According to the casting breakdown, dancers must be:
- Male, with playing age 16 to 22 years old
- Strong, technically trained dancers with excellent ballet technique
- Auditionees should also tap and sing well
- Acro and/or tumbling a plus
- All ethnicities are encouraged to attend
- Must be eligible to work in the UK
Newsies, currently running at Broadway's Nederlander Theatre, is inspired by the real-life Newsboy Strike of 1899. It tells the story 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. But 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."
This stage adaptation, with a book by Harvey Fierstein and including brand-new songs by the original team of Alan Menken and Jack Feldman, was developed for licensing to theatre groups and its original run at Paper Mill Playhouse was intended only as a pilot production for that market. But it subsequently transferred to the Nederlander, where it is now in its second year.
For further details on the Broadway production, visit http://www.newsiesthemusical.com/.