Newsies

     

Strike! Strike! Strike!

    Hello! This week I'll be talking about the musical Newsies. I'm really excited for this one. I remember Grace telling me she's seen the original movie, but hasn't yet seen the musical, so we sat down together and watched it. This review will be about the musical. 

    Newsies is inspired by the Newsboys Strike of 1899. Most of the characters are fictional but the event is definitely real. Leave a comment below if you've seen the musical or the movie! I'm curious for your own thoughts. Now, lets get right into the review!

Watching Newsies!

On Broadway

History

    Newsies debuted as a musical in 2011 at the Paper Mill Playhouse. It is based on a movie of the same name, produced in 1992. The storyline was inspired by the real Newsboys Strike of 1899 in New York City. The musical transferred to Broadway in early 2012, where it played until August in 2014. A US National tour was launched two months later. A professional recording of the stage adaption (which this review is based on) was released in 2017, and is currently available on Disney+.

Who's in the Cast?

    Jeremy Jordan starred as Jack Kelly, the leader of the Lower Manhattan newsies and of the strike. Kara Lindsay portrayed the role of Katherine Plumber, an aspiring female journalist. The brothers Davey and Les were played by Ben Fankhauser and Ethan Steiner, respectively. Andrew Keenan-Bolger starred as Crutchie. Aisha de Haas played Medda Larkin, the performer, and Steve Blanchard played the powerful publisher Joseph Pulitzer. 

Overview

     The show opens in the early morning with two newsboys Jack and Crutchie who live in New York City selling newspapers for wages. Crutchie is so nicknamed because he has a crippled leg and must use a crutch to walk. Jack tells Crutchie that his dream is to move out West, to Santa Fe, away from New York City and selling papers (Santa Fe (Prologue)). The rest of the newsboys in Lower Manhattan wake up and begin to sell their papers for the day. They try to find joy in their lives of poverty (Carrying the Banner). The newsies go to buy their daily papers, where they meet two brothers, Davey and Les. They are new to selling papers, and they're different from all the other newsies because they have a family and are only working temporarily to support their family while their father is injured. Jack offers to partner with him because he believes they'll sell more papers due to Les's young age.

    Meanwhile, Joseph Pulitzer, the publisher of the New York World is upset because his newspaper sales are consistently low. He comes up with an idea to raise the price for newsies to buy 100 papers from 50 cents to 60 cents in order to force them to sell more papers. He ignores warnings that it will hurt the children and decides to enforce the raise in prices (The Bottom Line). 

    After selling their last papers of the day, Jack, Les, and Davey are forced to run and hide after a man called Snyder "The Spider" recognizes Jack, who had previously escaped from his jail for kids, the Refuge. Jack leads them to a theater owned by his friend Medda Larkin. Jack regularly paints backdrops for Medda's performances, as he has a natural aptitude for art. She allows the boys to hide at her theater during her performance (That's Rich). At the show, Jack runs into a young, pretty, aspiring reporter named Katherine Plumber, who works for the New York Sun. Jack tries to charm her, but she rejects his advances. He sketches a picture of her before leaving, however, and she is slightly charmed. (I Never Planned on You/Don't Come A-Knocking). 

    The next day, the newsies are enraged to see the price of the newspapers raised to 60 cents. Jack decides to form a strike, saying that if they refuse to buy and sell papers, the price will be lowered again. They form a ragtag union, and Davey coaches Jack on what to demand from Pulitzer (The World Will Know). The newsies arrange to visit the other sections of New York City to tell all the newsboys about the strike. Katherine Plumber arrives to interview the newsies about the strike, hoping to write a good story to help advance women in journalism (Watch What Happens). 

