Here, in the first video of a behind-the-scenes series, Andrew Keenan-Bolger, who plays Crutchie in Newsies, takes the camera into the sitzprobe rehearsal. Sitzprobe is the first rehearsal where the orchestra and the actors unite for a sing-through of the entire score. Music is the main focus of the sitzprobe rehearsal, especially at Newsies, where the company works through brand-new arrangements by eight-time Academy Award-winning composer Alan Menken (lyrics are by Jack Feldman).
Newsies, according to press notes, is “inspired by the real life ‘Newsboy Strike of 1899,’ when newsboy Kid Blink led the ragged orphans and runaways known as newsies on a two-week-long action against Joseph Pulitzer, William Randolph Hearst and other powerful newspaper publishers. Set in New York City at the turn of the century, the musical is the tale of newsie Jack Kelly, who dreams of a better life far from the hardship of the streets. But when Pulitzer and Hearst raise distribution prices at the newsies’ expense, Jack finds a cause to fight for and rallies his army of newsies to strike.”
To check out the behind-the-scenes action at the Newsies sitzprobe, look below: