Newsies - Troubadour Wembley Park

Was in tonight. But blooming heck; Wembley is a trek.

I was sat in Brooklyn. The energy was out of this world - the choreography and execution too. I'm so intrigued whether the stage has like a spring? Because the Newsies/ensemble were tumbling all over the place. No one can dispute their talent. Loved the set design. The sound kept dipping in and out.

I found the audience whoops really grating - it was endearing to begin with with the opening scene but then it added onto the duration. I felt there was WAY much going on a lot of the time with the running around the sides of the stage / levels; less is more. The young boy playing the Gavouche type character tonight (I assume it's double cast) his accent was a bit all over the shop and shouty - didn't understand A LOT of what he was saying. 

To echo what has been said already; a lot of annoyed people this evening re programme gate! It was absolute mayhem going in - with people wanting to go to the toliets too - it was very confusing where the queue ended/began. They need a rope to distinguish. I am quite taken aback there were no security bag checks either.

I did find the seats comfy and the legroom very nice; good idea to have cup holders! The air con was so cold during Act 1; then the heating was whacked up for Act 2. Would recommend making sure you've a scarf although it is winter... The venue has potential but the front of house management need to *REALLY* sort out the incoming - was not impressed! There was a massive queue for merch before and after the show; clearly has a massive cult following after speaking to some audience members.

I'm by no means a Newsies stan BUT it's bringing in an audience and that's the most important thing. My takeaway is the sheer joy of the Newsies ensemble. Insanely talented and I just hope they're getting lots of physio!

Is the nature of the venue inciting whoopy audience behaviour maybe? It sounds like it’s more like a stadium than a theatre.

I have wanted Newsies to come to London for years and my only experience of the show is the OBC and the filmed version with Jeremy Jordan. I was not disappointed, this now goes into my list of top 5 shows.
It is one heck of a trek to Wembley, even though I live in London but I think the venue is perfect for this production. I think what they have done there is amazing and there is no way that they could do the same thing in a traditional west end theatre.
Got there far too early for the matinee performance so was able to have a good look around before it got busy. Just outside there are a couple of food stands doing hot food and a large seating area. Massive foyer with a long bar, cloakroom which also sold snacks and also a restaurant where you can get a meal. As I was early there was just a short queue for the merch. So we all know about the programme saga and I was told by one of the staff that they weren't expecting the programmes to be so popular!!! Just got a fridge magnet which was just under a tenner (not cheap).
As others have mentioned we were not let in until 2.20pm so the show was 20 minutes late starting and the foyer was absolutely packed.
I sat in Richmond, front row. Brilliant block as you are very close to the stage but can look to the left to see the action going on in the rest of the theatre.
I think they must have sorted the sound issues as it was a lot better than I was expecting (although not perfect) and it was quite chilly where I was sitting.
As for the show, well I absolutely loved it. They have used the space so well and there is something happening all over the place so feels a little bit immersive. Both leads were fine. In an ideal would I would have like a Jeremy Jordan kind of performance which we didn't get but, for me, its all about the Newsies and god they were good. Some of the best dancing I have ever seen and it just blew me away.
I didn't go to see a deep, meaningful musical I just wanted to be entertained and come out with a smile on my face and this show does it 100%.
This ticket was a last minute purchase when some seats were released on Friday so I am already booked to see the show in a couple of weeks time. I was booked for the 2nd row of Brooklyn but another member mentioned that these seats were quite high off the ground. Went and tried the seat yesterday and as I am a bit of shortie my feet were dangling so I have now moved my booking and back to Richmond.

Went into this with only a passing knowledge of the show and its story.

Putting on a musical in what is essentially an aircraft hangar has its pros and cons.

Pros: you can take over the entire space with leaping and bounding newsies, and build what is seriously one of the most impressive sets I have seen on the London stage. It properly fills every corner of the space, and it must have cost a fortune. You can do impressive (albeit slightly unnecessary) aerial stunts and flying. You can stage a handful of seriously impressive "coups de theatre". This is truly an enormous staging.

Cons: as many have said, the sound is appalling. The big numbers are so amplified that they are muffled and it's an often impossible to hear individual lyrics. Solos and duets sound like they are being played on a loud but distant tape recorder. Not only that, but lines are clipped over and over again and tonight there was even repeated feedback from the mics. Unless you are very close to the stage, the action seems miles away and any emotion is lost. I liken it to watching a stand-up comedian in an arena like the O2, except there you get massive screens to pick up out their facial expressions. Here, sadly, there is often a faceless mass of fast-moving people in almost-identical costumes that surround the leading players to the extent that you often miss key moments. It's also quite long and (particularly in the first half) every time you think you're nearing the interval, there's another number.

It's impressive, no doubt, but I really wish they'd fixed the tech.

There is a middle aisle in the front-facing block so you could sit there, I would think 10 rows or so would be better than my seat up in the top section though it depends if you want to see close ups or 'spectacle'.

I was also in tonight - second row Brooklyn.

The choreo: my god the choreo. It is breathtaking. There is nothing like it on the West End at the moment (and hasn’t been for years). The talent and energy among the ensemble is next level - lots of mid-song ovations.

Staging/lighting/set: I was not expecting anything on this scale - it looks so expensive. Lots of properly immersive moments.

Sound - such a shame. Muffled and echoey. At one point there was some very heavy reverb. Lots of clipped mics too. It’s hard to describe but when they’re singing far away from you, such as on the top gantry, it *feels* really far away. Lots of big moments don’t slap like they should - the end of Santa Fe being a dissapointing example.

I saw it tonight also after being lucky enough to see the OBC in New York! Was absolutely astounding and I’m already considering booking another ticket to see it again. All my positives echo what’s already been said - how the cast perform this numerous times a week baffles me!!

For me, sat on the back row of Richmond, sound was perfect! Could make out pretty much every word and although there was bad feedback for a few seconds early on, it sounded powerful and well-balanced! Not sure if that’s just me or the seating position. I was with my parents who are usually picky about sound quality and they could hear every word!

Would highly recommend seeing the show to those who haven’t booked tickets. Richmond gives a fabulous view - despite being side-on I didn’t feel like I missed anything. Was nice and close and the slight elevation gave great perspective of all the dance numbers! Loved the immersion too - especially Crutchie asking an audience member in front of us to hold his crutch whilst he climbed down a ladder!

I sat 4 rows back in middle of Woodside and don’t remember any huge sound issues. Maybe some lines lost as mic not opened quickly enough. And Brontes pitchy singing. But otherwise it seemed fine.

I sat in Woodside on Saturday and the actual sound quality there was good, the issues were the mics not being turned on in time so you only got half of someones line. Then at times there was an echo, but other than that the actual quality was fine.

Sorry to hear that robertb213 hope you get to see it soon.

Thank you, everything I can see online says they're not answering the phone at the moment so I've emailed. I won't hold out much hope!