Orpheum Theatre Essay
I attended the traveling Broadway production of Disney’s Newsies on February 14th, at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis. Being a fan of the movie but not knowing much about the musical, I was not sure what to expect. However, the show was a huge success, and it definitely has earned a place as one of my favorite musicals of all time. This musical was very dance heavy, and the dancing was not by any means easy. This was impressive enough in of itself. Even more impressive, though, from a vocal perspective, was the stamina it must have taken to continue singing while dancing. In choir we talk about having the breath support to sing through a phrase, but in shows like this they are holding through the phrase while running and jumping across
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First there was the main character, Jack Kelly, charismatic, cocky, street-smart newspaper delivery boy. The actor playing Jack spoke and sung with a New York street accent that was noticeable, but not so thick that you could not understand him; when he sang, his tone was a little bit brighter than some of the other characters, showing his character’s charm and outgoing nature, but sometimes, particularly during numbers like “Santa Fe” and “Something to Believe In”, it was softer, revealing a softer side to the character. Going along with the New York accent, the actor sometimes let his vowels get wide or flat, or clipped the ends of his words, to show his character’s lack of sophistication. Whenever he sang, you could feel the emotion and passion oozing from the actor. A very different character was Jack’s friend *David, an educated, polite boy who only started selling newspapers when his father had to stop working due to an injury. The actor playing David sang and spoke with a softer, more reserved color, but there was still strength to his sound. He is the primary singer of the number “Seize the Day,” for instance, a perfect example of this unique tone color – very strong and intense, but never too loud or belting. , there was Jack’s love interest, feisty reporter Katherine Plumber. Katherine’s was the one voice I was not totally onboard with. I just was not
First there was the main character, Jack Kelly, charismatic, cocky, street-smart newspaper delivery boy. The actor playing Jack spoke and sung with a New York street accent that was noticeable, but not so thick that you could not understand him; when he sang, his tone was a little bit brighter than some of the other characters, showing his character’s charm and outgoing nature, but sometimes, particularly during numbers like “Santa Fe” and “Something to Believe In”, it was softer, revealing a softer side to the character. Going along with the New York accent, the actor sometimes let his vowels get wide or flat, or clipped the ends of his words, to show his character’s lack of sophistication. Whenever he sang, you could feel the emotion and passion oozing from the actor. A very different character was Jack’s friend *David, an educated, polite boy who only started selling newspapers when his father had to stop working due to an injury. The actor playing David sang and spoke with a softer, more reserved color, but there was still strength to his sound. He is the primary singer of the number “Seize the Day,” for instance, a perfect example of this unique tone color – very strong and intense, but never too loud or belting. , there was Jack’s love interest, feisty reporter Katherine Plumber. Katherine’s was the one voice I was not totally onboard with. I just was not