\'Smash\' Schedule Prompts Jeremy Jordan To Depart \'Newsies\' on Sept. 4

By PATRICK HEALY

Will the hit Broadway musical “Newsies” continue to flourish without its breakout star, Jeremy Jordan? Disney Theatrical Productions will soon find out. Disney executives said on Tuesday that Mr. Jordan, who has become an audience favorite as the brooding New York City newsboy Jack Kelly, would give his final performance on Sept. 4 so he can concentrate on his new leading role in the NBC series “Smash.” Disney also announced that a 22-year-old unknown, Corey Cott, who graduated from Carnegie Mellon University in May and joined the “Newsies” company last month, would take over the role of Jack on Sept. 5.

Recasting stars can be fraught business on Broadway: Nick Jonas never really caught fire with audiences last spring after replacing Daniel Radcliffe in “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying,” and ticket sales to “The Addams Family” fell off considerably when the hugely popular Nathan Lane fini shed his yearlong contract. But Disney has deep experience with recasting roles in long-running hits like “The Lion King” and “Mary Poppins,” and executives there expressed confidence that Mr. Cott had the tenor, training, and boyish charisma to help coax audience members to return to see “Newsies” over and over again, as Mr. Jordan did.

Thomas Schumacher, president of Disney Theatrical, said in an interview that he was not overly concerned that Mr. Jordan's departure would hurt ticket sales, and noted that it would be hard to gauge since most Broadway shows have a seasonal dip at the box office in September and October.

“I don't know if the broadest audience closely follows which actor plays which role, unless it's a really big-name star,” Mr. Schumacher said. “What's most important to me is having someone who can play the role beautifully. Jeremy was sensational, and Corey is terrific.”

Mr. Jordan landed t he role on “Smash” in late spring, relatively early into his “Newsies” run; most stars stay with new Broadway musicals for a year, but Mr. Jordan said the prime-time television opportunity “seemed too good to pass up.”

At the time he thought he could juggle both jobs, he said â€" but then came a week this summer when he put in three 14-hour days on the “Smash” set and then four performances of “Newsies” in 48 hours.

“I wasn't getting enough sleep, I was never home, and I just started to feel the weight of everything,” said Mr. Jordan, who was nominated for a Tony Award this spring for “Newsies.” “I always knew ‘Smash' would be a full-time job, but I thought â€" partly because TV is a lot easier than Broadway â€" that doing both would be manageable for a while. But I needed more balance â€" I'm getting married in September, too â€" and I didn't think it'd be fair to ‘Newsies' audiences if I started missing a lot of performances be cause of ‘Smash' demands.”

Mr. Jordan had not been one to shy away from multitasking; last fall he performed in “Newsies” at the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, N.J., while rehearsing for “Bonnie & Clyde” on Broadway; when the latter show flopped, he rejoined the “Newsies” cast for its return to Broadway in the spring.

If the summer has been hectic for Mr. Jordan, it has been head-spinning for Mr. Cott. He quickly began auditioning after graduation, and said he was offered roles in a national tour of the musical “Wicked” and the coming Off Broadway musical “Bare,” while also planning to test for the television series “Glee.” (He is also getting married, in January.) Mr. Cott chose “Newsies,” he said, “because Jack is a great character that I'd be really, really proud to play, and because it's pretty incredible to make my Broadway debut in a memorable leading role.”

“Newsies” began performances on Broadway in March; the show has been grossing more than $1 million a week since mid-June, around the time “Newsies” performed on the Tony Awards broadcast and won prizes for best score and choreography.