Seize the Day! Star Jeremy Jordan Wants Newsies on Broadway

Should Newsies, the famous Disney movie musical flop that opens on September 25 as a stage musical at Paper Mill Playhouse, make it to Broadway?

“Yes!” said Jeremy Jordan, the musical’s star, when asked during an interview on the Broadway.com talk show Show People. “Please! Anybody that you ask that’s my age will probably tell you that.”

Jordan, who stars as Jack Kelly, a young newsboy who leads the turn-of-the-century strike against mega-publisher Joseph Pulitzer, credits the original 1992 Disney film with sparking his interest in musical theater. “I wasn’t really into theater and dancing, but it was empowering to see guys take on that kind of stuff. It was a big influence on me.”

The new Newsies has been retooled by original songwriters Alan Menken (music) and Jack Feldman (lyrics), Tony-winning librettist Harvey Fierstein and director Jeff Calhoun. Although Disney Theatricals is involved with the Paper Mill production, the company has not announced Broadway as a goal, instead focusing on licensing the musical to interested theaters.

Jordan will star in Newsies at Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, New Jersey, until it closes on October 16. He will then be seen on Broadway in Bonnie & Clyde starting November 4. Watch his full interview on Show People, hosted by Broadway.com Editor-in-Chief Paul Wontorek, on September 22.