#I do miss Racetrack's cigar tho

[ill-say-anything-i-hafta]

So, you think Newsies Jr. is a watered-down cash grab? I just finished reading the script (so you wouldn't have to!) and the differences are surprisingly rad:

-There are multiple canonical girl characters in the Manhattan newsies ensemble. Two of them back up Katherine and make Jack agree to give her an exclusive.

-Crutchie is badass and gets more to do. They menace the Delanceys with their own crutch instead of Jack doing it on their behalf, and instead of being "too slow," they get arrested while covering for Jack and encouraging him to run! (I have been wondering for a while whether the fight scene could be staged this way/wanting to write fix-it fic about it.)

-Btw I say "they" because Crutchie is never referred to by any gendered words in the script. They even cut the "your brother" tearjerker. Crutchie's canonical real name is the gender neutral Casey and the stage directions and casting breakdown use they/them.

-Same goes for Les, referred to in stage directions as "David's younger sibling."

Medda's song "That's Rich" " got removed and replaced by a feminist anthem.

-Spot, hyped as the toughest newsie in all five boroughs, is explicitly a girl. Everyone shrinks in fear when she turns up. (Is this where uksies got the idea?)

-Darcy got replaced by Dorothy.

Hannah is the one who has the idea to give Jack a job drawing cartoons. And Katherine negotiates double pay for him!

-No slurs -- not even from the Delanceys while they mock Crutchie, and def not from bff Jack.

-No "Something to Believe In"; no kiss, shifting the emphasis of the story away from hetero romance to a celebration of the strike and friendship.

I feel like Disney is kind of telling on themselves by making the play less sexist and ableist ONLY in the version for young audiences ...