Tag Archives: newsies

Thoughts from Places: Baltimore

Posted in Thoughts, Vacations by

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It’s very hard to visit another city and not compare it to the one I know. I try to, but when I look at the stats I feel admiration towards the city I spend my life in and appreciate what I have here. Baltimore is three times the size of Manhattan but has 1/10th of the population. The city is sprawling with tons of space and large sidewalks. It’s extremely well kept and from the little I’ve seen this past weekend, very family friendly.

I did quite a bit of sightseeing while I was there. Museums had dollar days that weekend and they were packed with families looking for something to do with their children. I visited the Maryland Science Center which had a lot of cool facts for kids – and where I learned to identify male and female blue crabs. Then took a walk to the Walters Art Museum, which is free all year around.

Walters Art Museum was one of my favourites, and I really appreciated the Walters family for donating their extensive collection for the world to see. I also visited the American Visionary Art Museum – and left a message there – which was very strange, but also fascinating. Some of the pieces there were magnificent.

I love a city with access to good museums, whether science, history, art, I love the curation of information displayed visually, and I love that I can always find something new or learn something different even if I’m visiting the same museum multiple times.

The main purpose of the trip was to see the Newsies, the show was excellent – though I thought the Broadway run had better singing, this isn’t to say that the singing wasn’t great.

It was a fun weekend and a great destination, I will definitely be visiting again.

Newsies Seize The Day

Posted in Broadway, Cultured, My New York by

I’ve seen my fair share of broadway shows, but there was something special about Newsies. The set was simple; metal stairs and platforms that move around the stage and a few tables and chairs where the only props. The costumes were simple – newsboys garbs and fancy suits. What made it stand out was the singing and more importantly, the dancing.

It’s probably one of the few shows I have seen with a substantial script – compared to the number of songs. It follows the story of a group of newspaper boys who sell The World news for their bread and butter. After an unfair hike in the cost of the paper, the kids decide to go on strike. It’s a very heart warming and relatable story; it also has its share of humour. I must say, compared to the singing and the dancing, the acting didn’t shine as brightly, but it was still good.

Script and songs aside, the thing that was most appealing about the Newsies was the dancing. It was amazing to watch, I found myself smiling thought-out the entire thing. What I found fascinating as well, was the fact that Newsies had a mostly male cast. They had great chemistry between them, and the voices blended beautifully together and the dancing – oh the dancing – it was just brilliant.

One of my favourite dance sequence was Sieze the Day, it had me at the edge of my seat, especially the part with the newspaper pages! You can see them perform Sieze the Day on The View. Another favourite was the King of New York sequence.

Overall, this was a fast moving, high energy, excellent show! If you have the chance to go and see it, you should!