The news is all good from the Benedum Center after opening night of "Newsies." Disney's Broadway darling hasn't lost any of its headline-making luster in the transfer to the road, with a talented company equal to the challenge of Christopher Gattelli's Tony-winning athletic dance numbers and Alan Menken's dynamic, award-winning score.
With acrobatic feats and balletic leaps, the musical captures the spirit of the real-life 1899 strike by newsboys that was marked by violence and protests that brought New York City to a standstill. In the end, the Newsies from the five New York City boroughs united to win the day -- mega-publishers Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst were cornered into fairer labor practices for their child workforce.
Newcomer Dan DeLuca as strike leader Jack Kelly, sporting a thick-as-frozen-buttah accent, and Stephanie Styles as a reporter on the side of the Newsies lead a strong ensemble of young triple threats.
Mr. DeLuca, a Peters Township High School graduate, is the tough-talking charismatic leader of the strike with an inward longing to leave the mean streets of New York for Sante Fe (what is it about Santa Fe that it's the dream destination for the downtrodden in both "Newsies" and "Rent"?).
He meets his match in the effervescent Ms. Styles, whose Katherine is an ambitious reporter.
Ms. Styles almost steals the first act with her one number, "Watch What Happens," as she attempts to write her first hard news story, and she and Mr. DeLuca make a strong pair on the love ballad "Something to Believe In."
Book writer Harvey Fierstein has adapted the Bob Tzudiker-Noni White screenplay that was a bust for Disney and star Christian Bale in 1992 before the movie developed a cult following and led to "Disney's Newsies" taking Broadway by storm in 2012.
The creative team, including Tony-nominated director Jeff Calhoun, a North Hills export, hasn't stopped tinkering. The touring production introduces a new Feldman-Menken song for the character of Crutchy (Zachary Sayles), bringing to eight the new songs for the musical, including the inspirational anthem "The World Will Know."
Songs such as "Seize the Day," "King of New York" and "Santa Fe" are in the Menken tradition of tunes that get in your head and stay with you, but the big story in "Newsies" is the ensemble of young male dancers and their leaps and bounds amid Tobin Obst's kinetic erector set of a scenic design.
Angela Grovey as singer and Jack ally Medda Larkin lends an ebullient presence and Steve Blanchard has fun painting bottom-line Pulitzer as a detestable villain, but there's never a doubt, against all odds, the Newsies will gain the upperhand. If you're looking for upbeat, family entertainment, you can leap for joy that "Disney's Newsies" is here.
First Published: November 26, 2014, 5:22 a.m.