NEWSIES Kicks Off Digital Lottery for Pantages Run Today

The highly anticipated Los Angeles return of Disney's NEWSIES begins performances today, August 30, at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre for a one-week engagement through Sunday, September 4. Disney Theatrical Productions and the Nederlander Organization are announcing that a day-of-performance DIGITAL lottery for a limited number of $20 orchestra seats will be held daily.

All Entries can be submitted online with Broadway Direct at www.HollywoodPantages.com/NewsiesLottery beginning at 8am on the day of the performance. Entries may be submitted until 3 hours prior to the performance time. Winners will be notified via e-mail within minutes of drawing, and will have 60 minutes to pay for the tickets online with a credit card. Tickets can be picked up at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre box office 30 minutes prior to show time. Photo I.D. is required for pick up. Seat locations and the number of tickets awarded by the lottery are always subject to availability.

NEWSIES, the new American musical, features a Tony Award-winning score with music by eight-time Academy Award winner Alan Menken and lyrics by Jack Feldman, a book by four-time Tony Award winner Harvey Fierstein and is produced by Disney Theatrical Productions, NEWSIES is directed by Tony nominee Jeff Calhoun and choreographed by Christopher Gattelli, who won a 2012 Tony Award for his work. The entire creative team has reunited to bring the break-out smash musical to audiences across North America.

When it opened on March 29, 2012 NEWSIES was intended for a Broadway run of just 101 performances. The show's fiercely devoted fans had other ideas, however; they propelled the show to a run of 1005 performances, attendance of more than 1 million and a gross of over $100M.

While on Broadway, NEWSIES set and broke seven Nederlander Theatre house records and became the highest-grossing show from the 2011-12 Broadway season. The show received 23 major theatrical nominations - including eight Tony Award nods - and won Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards for Score and Choreography.

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.

The stage version introduces seven brand-new songs by the original team of Menken and Feldman, including a song written specifically for the tour called 'Letter from the Refuge,' while keeping many of the beloved songs from the film, including 'Carrying the Banner, 'Seize the Day,' 'King of New York' and 'Santa Fe.'

Since the film's 1992 theatrical release and subsequent DVD release, NEWSIES has grown into a cult phenomenon, and for years had been the single most requested title of all the Disney musical films not yet adapted for the stage. (The film featured a screenplay by Bob Tzudiker & Noni White (Tarzan, 102 Dalmatians).)

The performance schedule for Disney's NEWSIES is Tuesday through Friday at 8pm, Saturday at 2pm & 8pm and Sunday at 1pm & 6:30pm. There is an additional matinee at 2pm on Friday, September 9th and there are no performances on Sunday, September 11th. Opening Night is Tuesday, August 30, 2016 at 8pm.

Disney's NEWSIES is recommended for Ages 6 and Up. All patrons entering the theatre, regardless of age, must have a ticket.

Individual tickets for Disney's NEWSIES start at $29. Prices are subject to change without notice.

For tickets or more information about the Los Angeles engagement of Disney's NEWSIES, visit the official website for Hollywood Pantages Theatre: www.HollywoodPantages.com/Newsies. For more about the tour, visit www.NewsiesTheMusical.com/Tour.

Photo Credit: Deen Van Meer