#also the intro song is a BANGER

[legobiwan]

Do you like Shakespeare? Poignant reflections on the role of art in our lives and society? Looking for commentary on the business of arts nonprofit organizations, particularly theater? Are you into madcap, existentialist humor? Do you know who Paul Gross is?

Watch Slings and Arrows. I'm begging you.

[eggbertith]

i really love that "enemy" is still the intro song for season 2

[raelyn-dreams]

The shuffle song being named "Ringing evil phone" is hilarious to me for all the obvious reasons, but also because of the fact that Ritsu speaks fluent English (Operetta). While I'd assume the rest of them got a translation, Ritsu almost 100% knows exactly how ridiculous that sounds from a full English perspective and decided to go with it because on god he needs to see how this turns out.

Every time he sings that title in a sexy whisper™️ along with four other people who Do Not Realize he probably thinks it's the absolute funniest shit and gleefully hopes Eichi is regretting ever approving this (meanwhile Tsukasa came to support his senior and is currently having an aneurysm in the front row).

[slasheru]

.....also did y'all have a chance to check out Hex's new Underwater Gatsby Party music b/c it's pretty fuckin bangin

[majorcharacterundeath]

ok ive seen the first 3 episodes of Arcane season 2. its good but its missing a lot of the connective tissue s1 had. its cool sequence one after another. no breaks. no time to build tension. it doesnt feel earned. im getting the feeling this shouldve had a few more episodes if not a whole 3rd season

[hauntingblue]

You must not stop being cringe you must kill the part of you that cringes... I must say that in the final fight when dio stops time and it happens too in the intro i creamed a little

[chisungie]

.

[hyunjining]

my thoughts on every song on hop, so that i don’t have to make a million different posts (in case you care)

walkin' on water - catchyyyy af. changbin's verse at the beginning is soooo perfectly old school hiphop. imitating record scratches vocally and through wordplay is so silly and so skz and i think this whole song is just fun

bounce back - I DON'T GIVE A SHIT MOVE IF YOU WANNA LIVE!!!! literally a masterpiece. perhaps not the epitome of my music taste, but the production, the flows, and the attitude are undeniably spectacular. the whistling in the intro is the best thing i've ever heard no joke. holy shit stray kids you are so fucking good at what you do please make music forever

u (ft. tablo) - the VOCALS!!!! everyone sounds so fucking good here wowee.... the instrumental in the chorus is so pretty and melancholy.

walkin' on water (hip ver.) - this is batshit insane lmao. i saw people saying this version should have been the tt but i like it as walkin on water’s unhinged secret twin

railway - obviously very sexy but also just so gorgeous production wise. it sounds so grand and a bit menacing. we have GOT to start praising bang chan’s vocals more. i love that this is his favorite genre of music because it suits him so well.

unfair - the lyrics are so felix in the best way; my heart is so warm thinking about him writing this with the message that everyone is deserving of love. his voice has so much range and i LOVE to hear him sing confidently.

hallucination - it sounds sooo crisp. jeongin’s tone is perfect for this song. all the little sounds in the background that you couldn't hear in the live version are so cool. the CASTANETS. in my expert opinion, this fits into the category of gay people music. maybe my favorite solo. hurry hurry hurry~

youth - show me whatchu wanna do!!!! this song makes me so fucking happy and i feel like i want to jump around the room. lee know has one of my favorite voices ever and i would genuinely listen to him sing anything but i love this upbeat style for him

so good - the INTRO. the instrumental is soooo cool. i’ll never forget hearing this for the first time through a shitty audio stream on twitter and immediately perking up. the "oh. my. GAWD." is so cunty hwang hyunjin i am obsessed with you. i can't believe he wrote this song as a joke lmfao it's well. so good.

