Jack Roden, who played Frankie Epps in the tour of the Tony-winning revival of Parade, has replaced the previously announced Casey Likes (Back to the Future, Heathers: The Musical) as Jack Kelly in the forthcoming Muny return of Disney’s Newsies, the 2012 Broadway
musical featuring music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Jack Feldman, and a
book by Harvey Fierstein.
Roden will also be seen opposite Shira Haas in the upcoming indie feature Triumph of the Will. No reason was stated for Likes’ departure in the Muny press release.
Directed by Denis Jones with choreography by Richard J. Hinds and
music direction by conductor Annbritt duChateau, the Tony-nominated
musical will play the St. Louis, Missouri, venue July 16-22.
Roden will join the previously reported Michael Park as Joseph Pulitzer, Anastacia
McCleskey as Medda Larkin, Bryce Williams as Davey, Kayla Pecchioni as
Katherine Plumber, Nolan Almeida as Crutchie, and Jaron Bentley as Les.
Rounding out the cast are the newly announced Drew Battles, Arick Brooks, Omarion Burke, Jim Butz, Christian J. Collins, Matt Dean, Michael Di Leo, Zach Doran, Joel Douglas, Kylie Edwards, Johnny Fenton, Michael Halling, Brianna Kim, Jacob Kim, Miles Marmolejo, Joshua Messmore, Adolfo Ortiz-Feder, Evan Owen, Becca Perron, Rich Pisarkiewicz, Kevin Antonio Rodriguez, and Jonah D. Winston as well as the Muny Teens Youth Ensemble and 12 selected Muny Summer Intensive participants.
Based on the Disney film written by Bob Tzudiker and Noni White, Newsies was originally produced on Broadway by Disney Theatrical Productions. Opening night was March 29, 2012, at the Nederlander.
Newsies was 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
New York newspaper publishers.
The stage version introduced seven new songs by the original team of
Menken and Feldman—including a song written after the Broadway premiere
specifically for the tour, “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.”
The musical took home Tony Awards in 2012 for Best Choreography
(Christopher Gattelli) and Best Original Score (Menken and Feldman) and
was nominated for Best Actor (Jeremy Jordan), Best Book (Harvey Fierstein),
Best Direction (Jeff Calhoun), Best Orchestrations (Daniel Troob), Best
Scenic Design (Tobin Ost and Sven Ortel), and Best Musical.
The Muny production will also have associate choreography by Patrick
Garr, fight coordination by Bart Williams, dialect coaching by Lauren Roth, scenic design by Tijana Bjelajac, costume design by Emily Rebholz,
lighting design by Paige Seber, sound design by Joshua Hummel, video
design by Caite Hevner, wig design by Tommy Kurzman, production stage
management by Kelsey Tippins, and casting by The Telsey Office’s Lindsay
Levine.
The Muny artistic staff includes Artistic Director and Executive
Producer Mike Isaacson, Associate Artistic Director Michael Baxter,
Director of Production Tracy Utzmyers, and Music Supervisors Michael
Horsley and Evan Roider.
Season 108 at The Muny continues with Rodgers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific (July 6-12), Disney’s Newsies (July 16-22), Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of The Temptations (July 27-August 2), Meet Me in St. Louis (August 6-13), and Something Rotten! (August 17-23).
Visit Muny.org.