And the World Will Know... And You Will Too

Welcome back my couch potatoes! As many of you know I take part in our school's drama club and this year we are doing Newsies! Definitely one of my favorite musicals of all time (but I haven't seen many so it's not a big surprise). 

Last week I started to take you through the process of how I went about arranging two songs into a mash up ("I Think I Kinda You Know" and "Can't Blame a Girl for Trying" and the post can be found right here). 

However, this week I would like to promote the show because it is this weekend! This is definitely one of the best productions I have put on and many people have worked hard to put this together including stagecraft, stage crew, lights and sound crew, and the pit band. (The set is definitely one of the best sets the school has have and it was all built by teachers and students here. So  just like football games and soccer games, you should really come out and support your peers in the hard work they've done. Just like other sports we practice for hours, entertain people, bond, do so much physical activity until our bodies hurt (okay kind of an exaggeration but not to many of the theatre kids) but one thing that I think really sets us apart is the fact that we do not compete. This is for ourselves; for the people to laugh or cry; to share a story with the world. So I would appreciate it if you came and I promise you won't be disappointed. We have a lot of talent at this school.

For this post, I actually like to give you a little history of the people in this show. Newsies more or less is based on a true story and real people. First a quick synopsis...

Joseph Pulitzer, the owner of a newspaper company The World, decides to increase the price of newspapers that Newsies, boys who sell paper to support there families and survive, have to pay upfront. The Newsies are not so happy when they hear about this. So their leader, Jack Kelly, lead the Newsies in a newspaper strike against Pulitzer and The World as entertainment reporter of The Sun, Katherine Plumber follows these boys to report a potential story. 

That was a very quick synopsis for your but the event itself is based on a real Newsboy strike in New York in 1899. Many Newsies in the musical are real people like Racetrack, Crutch and Mush. And the three I have mentioned in the synopsis are real people...well at least Joseph Pulitzer and Katherine Plumber based on real people. Jack Kelly is more of a mix of people. 

The World is a real newpaper company in New York or The New York World and was run by Joseph Pulitzer. He was a very passionate man in everything that he did. He started out as journalist for a daily German paper then came to buy out The World. However, because of his strong passion, Pulitzer put his paper before his health and resigned as editor due to his health in 1890, before the newspaper strike even started.

Real Pulitzer

Steve Blanchard as Joseph Pulitzer

Colin Smith as Pulitzer

I know he's going to yell at me so I'm adding this too

Katherine Plumber is based on two people, one of them I'm not going to say because that would honestly just ruin the whole plot line for you. But in all honesty that one I think is only important to the plot line. The person Katherine Plumber is based on that creates the character that she is, is Elizabeth Jane Cochran, or her professional/pen name Nellie Bly. She was a determined journalist that took many risks to get a story. And she happens to be one of Pulitzer's favorite writers.

Kara Lindsay as Katherine Plumber 

Brianna Davies as Katherine Pumber

Last but not least is Jack Kelly. He is also a mash up to two people, Kid Blink and Jack Kelly. Kid Blink is the real leader of the Newsboy strike, but he had an eye patch which could be a potential reason why he is not the protagonist of the story (or at least what many websites say, but honestly I think it's because his name is Kid Blink and it sounds like a superhero's name; Jack Kelly has a better ring to it). And Jack Kelly, the real Jack Kelly, was a newsboy part of the strike who wanted to be a cowboy and move out to Santa Fe.

Anthony Paterno as Jack Kelly

Jeremy Jordan as Jack Kelly

I left out a lot of information about these people but if you want to learn more there are links down below for each person I mentioned/reference I mentioned.

I think knowing the history, of the story is nice to know. For many actors, they create a backstory for the role they are playing so some research is necessary. As for my role Finch, I did a some shallow research and it seems that though he is Patrick "Finch" Cortes in real life. I created my own back story though. Finch to me is a young girl who ran away from home and joined the newsboys to sell papes. She learned her "manners" from her newsboys friends, and is much more tough and aggressive because she has to stand her ground with the rest of the boys. As for the rest of the boys, she is scene as one of the toughest.

That's all my couch potatoes! Please come out to see Newsies, March 12-14 at 7:00 each day. Until Next time, look, listen, and lay low.

Info:

Newsboy Strike
Pulitzer
Katherine
Jack Kelly

Images:

Real Joe
Newsies Joe
King of New York
Jeremy Jordan
other images by Alexa Dela Cruz