Newcomer Corey Cott to Replace Tony Nominee Jeremy Jordan in Newsies

Tony nominee Jeremy Jordan has set a September 4 departure date from Broadway’s Newsies to work fulltime on the NBC series Smash. Jordan will be replaced by recent college graduate Corey Cott, who will make his Broadway debut as Jack Kelly on September 5. Newsies continues to run at Broadway’s Nederlander Theatre.

"It’s pretty incredible to make my Broadway debut in a memorable leading role," Cott told The New York Times about stepping into the part of the rebellious newsboy leader.

Cott is a 2012 graduate of Carnegie Mellon University's School of Drama. His university credits include Suddenly Last Summer, Assassins, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Sweeney Todd. He recently appeared in the New York reading of Bare directed by Stafford Arima.

Cott will join a cast that includes Kara Lindsay, John Dossett, Capathia Jenkins, Ben Fankhauser, Andrew Keenan-Bolger, Lewis Grosso and Matthew Schechter.

Newsies features the movie's original music as well as additional songs by Oscar-winning composer Alan Menken and lyricist Jack Feldman, in addition to a book by four-time Tony winner Harvey Fierstein and choreography by Christopher Gattelli. Inspired by the real events of the Newsboy Strike of 1899, Newsies follows a young New York City newsboy (Cott) who leads a group of orphans in a protest against Joseph Pulitzer, William Randolph Hearst and other powerful newspaper publishers.