Newsies

Today, I am presenting the most recent musical of all the posts I have done. Made in 1992, the fun-filled musical Newsies was filmed and produced. This musical is based on the true story of a courageous group of newsboys who group together to defend their rights against newspaper tycoon, Joseph Pulitzer. There are many familiar faces in this musical such as Robert Duvall, Ann-Margaret, and Christian Bale. Yes, the same Christian Bale who played Batman, his most well-known movie ever. Another familiar name might be Kenny Ortega. Ortega directed all three High School Musicals but Newsies is nothing like the High School Musical trilogy so don’t be scared away. This movie has incredible dancing and acrobatics all done by boys. There are no girls in the newsie group. Our story begins with Jack Kelly, the leader of the newsies with a dream of leaving New York for Santa Fe. He meets David Jacobs who is trying to earn money for his family after his father was laid-off because of a factory accident. Jack teaches David and his little brother, Les, how to be newsies. Soon afterwards, Pulitzer decides to raise the distribution price a tenth of a cent. This outrages the newsies who already scrounge for a living. They decide to go on strike. In order to gain more support, they invite all the newsies in the surrounding areas of New York to join them. However, their protest does not gain attention quickly or easily and they are up against the most powerful man in New York. Needless to say, they encounter some problems. One of these problems is Warden Snyder from “The Refuge”, supposedly a rehabilitation home for boys but more like a jail. He is chasing Jack, who we discover is really Patrick Sullivan and who has escaped from “The Refuge”. Another major problem is Pulitzer’s hired thugs who try hurt the boys in order to stop their strike. But the street smart boys overcome all. They reach out to working boys and girls all over New York. This presents a huge problem to the city of New York because it thrives on child labor. With this massive mob at his doorstep, Pulitzer has no choice but to give in to the newsies’ demands.
I love this story, especially all the dancing and jumping. My favorite songs are “Carrying the Banner”, “The World Will Know”, “Seize the Day”, and “King of New York”. My favorite line comes from Spot Conlon, the newsie leader from New York. As Jack’s newsies are battling a group of thugs, Spot and his gang appear on the rooftops to help.

Spot: Never fear, Brooklyn is here!

Spot and his crew then proceed to shoot marbles at the thugs with their slingshots and successfully help Jack and his boys force the thugs back. I really hope you can see this movie and enjoy it as much as I did. Be sure to check out my polls so I can get some ideas of what ya’ll would like to see in my blog. Leave me a comment and have a wonderful week!