Love Interest Change Provides Cotter With Bigger Role In ‘Newsies’
May 31, 2017 at 8:09 p.m.
Love Interest Change Provides Cotter With Bigger Role In ‘Newsies’
By David [email protected]
In the movie, Bill Pullman (“Independence Day”) played Bryan Denton, the reporter. Jack Kelly, played by then-relative newcomer Christian Bale (“The Dark Knight”), who led the newsboys on a strike in July 1899 after Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph raised the distribution price, fell in love with new newsboy David Jacobs’ (David Moscow, “Big”) sister, though that storyline was just a blip on the radar.
For the stage adaptation – music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Jack Feldman, book by Harvey Fierstein – the reporter has been changed from Bryan to Katherine, gets a bigger role in the story and becomes Kelly’s love interest.
“Davey is a new newsie who comes in and is trying to make money for his family because his dad is out of work, so they kind of take him on as another brother throughout the story. But in the movie, the love interest was his sister, and Jack comes home to meet the family and all kinds of that stuff. In the musical, my guess as to why they made her the reporter, is just to kind of raise the stakes because she becomes more central to the story,” explained Elaine Cotter, who plays Katherine in Wagon Wheel’s production of “Newsies.”
“Newsies” is at the Wagon Wheel through June 10.
Cotter, who returns to the Wagon Wheel for a third season, was the independent and strong Belle in the theater’s June 2016 production of “Beauty and The Beast.”
“She is a young, eager, female news reporter, which is kind of unheard of at the time. So she is trying to get the scoop on the newsies’ strike,” Cotter said of Katherine.
Britton Hollingsworth, who is at the Wagon Wheel for his first summer from Florida, plays Jack Kelly.
“Jack’s a young, rough-around-the-edges boy. Really likes to look out for all the other guys that he’s around, sees them as family. Has a troubled past, doesn’t really have any family, so he looks at them as family. He gets into trouble a lot, but he really becomes the voice of the strike and really what they all kind of rally behind to find out what they need to do,” Hollingsworth explained.
He said it’s big shoes to fill in stepping in the role originated by Bale on screen and Jeremy Jordan (“Supergirl”) in the original Broadway production.
“Huge, huge shoes to fill. It’s a lot of fun though. It’s an exciting role and I’m excited to do it,” he said. “I think the difference between the play and the movie is that Christian Bale definitely seemed a lot older in the movie than the other boys. So there was a huge age gap, in my opinion, in the movie with the other boys and Jack. And what Disney has tried to do is shrink that age gap a little bit and make him 17 as opposed to 18 or 19, which is what I read it as.”
Hollingsworth said because Jack is made younger, he becomes more of a brother figure than a father figure to the other newsies in the play, which he thinks is better.
While most of the songs from the film have survived to the stage adaptation, like “Seize the Day” and “Santa Fe,” Cotter said there’s also some new songs.
“They changed a few of the lyrics, but other than that, they kept all the songs we love in the movie,” Hollingsworth said.
While she’s not in “Seize the Day,” Cotter said she loves that song. “I love watching it, it’s really good. The dancing is amazing, the singing is amazing. It’s such a powerful number in general and a powerful message. It’s probably one of my favorites,” she stated.
“I have to agree with you – ‘Seize the Day.’ Don’t get me wrong, I love ‘Santa Fe,’ it’s a great song. But ‘Seize the Day,’ there’s something about rallying everybody together and really getting everybody together to strike. It’s so much fun,” Hollingsworth said to Cotter.
To prepare for his role in “Newsies,” Hollingsworth said he looked into child labor laws, wages and the strikes that happened in the time “Newsies” was set.
“I did a little bit of historical research, trying to figure out really what prompted it and how long it took them to really shine a light into the dark corners of American history, which was the child labor laws. Because it was. It was the rich getting richer on the fact that the children weren’t getting paid, sometimes not at all. There were no rules, no regulations. Kids were getting hurt, killed in factory accidents. ... It’s interesting, and (‘Newsies’ is) not necessarily taken as dark and deep as it could, but I think it’s a wonderful way that Disney has kept that story alive and really opened the doors to that part of history,” Hollingsworth explained.
Cotter said that aspect of “Newsies” is applicable in today’s world.
She said to Hollingsworth, “There’s a specific line that you say, and that I quote, that is about the slaughterhouses and the factories these kids are working in and the line after it is ‘you challenged our whole generation to stand up and demand a place at the table,’ but I think it’s just a powerful message in our world today. I think that’s always happening. Generation after generation just has to step up every once in awhile after something happens. I think that’s just a good message in general.”
“Absolutely,” he agreed.
The duo promised that audiences who go and see “Newsies” are in for a good show, too.
“You’re going to love it,” Cotter said.
“Come see it,”?Hollingsworth requested.
“Bring your friends,” Cotter added.
