Extra extra! Today, Disney Theatrical Productions announced that, following the conclusion of the hit show’s touring run this fall, multiple regional productions of the show will commence. Due to overwhelming public demand, the regional shows will debut in the summer of 2017.
NEWSIES will be mounted in over a dozen regional theaters, including such nationally-regarded houses as Tuacahn Amphitheatre (Ivins, Utah), Pittsburgh CLO (Pittsburgh, PA), Fulton Theatre (Lancaster, PA) and Music Theatre Wichita (Wichita, KS). Professional theatres can request stage rights for NEWSIES exclusively through Music Theatre International (212-541-4684, www.MTIshows.com).
The North American tour of NEWSIES will play 23 additional engagements before making its final stop at Bass Concert Hall in Austin, TX. By the time the tour concludes it will have played a total of 784 performances during 70 engagements in 65 cities over two years since launching in Schenectady, NY in October 2014.
To date, the critically-acclaimed tour has played 557 performances during 47 engagements, entertained more than one million people and grossed over $75 million. NEWSIES set box office records in theatres across the country, including The Oriental Theatre in Chicago and The Orpheum Theatre Minneapolis.
NEWSIES’s improbable longevity and reach has been driven from the beginning by an indefatigable fan base. Beginning as a pilot regional production at Paper Mill Playhouse, mounted only as a template for licensing, NEWSIES was called to New York by critical acclaim, opening on Broadway March 29, 2012 for an intended limited run of just 101 performances. The show’s fiercely devoted fans had other ideas, however; they drove the show to a run of 1005 performances, attendance of more than one million and a gross of over $100M.
“We are enormously grateful to our fans, those self-proclaimed ‘fansies,’ whose passion for NEWSIES propelled the show to a Tony Award-winning Broadway run and then to a record-breaking tour,” said Thomas Schumacher, President and Producer, Disney Theatrical Productions. “That enthusiasm remains palpable as NEWSIES is the most requested Disney stage title among regional theatres, community theatres and high schools in North America. I am so delighted that the life of this classic underdog tale will continue to reach new audiences.”
For more information about the remaining tour engagements, visit NewsiesTheMusical.com, Facebook.com/Newsies and Twitter.com/Newsies.