    The next day, the newsboys report to Jack that the other sections of New York City will back them up in the strike only if Brooklyn does, and they're waiting to see if Jack and the Manhattan newsies will give up quickly or not. Many of Jack's newsies are worried and want to quit the strike, but Davey begs Jack to talk them into sticking out the strike, saying they need to make a stand sooner or later (Seize the Day). The newsboys decide to take a stand and protest. Katherine Plumber arrives and takes a picture for her article. The protest seems to be working, until Pulitzer sends the police to stop the newsies. A fight breaks out, and Crutchie is injured and taken to the Refuge. The newsies scatter, and Jack hides in his rooftop home. He has a breakdown over the arrest of Crutchie and the police attack. He wishes he could run off and escape to Santa Fe, where he imagines he could have "a fresh start" and a better life (Santa Fe).

    

    Act 2 begins with Katherine finding the battered newsies, although nobody knows where Jack is. She raises their spirits by showing them the front page of the New York Sun, where her article about their strike it front and center, featuring a photo of them all during the protest. She tells them that Pulizter has issued a blackout on news about the strike, meaning hers is the only story that will be printed. The newsies are thrilled that they're in the paper and imagine what their lives would be like if they were famous (King of New York). In the Refuge, Crutchie writes a letter to Jack about the terrible living conditions there (Letter from the Refuge). 

    Meanwhile, Jack is back painting backdrops for Medda, who forces him to accept payment. Davey, Les, and Katherine show up to the theater to convince Jack to continue the strike, but Jack doesn't want to put anymore newsies in danger, however, the trio convince him to rejoin the strike (Watch What Happens (Reprise)). They set up a meeting for all newsboys to come to the theater after the day's work and debate the strike.

    Pulitzer wants to raid the theater but is unable to because it is privately owned. Snyder reveals that Jack is an escaped convict from the Refuge. Pulitzer wants to have Jack arrested publicly to make an example of him, when Jack actually arrives to speak with him. Jack has come to invite him to the newsie meeting, which Pulitzer takes great offense to. He tells Jack to give up, because no other newspapers will publish about the strike, and, "if it's not in the papers, it didn't happen." Jack tries to use the article that Katherine wrote as leverage, but Pulitzer reveals that Katherine is actually his daughter and that "Plumber" is only her pen name. She tries to explain to Jack, but he won't hear it. Snyder then enters to arrest Jack. Pulitzer offers Jack a "solution" by blackmailing him: he promises to erase Jack's criminal record and provide him with enough funds to head to Santa Fe so long as he tells the other newsies to abandon the strike. He tells Jack that if he defies him, Pulitzer will have all of the other newsies sent to the Refuge (The Bottom Line (Reprise)). Jack is taken to a cellar to decide.

    Meanwhile, the Brooklyn newsies, lead by Spot Conlon, have decided to join the strike, leading the other sections of newsies to join as well, including those from the Bronx, Woodside, and Richmond (Brooklyn's Here). All of the newsies gather in Medda's theater for the rally. With Jack missing, Davey takes over and rallies the newsies to continue the strike and make a stand against the "the big guys." Jack arrives, and the newsies are thrilled to see him. Jack tells them all to vote no towards the strike and get back to work, saying that Pulitzer has promised to keep the price lowered for two years. Pulitzer arrives and hands money to Jack. The newsies realize he's betrayed them and begin to fight.

    Jack heads back to his rooftop home to find Katherine there. She finds his drawings, many of which are pictures of the horrible conditions of the Refuge. She realizes that he was convicted of stealing food and clothes because he wanted to help other kids in the Refuge. They start to argue about each of their betrayals, but stop when Katherine impulsively kisses Jack. Jack confides he doesn't know what else to do to help the newsies. She tells about what she's called "The Children's Crusade," which is a call to all the children of New York City to rise up with the newsies against abusive management. She wants Jack to illustrate for an article she could write about a citywide strike, forcing Pulitzer to take notice. Jack remembers an old printing press in Pulitzer's cellar they can use to print the articles, and they prepare to take action. Before they leave, Jack wants to know if there really could be something between them, and they share a moment together (Something to Believe In).