For the full video of the interview with Cotter and Hollingsworth, visit the video section of the Times-Union website at www.timesuniononline.com.
In the movie, Bill Pullman (“Independence Day”) played Bryan Denton, the reporter. Jack Kelly, played by then-relative newcomer Christian Bale (“The Dark Knight”), who led the newsboys on a strike in July 1899 after Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph raised the distribution price, fell in love with new newsboy David Jacobs’ (David Moscow, “Big”) sister, though that storyline was just a blip on the radar.
For the stage adaptation – music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Jack Feldman, book by Harvey Fierstein – the reporter has been changed from Bryan to Katherine, gets a bigger role in the story and becomes Kelly’s love interest.
“Davey is a new newsie who comes in and is trying to make money for his family because his dad is out of work, so they kind of take him on as another brother throughout the story. But in the movie, the love interest was his sister, and Jack comes home to meet the family and all kinds of that stuff. In the musical, my guess as to why they made her the reporter, is just to kind of raise the stakes because she becomes more central to the story,” explained Elaine Cotter, who plays Katherine in Wagon Wheel’s production of “Newsies.”
“Newsies” is at the Wagon Wheel through June 10.
Cotter, who returns to the Wagon Wheel for a third season, was the independent and strong Belle in the theater’s June 2016 production of “Beauty and The Beast.”
“She is a young, eager, female news reporter, which is kind of unheard of at the time. So she is trying to get the scoop on the newsies’ strike,” Cotter said of Katherine.
Britton Hollingsworth, who is at the Wagon Wheel for his first summer from Florida, plays Jack Kelly.
“Jack’s a young, rough-around-the-edges boy. Really likes to look out for all the other guys that he’s around, sees them as family. Has a troubled past, doesn’t really have any family, so he looks at them as family. He gets into trouble a lot, but he really becomes the voice of the strike and really what they all kind of rally behind to find out what they need to do,” Hollingsworth explained.
He said it’s big shoes to fill in stepping in the role originated by Bale on screen and Jeremy Jordan (“Supergirl”) in the original Broadway production.
“Huge, huge shoes to fill. It’s a lot of fun though. It’s an exciting role and I’m excited to do it,” he said. “I think the difference between the play and the movie is that Christian Bale definitely seemed a lot older in the movie than the other boys. So there was a huge age gap, in my opinion, in the movie with the other boys and Jack. And what Disney has tried to do is shrink that age gap a little bit and make him 17 as opposed to 18 or 19, which is what I read it as.”
Hollingsworth said because Jack is made younger, he becomes more of a brother figure than a father figure to the other newsies in the play, which he thinks is better.
While most of the songs from the film have survived to the stage adaptation, like “Seize the Day” and “Santa Fe,” Cotter said there’s also some new songs.
“They changed a few of the lyrics, but other than that, they kept all the songs we love in the movie,” Hollingsworth said.
While she’s not in “Seize the Day,” Cotter said she loves that song. “I love watching it, it’s really good. The dancing is amazing, the singing is amazing. It’s such a powerful number in general and a powerful message. It’s probably one of my favorites,” she stated.
“I have to agree with you – ‘Seize the Day.’ Don’t get me wrong, I love ‘Santa Fe,’ it’s a great song. But ‘Seize the Day,’ there’s something about rallying everybody together and really getting everybody together to strike. It’s so much fun,” Hollingsworth said to Cotter.
To prepare for his role in “Newsies,” Hollingsworth said he looked into child labor laws, wages and the strikes that happened in the time “Newsies” was set.
“I did a little bit of historical research, trying to figure out really what prompted it and how long it took them to really shine a light into the dark corners of American history, which was the child labor laws. Because it was. It was the rich getting richer on the fact that the children weren’t getting paid, sometimes not at all. There were no rules, no regulations. Kids were getting hurt, killed in factory accidents. ... It’s interesting, and (‘Newsies’ is) not necessarily taken as dark and deep as it could, but I think it’s a wonderful way that Disney has kept that story alive and really opened the doors to that part of history,” Hollingsworth explained.
Cotter said that aspect of “Newsies” is applicable in today’s world.
She said to Hollingsworth, “There’s a specific line that you say, and that I quote, that is about the slaughterhouses and the factories these kids are working in and the line after it is ‘you challenged our whole generation to stand up and demand a place at the table,’ but I think it’s just a powerful message in our world today. I think that’s always happening. Generation after generation just has to step up every once in awhile after something happens. I think that’s just a good message in general.”
“Absolutely,” he agreed.
The duo promised that audiences who go and see “Newsies” are in for a good show, too.
“You’re going to love it,” Cotter said.
“Come see it,”?Hollingsworth requested.
“Bring your friends,” Cotter added.
For the full video of the interview with Cotter and Hollingsworth, visit the video section of the Times-Union website at www.timesuniononline.com.
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