It's actually kind of fitting that a Disney Theatrical Production with the word "new" in its name would find a brand-new way to reach out to its fans.
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In a first for Broadway, cast members from the acclaimed new musical Newsies (which begins its limited engagement at the Nederlander Theatre on March 15th) will be chatting with this show's fans live on YouTube tomorrow night, February 16th starting at 6:30PM EST.
The way that this online version of a press conference is supposed to work is that Newsies fans will first be able submit questions for the cast to answer by visiting Twitter and then using hashtag #newsieschat. These questions will collected now through the end of this live chat on Thursday night. Then -- starting at 6:30 p.m. -- cast members Andrew Keenan-Bolger, Tommy Bracco, Kyle Coffman, and Ephraim Sykes will begin digging through this pile of digital queries and pick the very best questions to answer.
Mind you, this is an incredibly busy time for the cast of Newsies. In addition to taking part in tomorrow night's virtual press conference, the cast just learned that they'll be taking a break from rehearsals March 3rd - 5th so that that this talented group of performers can then go record Newies' original cast recording.
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To be produced by Ghostlight Records, the Newsies original cast recording will feature the music of eight-time Academy Award winner Alan Menken (Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Sister Act ) as well as the lyrics of Jack Feldman. Those who'd like to be among the first to learn more about this CD's pre-sale and release can do so by signing up for the Newsies mailing list.
Once this virtual press conference is wrapped and the sessions for this show's original cast recording are completed, then it's all about getting Newsies ready for its Broadway debut. With previews beginning on March 15th and its official opening night being held on March 29th.
If you'd like to check out this new American musical ( which -- in his review of last year's pilot production at the Paper Mill Playhouse -- David Rooney of the New York Times proclaimed that Newsies was " ... a musical worth singing about") during its Broadway debut, you don't want to dawdle. This show's stint at the Nederlander is a strictly limited engagement. Its final performance has already been scheduled for June 10th.
If you'd like to learn more about Newsies (which features a book by four-time Tony Award winner Harvey Fierstein), make a point of checking out tomorrow night's live streaming chat at http://www.youtube.com/disneyonbroadway.
I took my 2 daughters who are in their 20's we loved every minute of it- we are still taking about the great voices, dance numbers, the stage arrangements and the boys who just kept moving and engaging us. Everyone should see it.