The Marriott Theatre announced on Monday morning the cast of its upcoming production of the musical Newsies.
Patrick Rooney will play Jack Kelly, the leader of the high-jumping paper-pushers striking against newspaper magnate Joseph Pulitzer, played by Kevin Gudahl. Eliza Palasz will play aspiring reporter Katherine Plumber; Palasz and Rooney were previously paired as love interests in Marriott’s production of Spring Awakening last year.
Also in the cast are Stephanie Pope as Medda Larkin, Nick Graffagna as Davey, Matthew Uzarraga as Crutchie, and Carter Graf and Zachary Uzarraga alternating as Les. Director and choreographer Alex Sanchez’s ensemble is rounded out by Bill Bannon, Eean Cochran, Shea Coffman, Nicholas Dantes, Alejandro Fonseca, Sam Griffin, Garrett Lutz, Jeff Pierpoint, Zachary Porter, Liam Quealy, James Rank, Laura Savage, Peter Sipla, Adrienne Storrs, Steven Strafford, Richard Strimer, Martin Ortiz Tapia, Tiffany Tatreau, Andy Tofa and David Wright Jr.
Based on the 1992 Disney live-action musical movie that starred Christian Bale and Bill Pullman—a flop at the box office that later found a loyal millennial audience on home video—the stage version of Newsies opened on Broadway in 2012 and ran for more than two years. It was first seen in Chicago via the touring production in late 2014. Marriott’s production runs October 25 to December 31.