Los Angeles Times - Recommended
"...In short, "Newsies" is a critic-proof, resolutely entertaining, slightly exhausting romp, with a strong company and no end of technical flash. If it's more throwback than breakthrough, or if an air of the mechanical hovers around the entire enterprise, nothing this reviewer or anyone else says will matter an iota. Prepare to battle for tickets."
LA Weekly - Recommended
"...Where Newsies really shines is in the dancing. Under choreographer Christopher Gattelli, Newsies has the best band of dancing tramps this side of West Side Story, and the ensemble defies gravity regularly, flying across the stage with glee. They're aggressively charming, and sure to uplift even the dourest of dispositions."
Broadway World - Recommended
"...All I can say is run, don't walk, to purchase tickets. The Newsies ensemble pulsates from the moment the lights hit the stage. It will jolt you, fulfill you and make you jump for joy."
Entertainment Today - Recommended
"...The show celebrates the underdog, the downtrodden newsboys, with such joyful singing and especially its high-energy dancing, that it deserves to be called one of the best musicals of this generation."
Edge - Somewhat Recommended
"...This handsome and lively production, which far surpasses typical run-of-the-mill tour versions of Broadway hits, is nonetheless unlikely to be everyone's cup of tea. The material is not exactly a model of literacy and originality. The show remains less about telling a unique or gripping story than providing the opportunity for a large group of talented young actor-singer-dancers to revel in exuberant production numbers."
The Hollywood Reporter - Recommended
"...Audiences who saw Newsies in previews at New Jersey's Paper Mill Playhouse in the fall of 2011 had few reasons to expect the show to be memorable. A flop film fed through the Disney corporate grinder would likely result in another mediocre musical, especially on the heels of commercial and critical failures like Tarzan and The Little Mermaid. Besides, a musical about a newspaper strike? Who reads newspapers anymore? And what's a strike? If the WPA slept with Lerner and Loewe, their love child might be Newsies. But while it may sound like a terrible idea, if this irresistible concoction of familiar musical-theater tropes and jaunty tunes with a high-kicking, back-flipping, tap-dancing chorus doesn't put a smile on your face, then nothing will."
ArtsInLA - Recommended
"...Which brings us to 2012's Newsies, which transforms the legendarily mediocre money-loser of 20 years earlier-a sluggish saga of an 1899 newsboys' strike, in which street urchins endure armed combat at the hands of publisher Joseph Pulitzer's bullyboys-into one of the boldest, brassiest, most sheerly alive musical entertainments in years. And I was delighted to discover that the touring version, now at the Pantages, has lost none of its joie de vivre. If anything, it could be more jubilant than in its original Broadway run."
Neon Tommy - Somewhat Recommended
"...The national tour, which has found a temporary home at the Pantages Theatre in L.A., is a delightful spectacle, and for any fan of the musical, this production is a must-see. However, for a newcomer whose familiarity with and love of the theatre extends beyond Broadway jukeboxes or Disney films thrust onstage, the musical may be frustrating."
Frontiers - Somewhat Recommended
"...Fancy dance moves and a cast of cuties does not a musical make. Taking a note from their movie-flop archives, Disney mined their Christian Bale-fronted movie musical Newsies about a group of newspaper boys in 1899, turning it into a full-on Broadway production. But the problems inherent to the original film project still remain-a union strike against a paper tycoon simply isn't all that compelling a plot. And with a lack of real menace, it makes it hard to be truly invested in the boys' story."
Observations Along the Road - Recommended
"...What makes Newsies overcome any weaknesses in the book or the score are the Newsies and the rest of the dancing ensemble. As directed by Jeff Calhoun and choreographed by Christopher Gattelli (FB), many of the major rousing numbers are full-on energetic dance numbers, and they just "wow" you out of your seats. This is why I truly believe that the Newsies and ensemble are the true stars of this show - when you walk out of this show, it is their performances you principally remember."
