time of the drawing.
Website: newsiesthemusical.com