MARK AUERBACH
When the Tony-Award winning Broadway hit Newsies plays The Bushnell this month, look for Westfield native Josh Burrage in the role of “Darcy”. Josh, who has been dancing since the age of six, joined the Newsies company shortly after graduating from Westfield High School in 2014.
“The national company of Newsies rehearsed for about four weeks, and then did its technical rehearsals in New York state, before we launched our national tour, and I’ve been all over North America, from Chicago to San Francisco and Los Angeles to Florida, and Toronto”, says Burrage. He adds “the tour is booked well into next year, so I’m really getting a chance to aee the country.”
Newsies, the new American musical, features a Tony® Award-winning score with music by eight-time Academy Award® winner Alan Menken and lyrics by Jack Feldman, a book by four-time Tony® Award winner Harvey Fierstein and is produced by Disney Theatrical Productions, Newsies is directed by Jeff Calhoun and choreographed by Christopher Gattelli, who won a 2012 Tony Award® for his work.
When it opened on March 29, 2012 Newsies was intended for a Broadway run of just 101 performances. The show’s fiercely devoted fans had other ideas. They propelled the show to a run of 1,005 performances, attendance of more than 1 million and a gross of over $100M.
While on Broadway, Newsies set and broke seven Nederlander Theatre house records and became the highest-grossing show from the 2011-12 Broadway season. The show received 23 major theatrical nominations – including eight Tony Award® nods – and won Tony®, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards for Score and Choreography.
Set in New York City at the turn of the century, Newsies is the rousing tale of Jack Kelly, a charismatic newsboy and leader of a ragged band of teenaged ‘newsies,’ who dreams only of a better life far from the hardship of the streets. When publishing titans Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst raise distribution prices at the newsboys’ expense, Jack finds a cause to fight for and rallies newsies from across the city to strike for what’s right.
Newsies is inspired by the real-life ‘Newsboy Strike of 1899,’ when newsboy Kid Blink led a band of orphan and runaway newsies on a two-week-long action against Pulitzer, Hearst and other powerful newspaper publishers.
Burrage got his start with the Dan Kane Singers, whose alums include Broadway actress Meghan Fahy (from Longmeadow) and country singer Ashley Gearing (from Westfield). He studied dance at Westfield’s New England Dance and Gymnastics Center. He was in the Westfield High School Drama Club, where appeared in shows throughout his high school years. He began going to New York for auditions (his older brother Nick had already gone to New York to pursue a career in modern dance).
On tour, Burrage performs five times a week, plus makes time for briush-up rehearsals.
“I also try to take a dance class or work out while I’m in the road to keep in shape. Newsies choreography (by Christopher Gattelli) is a cardio workout, and the show is dance heavy, so we’re always moving”, says Burrage.
The road from Westfield to Broadway national tour has been thrilling for Burrage.
“It’s better than I ever could have imagined. I’ve had the chance to work with a great choreographer and to bond with some wonderful people in the production very quickly”, said Burrage. “Although some cast members who began with me have left the show, most have remained”, said Burrage, “and it’s a great touring family”.
Newsies plays The Bushnell in Hartford on October 13-18, before continuing on its coast-to-coast tour. For details on the Bushnell performances: 860-987-5900 or www.bushnell.org. For details on the national tour: http://www.newsiesthemusical.com/
Mark G. Auerbach studied theatre at American University and the Yale School of Drama. He’s worked for arts organizations and reported on theatre for newspapers and radio.
