''Newsies'' doesn't close until Aug. 24, but last night its amazingly talented cast held a spectacular sendoff party for its family, friends and fans at 54 Below. It was a lovefest. Jeremy Jordan, with his beard from ''Finding Neverland,'' appeared on a TV screen to introduce the evening. Then, more than 25 cast members crowded the stage to lustily sing ''Hard Times, High Times,'' a Razzie Award-winner for Worst Song from the original 1992 movie (and wisely cut from the stage version).
Andrew Keenan-Bolger and Ryan Steele hosted the festivities of in-jokes. Brendan Stimson, Molly Jobe, Adam Kaplan, Julie Reiber and Michael Fatica did a rewritten version of ''Opening Doors'' (from ''Merrily We Roll Along'') detailing the difficulties of understudying. ... Young Andy Richardson and veteran actor Stuart Zagnit sang a parody version of ''The Oldest Profession'' (from ''The Life''); Zagnit quipped to his teen colleague: ''I've got underwear older than you.''
Another highlight: the cute quintet of child actors who've played Les: Lewis Grosso, Jake Lucas, Luka Padovan and Matthew Schechter. They sweetly crooned Green Day's ''Time of My Life'' (with lyrics penned by their wrangler, Vanessa Brown): ''It's true our Broadway run was shorter than we planned. Our memories are safe, they've been Instagrammed.''
Corey Cott and Ben Fankhauser, longtime pals, made a dynamic duo singing ''What You Own'' (from ''Rent,'' the last Broadway show to play the Nederlander before ''Newsies''), and Jess LeProtto belted Billy Joel's ''N.Y. State of Mind.'' Plus, Julie Foldesi did an original tune with the terrific tap trio of David Guzman, Jacob Guzman and Evan Kasprzak.
''Newsies'' has devotees to the max, and most hilariously, Keenan-Bolger and Steele read excerpts from their online fan fiction: ''A modern-day 'Newsies' is set in San Francisco. Spot works at Starbucks. Race runs a gay bar but is straight.''
Cheering from the audience were Thomas Schumacher, Jack Feldman and Harvey Fierstein. Kudos to director Yvette Kojic, musical director Benjamin Rauhala and producer Shoshana Feinstein. ... As if this ''Newsies'' event weren't extra-special enough, its proceeds will support the Aug. 17 ''Sleep Out'' benefit for Covenant House, which helps homeless youth. Bravo!
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