ultra - a banger. i’m obsessed with the fact that the instrumental gets noisier as the song goes on, in alignment with changbin's explanation that he's meant to be building up and then releasing energy by the end. i don’t go to raves but if i did i would need to hear this song play at one. i just love it when changbin goes all out with the edm

hold my hand - so anime coded, because of course. this is a perfect combination of han's love of rock and rap. thinking of the layers of meaning to this song is so overwhelming and honestly i just hope that han jisung is happy forever and always makes music because this is absolutely what he was born to do.

as we are - i’m speechless. this song is STUNNING. it gives me so many warm and fuzzy feelings and i don’t even need to know the lyrics to feel emotional while listening to it. how am i supposed to get through his beautiful soft vocals in the first chorus without crying. i'm so fucking glad this man is a singer. half of the streams of this song are going to be me

[dreadful-windandrain]

listened to the real will wood album three times yesterday. here are my thoughts:

am i being detaIIIIIIIIINED? am i under arrest?? (yes!)

"this is a song written by a dead guy" the implications..........

unsyncopate cotard's solution right this fucking second

the transition into dr sunshine lives is SO GOOD

was it when i left the cave and swore i'd. NEVER GO BACK!!!!!!!

how did he make white knuckle jerk hornier. what's with the moans. and why do i like it better than the original.

HEART BLUER THAN MY b-b-b-b-bbbbbaaaaa~a~LLLLLS!

the weird voices he uses in thermodynamic lawyer sure were a choice

fucking ADORE front street live. even better than the original and my favorite off of this album. literally just. the tempo changes. "if you're not on your worst behavior... get the fuck out!" "is this shit enough proof for you?" "give us all that fucking osmosis! oh, yeah!!" "sing it with me you fuckers!". he made a villian song sound even more evil. wtf and well done

i trusted you i trusted you i trusted you i trusted you i tru

the long ass intro for hand me my [x], i'm [y]! is fabulous. the anticipation!!!

the tempo is also faster here than the original which is awesome but overstimulating as hell when the second half of the bridge hits

take it away, creeps

here's a song *first chord of 2012*

by retracing myyyyyyyyyyyyyyy ste-epppppppppp pssssssssss

the guitar riff that starts mr capgras makes my brain perk up like a bluetooth speaker being connected

FUCKING HURT EACH OTHER! COME ON!!!!

yet another banger intro! the latter half of this album does not miss!

can we drop this shit? i wanna see you at each other's throats, man, make some fucking noise. one two three oh YEAAAAAAAH

the transition here also. magical.

i definitely didn't almost cry at the end of fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva when the tempo slowed down and everyone was vocalizing

-ish is so fucking underrated oh my GOD you people don't talk about it enough

the people who sang "myself again" after "and i'm gonna be"...... read the room

the new harmonies on where do you get off, front street, and mr capgras give me life

overall i love it but i do believe that ww didn't sing the song with five names to spite me personally. he did sing it on in case i die but still. you don't know how much tax fraud i would commit to hear it live with a full band

[cyberhughes]

— 𝐈𝐍𝐅𝐑𝐔𝐍𝐀𝐌𝐈 ⋆౨ৎ˚⟡˖ ࣪ jack hughes

chapter 7: drunk texting you

last chapter | next chapter

*:･✧* 𝐏𝐀𝐈𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆: jack hughes x fem!oc

*:･✧* 𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒: swearing, arguing, drunk texting, essentially every just gone to shit!

𝓐𝓾𝓽𝓱𝓸𝓻𝓼 𝓝𝓸𝓽𝓮: yes this chapter is based off of drunk texting by jhené aiko and chris brown….such a fucking banger i can’t even. first three lines of the song literally describe this scenario to a TEE!!!! this chapter is kinda shorter like literally nothing is resolved but WE ARE JUST SETTING UP FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER GUYS DW!! also holy shit chapter 6 lowkey is on fire thank you everyone for your support <3

series masterlist + character intros

pain surged through naomi’s body. everything felt like it was on fire. heart banging, mind racing and chest heaving as she ran away from the party to her house. she had ignored the calls of her friends, telling her to come back but she couldn’t look back. she couldn’t look back and face those eyes that had just burnt a hole into her heart with hatred.

