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Meet Jeremy Jordan, Broadway star of Disney’s ‘Newsies’
Jeremy Jordan was a kid when he first saw the big-screen version of “Newsies.”
And he has been obsessed ever since with the Disney musical about ragtag newsboys waging a strike in 1899 against the powerful publisher Joseph Pulitzer when he tried to pinch their meager profits.
The 1992 flick, now a cult classic, was panned by critics and flopped at the box office.
But where others found fault, Jordan found inspiration. And come Thursday, when “Newsies” opens at the Nederlander Theatre, he’s hoping to turn that boyhood fascination into Broadway magic.
“I was 8 or 9 when ‘Newsies’ came out and I saw it in the theaters and billions of times on VHS,” Jordan, 27, recalls. “These newsboys were guy guys, and the movie made us feel powerful as kids. It really influenced my life.”
Written by Bob Tzudiker and Noni White, it starred Christian Bale as Jack Kelly, the kids’ charismatic leader, and featured toe-tapping tunes by Jack Feldman and Alan Menken.
“Newsies” kept popping up in his life, even when Jordan went to Ithaca College, where he earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts in musical theater. He says, “We put on a show for incoming freshmen that was themed to ‘Newsies.’ But we rewrote the words. Instead of singing ‘Santa Fe,’ we sang ‘BFA.’ ”
In Broadway’s “Newsies,” Jordan plays Jack. The 5-foot-9 leading man takes on the role on the heels of his recent bigscreen debut in “Joyful Noise,” as Dolly Parton’s gospel-loving grandson.
And like other showbiz pros, Parton has been singing Jordan’s praises: “I love Jeremy to death. He’s a joy to be around and a great singer, too. We got to do a duet [‘From Here to the Moon and Back’], which was a real treat.”
Menken, the multi-oscar-winning composer of “Newsies,” adds: “Jeremy is a dream. In his looks and his acting, he’s like a young Marlon Brando.”
Disney turned to heavy hitters for what
they hope will win the accolades that the Kenny Ortega movie never got.
Tony winner Harvey Fierstein (“La Cage aux Folles”) penned a book that revised the story and included a new love interest for Jack — Katherine, a crusading journalist played by Kara Lindsay.
With an additional handful of fresh songs and dynamic new dances, the revamped “Newsies” opened last fall to raves at the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, N.J. And Daily News critic Joe Dziemianowicz gave the Paper Mill show four stars and hailed Jordan as “a bright new star with a velvety voice.”
Reviewers also drew comparisons between the Occupy Wall Street protests and the musical’s scrappy kids who were rallying in the streets for fair wages.
Jordan agrees: “The newsboys are the 99% and Pulitzer is the 1%. Everyone can relate to the underdog.”
As the champion of the poor newsies, Jordan literally steps into the limelight by belting “Santa Fe,” a showstopping solo that ends Act I. “It’s epic and such a joy to sing,” he says. “It’s a powerful, soaring song that I’ve always loved. You get a big spotlight on you and have a huge high note. For an actor, it doesn’t get any better than that.”
Jordan wasn’t always naturally drawn to the spotlight.
Debbie Stone Moyer, his mom, recalls, “Jeremy was horribly, horribly shy as a kid. He didn’t have a lot of friends. And we were poor.”
Jordan, whose parents divorced when he was small, remembers living in low-income housing in Corpus Christi, Tex., and moving 12 times before going to college: “There wasn’t enough room, or the neighborhood was bad, or the landlord kicked us out. But my mother was a good mom. She always fed and clothed [my younger brother Joey, my sister Jessa and me]. And she gave us what we needed.”
However, a Christmas car accident changed his life at age 12.
“There was an 18-wheeler on the side of the road that pulled out and hadn’t really put their lights on. We smacked into it and it was pretty bad. I got whiplash and punctured a lung, but I was fine. I used to be into sports, but I had to give it up; that’s why I started singing.”
Jordan then focused on choir, even winning national honors. Ironically, the singer caught the acting bug while he played the Mute in “The Fantasticks.”
The arts also became his refuge from drama at home. Jordan, who was a straight A student, remembers, “Anytime my parents fought, I’d close my [bedroom] door and turn up the music.”
Moyer adds, “I was drinking while Jeremy was growing up. My kids didn’t know. I hid it. They just knew that Mom could be perfectly normal one minute and a raving lunatic the next. But when Jeremy was 16, I got sober and I’m most thankful [I did], or else I wouldn’t have been able to send him to school. I’m so proud of him. Whatever has happened to Jeremy is Jeremy’s doing.”
Jordan says, “One of the reasons I went to New York for college was to reinvent myself. My parents have both been through divorces and that made me desperate to find true love. And nobody in my family is artistic, so that made me pursue it even harder. In high school, I just fit in and I didn’t want to fit in anymore. I wanted to be bolder and stand out.”
And ever since he arrived in New York, Jordan has stood out.
When he subbed for Constantine Maroulis for the first time in “Rock of Ages,” he “blew away” director Todd Graff, who just happened to be in the audience that night. And that’s how Jordan was discovered for “Joyful Noise.”
Later, when he starred in the recent revival of “West Side Story,” the legendary Arthur Laurents, who co-wrote the show, called him “the best Tony I’ve ever seen in my life!”
Not that there haven’t been disappointments. His Broadway musical “Bonnie & Clyde” ran for only 69 performances last year, even though he and Laura Osnes earned kudos as the title outlaws.
Jeff Calhoun, who directed Jordan in both “Bonnie & Clyde” and “Newsies,” says, “Clyde and Jack are underdogs who have a great heart. And I cast Jeremy in both roles because he can be incredibly strong and violent but also vulnerable and sexy. You can’t teach that. You’re born with it. It’s called star quality.”
As “bittersweet” as “Bonnie & Clyde’s” closing was, it allowed Jordan to rejoin “Newsies,” and he “couldn’t be more grateful or excited.”
His castmates were equally eager to welcome him back. Andrew Keenan-bolger, who plays Jack’s pal, Crutchie, says, “Every boy on that stage idolizes Jeremy as a person and as a performer.”
Asked to describe his favorite thing about playing a newsboy who also loves to draw, Jordan says, “Jack puts on this facade for everybody. You see this leader who’s cool and charismatic, but underneath it all, he’s this romantic, a dreamer. He hates his circumstances and he wants to reinvent himself and find a better life as an artist.”
Actually, that could describe Jordan and his own journey from Texas to the Great White Way.
As for “true love,” he’s found that, too; he’s engaged to Broadway actress Ashley Spencer (“She’s gorgeous and talented; as an actor, hello, that’s a turn-on!”).
All in all, a buoyant lyric from “Newsies” might just capture Jordan’s joy nowadays: “Look at me. ... Victory! Front page story. Guts and glory. I’m the king of New York!”