    Katherine begins printing the articles, and the newsies start spreading them to every working kid in New York City, demanding change and equal rights for the workers (Once and For All). Jack and Davey barge into Pulitzer's office, beaming. Pulitzer is enraged at Jack for going back on their deal. He is also mad because businesses all across New York City are being temporarily shut down and losing business due to the lack of child laborers, and the businesses are blaming him. Katherine and Medda arrive to Pulitzer's office, along with the governor of New York, Teddy Roosevelt, who is in full support of the newsies. Roosevelt orders Pulitzer to roll back prices or he'll launch a state Senate investigation into Pulitzer's employment practices. Jack demands that Pulitzer buys back every paper the newsies don't sell at full price. Pulitzer agrees, foreseeing an increase in profits in the long-run and the satisfaction of the newsies. Roosevelt tells the newsies that after seeing Jack's illustrations of the Refuge, he has ordered it to shut down and release the children. Crutchie is freed. Pulitzer offers Jack a job drawing political cartoons for the newspaper, but Jack still wants to head for Santa Fe. Katherine convices him to stay and take the job, while Crutchie and Davey insist that he's part of the family of newsies and he can't leave them behind. Jack decides to stay, and accept the job as a cartoonist while still selling papers as a newsie (Finale). 

   

Thoughts

    Newsies was a fantastic show. I honestly felt really inspired as soon as I finished watching it. I felt like I could take on any corporate giant, for whatever reason, and win! Although many of the characters were fictional, the event was real, and I think it's super important to show audiences that even "the little guys" can stand up for what's right and demand equal treatment from those with power.

    Let's talk about the acting. I want to start with Steve Blanchard's performance as Joseph Pulitzer. I was truly impressed with how well he played the role. You know someone is a good actor when they get you to truly loathe a character! I was fully cheering for the newsies to win in their fight against his greed. His smugness and self-satisfied demeanor actually frustrated me. I love when actors can really agitate emotions. 

    Another incredible actor was Jeremy Jordan as Jack Kelly. His emotional range throughout the show was PAWSOME. At the beginning he was so carefree, leading the newsies in selling papers and dreaming about moving to Santa Fe. As his character developed throughout the show, both romantically and as the strike leader, you could really feel Jack's personal growth. I was definitely cheering for him to take down Pulitzer.

    And the music! And dancing! Wow. Prior to watching the musical, I had known a few of the songs from seeing video clips and the like, but to actually hear it during the show? Spectacular. I don't think I'll ever be over the incredible dancing. If I'm honest, I definitely re-watched a few of the dance breaks because I just couldn't get enough! I swear, if I had had the opportunity to see Newsies live, this cat would have passed out! The sheer amount of talent on the stage at one time was completely overwhelming and phenomenal. I could talk about that forever.

    I would definitely recommend this show to just about everyone. Let me rephrase that: I can't think of anyone who shouldn't watch it. I'm an advocate for doing what's right because it's right, and this show is centered around that message. I listed Once and For All as my favorite song below, and that's because it's a super empowering song about bringing change and doing what's right. Everybody could stand to benefit from hearing that message from an incredible performance. And if you don't care too much about the plot (although, how could you not?!), at least watch it for the dancing. I'm serious: it's insane! Go watch it. Now!

    There weren't any cats in this show, but this is one of the very few where I don't see how a cat could have contributed to the plot in any way. It pains me to say, but this show can stand alone, without a feline addition. 

Ratings

Find the rating scale here.

Soundtrack          ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Acting                  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Lighting               ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Set                        ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Overall                 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Cat rating             ⭐

Best song: Once and For All

Best actor: Jeremy Jordan

Best set: Protest

Fun Facts!

• Newsies was originally scheduled for a 12-week limited run on Broadway, but after popular demand the show was extended indefinitely until closing 2 years later.
• The printing press used in the show is actually fully functional!
• The paper the newsies dance on during the show is single use. To prevent excessive waste, these papers are either recycled or given to audience members. 
• Although the musical and movie feature only male newsies, many newsgirls were involved in the actual strike in 1899. Modern local adaptations of the musical are now aiming to feature more girls as newsies.
• Newsies won two Tony Awards (Best Choreography and Best Original Score).