she let the events replay in her mind over and over again, trying to figure out how it had escalated that quickly. how she hadn’t been able to get a word out before jack started with his accusations. it was as if their years of friendship and trust were reduced to ash. she’d also never forget how even through his harsh words, he still managed to confess his feelings, but it was too late now. those feelings were probably long gone the second he saw her locking lips with another. how the fuck did it get like this? “i thought you wanted me.” why wouldn’t her fight for her if he felt that way? what wouldn’t he let her explain before tearing her down.

she slammed her bedroom door upon arriving home, the sound echoing throughout the house but she didn’t care. she furiously wiped the tears from her eyes, the skin stinging from the constant rubbing. sitting onto her bed, she tucked her knees to her chest and tried to steady her breathing, fiddling with the charm on her bracelet that he had given her for her birthday. she traced around it as her mind swarmed with countless different thoughts.

her head shot up when she heard a soft knock at the door. her mother entered the room, wearing a house robe and hair slightly messy from being asleep. “baby, what’s wrong?” she stepped towards her daughter, sitting beside her and wrapping her arms around her. naomi could feel the tears coming back up and the lump in her throat growing.

“nothing…” she muttered but clearly that wasn’t the case. her mother would never believe that poor excuse of a life for a second. she pursed her lips, debating if she should ask the question. “did…did you and jack break up?” she looked into her daughter’s eyes searching for the reason for her sadness.

naomi laughed at her mom’s question, mentally face palming at the fact that she had lied about them dating. “we were never dating!” she threw her hands in the air, laughs growing stronger. “we lied about it!” she shook her head as the tears started to fall down. her mom’s face shifted to an expression of shock and worry. “mommy i messed it all up…i ruined everything.” her laughter shifted to sobs and her mom pulled her into a tight embrace, letting her get everything out. “shhh…you’re okay baby.” naomi felt the soothing hand of her mother stroking her hair. it was moments like this when she’d wish jack were by her side comforting her. now she was certain he’d never be able to again.

₊˚ ‿︵‿︵‿︵୨୧ · · ♡ · · ୨୧‿︵‿︵‿︵ ˚₊

“get in the fucking car.” quinn shoved his younger brother into the back of the car, “fucking idiot.” he slammed the door shut before jogging back to luke and their friends.

jack could hear the arguing that had ensued outside, everyone worried about where naomi had went. he could hear countless profanities from yasmin’s mouth aimed at him, and rightfully so he thought.

he slumped into the seat, running a hand over his face, still feeling like shit from the alcohol but feeling entirely worse by what he had done. the image of naomi’s red eyes and pouted lips would be forever burned into his brain. he’d never thought that in his whole life, he would be the one to do that to her, to break her heart and tear her down.

he felt both restless and helpless, he had essentially been put in a time out while naomi had run away. he bit his nails, debating in his mind if he should chase after her, or leave her alone. he knew she was a strong girl, and that she could handle herself. he however couldn’t handle the thought that he was the reason for her running the streets all alone. fed up, he opened the car door.

“HEY! where are you going?” yasmin stormed up to him. “m’ gonna find naomi.” he mumbled, still clearly drunk. yasmin harshly grabbed his arm to stop him from walking away, “i called her mom, she’s home.” jack felt a wave of relief wash over him knowing that she was safe, but the disgust of knowing what he did atill remained. “you’re not going to see her. you’re going to leave her the fuck alone, got it?” he furrowed his brows at her words, beginning to protest. “no, i need to tell her that i’m sorry.” yasmin’s body burned with anger and she resisted the urge to slap him across the face. “you’re sorry? you’re fucking sorry?” she began, gripping his arm tighter. cole approached, “yasmin calm down-“

