SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE Finalist Jess LeProtto is Cast in B'Way's NEWSIES

By: Jan. 23, 2012
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SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE finalist Jess LeProtto has announced on his Twitter account that he has been cast in the upcoming Broadway musical NEWSIES. Last week, the Little Falls, NJ native tweeted, "So excited about "Newsies"!!! It's official! YAY...Now go and by some tickets!! LOL"

LeProtto, who made it to the top 8 on the last season of SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE, will appear as part of the ensemble of NEWSIES. His past Broadway credits include 'The Boy From Oz' "How the Grinch Stole Christmas' and 'Bye, Bye Birdie'.

Disney Theatrical Productions had recently announced the cast of the show which includes Jeremy Jordan as Jack Kelly, John Dossett (2003 revival of Gypsy) as Joseph Pulitzer, Kara Lindsay (Little House on the Prairie) as Katherine Plumber, Ben Fankhauser (Spring Awakening national tour) as Davey, Andrew Keenan-Bolger (Mary Poppins) as Crutchie, and Lewis Grosso (Mary Poppins), and Matthew Schechter (Elf) alternating the role of Les. Dossett, Lindsay, Fankhauser and Keenan-Bolger. 

In addition to LeProtto, the ensemble of Newsies will feature Aaron J. Albano, Mark Aldrich, Tommy Bracco, John E. Brady, Ryan Breslin, Kevin Carolan, Caitlyn Caughell, Kyle Coffman, Mike Faist, Michael Fatica, Julie Foldesi, Garett Hawe, Thayne Jasperson, Evan Kasprzak, Stuart Marland, Andy Richardson, Jack Scott, Ryan Steele, Brendon Stimson, Nick Sullivan, Ephraim Sykes, Laurie Veldheer, Alex Wong and Stuart Zagnit.

NEWSIES the new American musical, will move to Broadway’s Nederlander Theatre (208 W 41st St) for a strictly limited 101 performance run following its critically-hailed stint at Paper Mill Playhouse last fall. The musical, featuring a score by eight-time Academy Award® winner Alan Menken (Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Sister Act) and Jack Feldman and a book by four-time Tony® Award winner Harvey Fierstein (La Cage aux Folles, Torch Song Trilogy), will play its first Broadway preview on March 15th prior to its March 29th opening night; the final performance is scheduled for June 10th. Newsies, produced by Disney Theatrical Productions, is directed by Tony nominee Jeff Calhoun (Big River revival) and choreographed by Tony nominee Christopher Gattelli (South Pacific revival).

Set in New York City at the turn of the century, Newsies is the rousing tale 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.

Newsies is inspired by the real-life ‘Newsboy Strike of 1899,’ when newsboy Kid Blink led a band of orphan and runaway newsies on a two-week-long action against Pulitzer, Hearst and other powerful newspaper publishers.



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