“don’t tell me to fucking calm down,” she swatted him away, becoming increasingly angrier with everyone. “you didn’t give her a chance to speak before you started acting like a cunt. she never wanted james you idiot, she wanted you! are you seriously that dense to not have seen that?” jack could feel his stomach twisting as he listened to her words. “she talks about you all the time, it never stops. she isn’t joking when she’s with you, she’s just scared you’d toss her away, and you know what?” she glared into his eyes, “you fucking did.” she gritted before pushing him away. “she kissed james yeah okay, but she stopped it when she realized that it was you jack. it was always you.” tears formed in jack’s eyes as he stood there, taking in what yasmin was saying to him. “don’t fucking cry, you don’t deserve it.” she finished before storming off, ordering an uber on her phone.

the other guys stood there with mouths agape, not knowing what to say next or how to proceed. “let’s just go.” luke huffed and waked towards the car, purposely bumping into jack’s shoulder as he did so.

how was he going to fix this?

₊˚ ‿︵‿︵‿︵୨୧ · · ♡ · · ୨୧‿︵‿︵‿︵ ˚₊

jack laid in his bed staring at the ceiling, both his brothers having just left after giving him a thirty minute lecture on how he fucked up.

he didn’t know what to do, did he leave naomi alone to prevent any further damage, or risk it and call her to let her know how he felt. he tossed back and forth in bed, similar to what his mind was currently doing as he weighed his options.

“fuck this,” he groaned and reached over to his night stand to grab his phone and call her. maybe he was being selfish, but he needed to get everything out.

his thumbs were going faster than his mind, he kept spilling out more and more, not once receiving a reply. had she turned her read receipts off? he’d stay awake the whole night waiting for her to respond, not wanting to miss it.

but she never did.

[lookninjas]

We've done disco. We've done country. We've done metal a couple times.

Time for some rap.

Pick a song from a bad description! You do not have to recognize the song to vote for the song. Vote for whatever description tickles your fancy. Whatever strikes you as the funniest. Whatever you as a classicist think is a reasonable interpretation of the Iliad. Just pick a song.

At the end of the week, I will make a playlist out of the poll results, starting with the song that gets the least amount of votes, and ending with the song that gets the most amount of votes. If you would like to hear the playlist when it's finished, leave me a comment or put your request in the tags, and I will tag you when the playlist is complete. If you really desperately want to know what the Thai for party is, or if you're curious about another song and you don't want to wait, shoot me an ask and I will answer.

And as always, please reblog the poll! The more people who see the poll, the more people will hopefully get curious about the songs and want to listen to the playlist, which means that more people will be exposed to some really dope music, and that is ultimately the end goal. And I promise you, every song on this playlist is a banger.

(Also, every song on the next playlist will be a banger, and the extended versions of both playlists will be extra bangers. The problem with doing a rap/hip-hop playlist for me is that with a 12-track limit on the polls, even I'm upset at what I'm leaving out right now. Too many songs, not enough options!)

[sometipsygnostalgic]

We've been watching star wars, lots of it.

The other day we were discussing music. How the original trilogy is full of bombastic, magnificient tracks, and the prequels have these smashing epics, but the sequels have opted for more ambience, and there are only two leitmotifs to speak of, one only nine notes long (Kylo Ren).

See, I'm not alien to the creation of leitmotif without a whole song to go with it. This is how Marvel's been doing it for a little while now (since they were annihilated by a youtuber 8 years ago for their bad music apparently).

It's also how She-ra does it. This seems to be the compromise between the "in the background" scoring modern directors ask for and the "in your face" scoring musicians want to perform.

But here are a few differences even in that (rather bland) category of music:

She-ra is constantly taking advantage of its leitmotifs. That 11 note She-ra motif? You are damn aware when it's in your face, and it always shows up when She-ra is doing something magic.

Entrapta's theme is 7 to 14 notes long and it plays a lot, whenever she's doing something, whenever Hordak is thinking of her. Can be silly, loud, or very quiet depending on the mood of the scene.

Catra has a theme for when she's being evil. It is in fact She-ra's theme played in a different key. It sounds completely different so it's not obvious, which is brilliant in my opinion.

Hordak and Horde Prime... don't have a theme, but they have a specific chord that plays when they're on screen. Effective if forgettable.

Best Friend Squad has a theme. I associate it with Glimmer because it's very sparkly and used in action scenes. It repeats enough that I'd recognise it if I heard it.

And finally that complete banger of an opening, and all those whole, complete soundtracks you get in the end credits of some episodes (such as Light Hope). Those pieces of music in particular are memorable despite not being leitmotifs (mostly).

The star wars themes, you have Rey's theme which to be fair is great, and Kylo Ren's theme which only exists as 7 evil notes. You don't get all those themes from OT and Prequels which went so hard. You get a score which sounds like Star Wars Music, but none of the tracks stand out whatsoever. And none of the other characters seem to have any memorable music, none of the scenes, the intro music is the same as it's ever been. The trailer music was always remixed stuff from the Original Trilogy, never anything new.

I wonder what happened. It's possible Disney rejected any better compositions from Williams. It's possible that he was phoning it in at this point because he was called back into star wars yet again. It's possible the source material was not all that inspiring? Who knows. But while the sequels have John Williams and a bunch of OT musical references, they don't seem to have a Star Wars score.

[dreamings-free]

Weird how y’all don’t want Louis to come out from under the shadow of the band and to be known as a solo artist. He’s still referred to almost exclusively as Louis from 1D… and playing a setlist that is 1/3 covers is not helping him overcome that. He will always play 1D songs, we all know that, but 3 out of 13 songs is excessive and you know it. And before you say some bs like “there’s nothing wrong with being known as Louis from 1D”…. There is when he’s so much more than just the band and the songs he wrote when he was 22. It’s possible to honor the band and be proud of his past while also wanting him to move on from it.

There’s also the added annoyance that everyone always just assumes that all his fans only like him because of the band and that he hasn’t been able to gain any fans through his own music. It doesn’t piss you off when his crowds are described as directioners? Playing festival sets using that many 1D songs as a safety blanket is just playing into that stereotype and it does him a massive disservice.

the issue here, anon is that unlike you louis isn’t embarrassed about being 'louis from one direction'

it’s funny how you guys keep accusing me and other (sane) people of not liking louis for who he is and yet here you are belittling him for his past and for being proud of his past achievements?!

and no I "don’t know it".. that is not the hottake you think it is. the thing is you are way way too hung up on some of the songs in his setlists being 1D songs. who cares? fans who know (and love) those songs are happy to see them reimagined to fit with louis’ current style. people at a festival who might recognise some of his songs as being 1D will probably just think 'hey I know that one but this guitar heavy version is cool!' people who aren’t familiar with 1D won’t even know they’re 1D songs and will like or dislike them regardless..?!

also louis clearly chose that setlist because every single song is A BANGER in a live set. people at festivals are often drunk and exhausted and if they happen to stumble into louis tomlinson’s late afternoon set they’re gonna fall asleep if he pulls out songs like chicago or saturdays. thinking the megamix with its slow intro is gonna work in the bright afternoon sunlight.. have you even been to a festival? louis and steve crafted this setlist because they know through years of experience (and a heavy dose of good taste and simple common sense) that this setlist is gonna keep a mixed festival crowd engaged. I've seen people complain about WDBHG and honestly if you can’t understand the sheer genius of giving that perfect pop song a rock makeover AND adding in that little baba o’riley bit.. which soo many people in a festival crowd will recognise - I’m sorry but you don’t deserve the magic that is the combined tomlinson-durham mastermind!

and finally because that comment really piss me off; how tf are 1D songs "a safety blanket" while in the same breath you're saying new listeners won't like him.. because he's associated with 1D. again, it's not me who doesn't like louis for who he is, is it?

[pressplay-if]

Need hefp :(

So remember how Chapter 1 in Press Play is named Sounds Like Singing after the song "Edge of Seventeen" by Stevie Nicks? Which is also the lyrics shown in the chapter intro? Well for Chapter 2, the intro song I'm going with is "Get It On" by T. Rex (which I knew and loved even BEFORE I watched Longlegs, for those wondering). The song fits the chapter because this is gonna be Zima's first appearance, and it fits them so well. So I wanna use a line from Get It On as the chapter title, but I can't settle on one because, ngl, it's a banger song with awesome lyrics. Please help decide.

[androgymess]

ARCANE SEASON 2 YAP FEST, SPOILERS season 2 is rushed, to no ones surprise since netflix put a gun to everyone's head for an early release, but that aside, i do personally enjoy reading between the lines of the show

the jesus (smtimes moses) and judas (ramses can apply too) depiction of viktor and jayce, ambessa's protectiveness over mel making some real sense now, amebessa's foreshadowed death and mel picking up the pieces in the intro etc etc, all good stuff

i LOVE this season dont get me wrong, but the speedrunning and time skips (esp when caitlyn goes through TWO ARCS, IN LIKE, SPLIT SECONDS?) i do fucking hope she has not forgiven jinx all willy nilly after becoming reincarnation of hitler for a good minute there

like PLEASEEE TAKE UR TIME, WE SHOULD HAVE GOTTEN A SEASON 3 MAN. or atleast let the writers cook up for another 3 years, i LOVED the current two arcs of season 2 but i mourn the lack of fucking dialogue? jayce and viktor barely talking is crazy to me?

relying on songs (which are bangers) to carry the emotional weight of your scenes, we have MORE fight scenes than dialogue between important characters, i loved s1 because the characters...talked, you could fill in the subtext there too, at some point s2's subtext was just me over-reading into every aspect of the show, isha is a plot device at the end of the day, the noxian storyline didn't have enough time to stand on its legs, idk, show me more scenes with caitlyn going further unhinged and drowning in mourning that causes more death to people

plus the black rose stuff is...idk? introduced too quickly, that is one of the main problems with the show, it expects people to get emotionally attached to certain things or characters and neglects alot of its core cast in favor of progression

but when the plot starts progressing without your characters, it makes me as a viewer also lag behind. before anyone comes for my neck, like i said i LOVE seasons 2, i love it enough to be critical of its shortcomings in my humble nobody opinion, i loved not being spoonfed and babied by the show. i can even look past the pacing issues, but the plot devices we got this season is crazy, one offs, first draft storylines as one of my friends said, but eh, better we get arcane than have netflix cancel it.

to wrap this up, they are gonna explore more league storylines, probably in the works already so that is something to look forward to

[oldmanfuckerbrigade]

please tell me you're going to expand on why the newsies movie is perfection and the musical is ass, I'd love to see it

(because you are right)

yknow, i was gonna save my rant for my imaginary video essay but it’s too in my head now so i might as well do the deep dive here. you asked so i shall deliver! (Be forewarned this is long as fuck i didnt know how much i needed to say until i started writing this)

Newsies is a (Gay) Love Story and That’s Why The Musical Fails™️

Ok. So. First and foremost, let’s talk about Newsies 1992. To be fair to my own biases, I have a very strong personal connection to 92sies, it was the first musical I ever saw on screen - one of the first movies I ever watched PERIOD - and some of my first memories are of listening to the soundtrack. So you could, on a certain level, chalk up my vehemence about its quality to my fondness for it, and I will gladly admit to that.

BUT. I have now been on this earth for 20 years, and in those 20 years I’ve watched a lot of movies, and a LOT of musicals (and am now studying film full time yippee for me). So I think I can say confidently, with my broadened tastes, that Newsies (1992) is a goddamn masterpiece of a movie musical.

It succeeds spectacularly in both regards, as a film and a musical. It had a stacked deck going in honestly, with directing and choreo both done by Kenny Ortega of High School Musical fame, as well as music by the inimitable Alan Menken. You know this shit was boutta pop off. From a filmmaking standpoint, it’s beautiful. Gorgeous matte paintings in the wide shots, fantastic set work and costume design, as well as the lighting and cinematography being on. fucking. point. every damn time it’s so good it makes me sick. You don’t even need me to say anything about the acting, cause we already know it’s phenomenal.

As a musical, it’s also right on the money. Every tenet of musical theater is respected, we have our intro ensemble number, introducing us to the world, the people within it, and the stakes of the story that we’ll follow. We have our absolute fucking BANGER of an “i want” song which Christian Bale puts his whole Baleussy into. And ofc we have some fantastic call-to-action, come-together, and uplifting songs and dance numbers.

But most importantly, every song does the one of two things any musical theater number should do: advance the story or give us insight into a characters thoughts and feelings. Let’s talk about them all in order (i promise this is gonna tie in to the stage show in a second just bare with me):

The Music

Carrying the Banner is ofc our opening theme, introducing us to the world and characters. Where and when are we, who are the heroes of our story? This is the “known” part of our hero’s journey, the home base and the place to which we will return. This is our Normal Time.

Santa Fe is, as we all know, Jack’s “I want” song, the song that tells the audience the hopes and dreams of our main character, so we can understand, well, what he wants. We can discover through this song what Jack’s character is all about. Through both what he has, what he lacks (or perceives he does) and what he hopes to gain. Jack has no family, he’s alone, but he has seemingly given up on ever being NOT alone, so he pins all his hopes for a better life on the mirage of Santa Fe. If he can pave his own way in the world, leave the city which has done nothing but take from him, maybe he can feel whole again. He’s a dreamer, despite his rough exterior, and he dreams of a life of freedom, beyond what he can find in New York. So there we get, all wrapped in a tidy bow, the essence of Jack Kelly’s character. a deeper look beyond what we have seen up until this point. Ok moving on.

In between Santa Fe and The World Will Know we have a small song which Medda sings. While that song in and of itself isn’t terribly important (it’s just part of her show), the scene that it’s in is VERY important. This is where we have an introduction to one of the few people we could consider part of Jack’s family, as a sort of mother/aunt figure. Overall it serves to give Jack more humanity, therefore giving our audience surrogate David (and hey i’m gonna go off about Davey just gimme a minute) more reason to trust Jack, and thereby the audience can trust him as well. We also get a little interaction between Jack and Davey that was pretty much ripped wholecloth from the movie and supplanted on Jack and Katherine in the show. It’s literally the same shit, Dave and Katherine are mistrustful of Jack and his intentions, they argue, it’s homoerotic as fuck, and it all takes place at the theater. (And also we get the one scene in the movie that does a weak ass attempt to un-gay David by having him drool over a pretty lady. It does not work lmfao).

The World Will Know is a standard call-to-action, but it by no means is mid-tier in any way. This shit slaps. HARD. We have Jack as the voice of the people convincing the gang of erstwhile children to band together with him on this, and stand up for their rights. This is also the first real time we get Jack and David teaming up to achieve a goal. Jack may be the voice of the people, but it’s David who’s the brains behind the operation, knowing what to say and do, while Jack has the respect and tenacity to put it forward. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT. BECAUSE THE STAGE SHOW ALL BUT BRUSHES OFF DAVID’S INVOLVEMENT IN THIS SCENE, SO IT NO LONGER SERVES IT ENTIRE PURPOSE. A big secondary point of this scene is to illustrate that while Jack and David are strong boys independently, they work so much better together, and are able to achieve what they wouldn’t normally, alone. And the musical does not understand this. But i’ll get to that later.

Seize the Day is David’s first step towards standing in his own power. The newsies are losing steam on the strike train after Brooklyn refuses to join so David is the one to raise everyone’s morale and bring back their fighting spirit, getting all the other boys to take up the call, preaching brotherhood and community, the strength of standing together. Here is your come-together song. But this is the important thing: It’s David who does it. The song becomes an ensemble number as it goes on but HE is the one who STARTS it. David was hesitant to really rally behind the strike at first, but now he’s all in, he’s connected with the boys and he believes in the cause (thanks to the spirit that Jack brought to it, and how much Jack believe in it cough cough). He does start it in the musical as well, but the tone is very different, it’s only after Jack’s urging that he says anything. Bro didn’t even have to say shit in the movie. But whatever moving on.

King of New York is a hard song to mess up. It’s just good. and fun. and I like it. It probably has the least to do with moving the plot forward or giving us an internal look on any specific characters. It’s an ensemble and dance number. I do like it better in the movie rather than onstage, though that’s mostly personal preference. The stage show kind of beats it to death, like why is it 10 minutes long I swear to god. They know it’s a good song and they wanna capitalize on it, which makes it all seem kind of transparently cynical to me. it’s still like, good and the dancers are on top of it but….its too much y'know. The movie just has a good time with it. Because it’s a good time. Also Jack is there in the movie and he’s not in the stage show for some reason, I forget why. Probably because of some plot contrivance they got from trying to shove new elements into an already lock tight story. sorry ok back to actual critique.

Once and For All is like maybe my favorite song of the whole soundtrack. It just eats. Every time. This is the song we should play while smashing in the heads of the capitalist pigs that run our stupid fucking country. It’s a banger. AND it moves the plot forward, which is always a slay. Let’s make that underground pape and radicalize all the child workers being abused across the city!! yeah!!!

And then we got our TWWK and CtB reprises to tie up the ending in a neat little bow, bringing us back around the our beginning, a la the hero’s journey. We’ve completed our circle and are back to the beginning, changed but better for it, with our characters at transformed equilibrium, the evil vanquished, and bright days ahead. Jack realizes that he doesn’t need to chase the illusion of Santa Fe when what he really wants and needs is to be with the people who love him, the family that was right under his nose the whole time. David is a full fledged newsie, has come out of his shell, become more confident in himself, and his relationship with Jack is assured. So. Let’s talk about Jack and David.

Jack and David

Historians would call them “good friends”. This whole section is gonna be me preaching to the choir, so to speak, so I’ll try and keep this concise. We all know they’re gay, everyone and their mother knows they’re gay, so why is it important? It’s not like that shit is actually baked into the story right? WRONG. Jack and David are at the heart of the story of Newsies. Jack may be the “““main character”””, but David is the impetus for the events of the story, the driving force behind the plot. He is, in essence, the call to adventure that our hero Jack receives at the start of his arc.

He is also the audience surrogate. It’s through him that we learn the ways of the newsies, the ins and outs of the newsboy life, the trials and tribulations. It’s through him that we come to know Jack’s character on a deeper level. We only get Santa Fe after Jack has met Dave’s family (talk about U-Haul lesbians like my god he knew the guy for a DAY and he was already meeting the parents), and we get to see how seeing David’s loving family is painful for Jack, how he grieves that lack of connection but copes by pinning his hopes on Santa Fe. Most everywhere we see Jack go, we see it because David goes too. (MOST. There are exceptions, like his talk with Pulitzer. But of course, David is still RELEVANT in that scene). We see the story through David’s eyes.

Which is why the musical fails.

Because in the musical, David is so far removed from the narrative you could replace him with any guy and it would still work. He is an after thought, all but scrubbed from the script, and for why???

This I don’t have an answer for, which is really frustrating. My best guess is that it was a well-intentioned but misguided attempt to tighten up the script by placing Jack as the main character. And to make room for Katherine.

Oh Katherine….I used to really vehemently hate Katherine, and her addition to the story. I’ve obviously grown since then, I can recognize her importance as a woman within the story, and how that is important for young people to see in media. But also. She is unnecessary. TO THE PLOT. I won’t speak to her necessity from a larger, misogyny-on-the-world-stage level, but to the actual plot itself she is completely unnecessary. And you know how I know? Because they took movie David’s whole personality and just copy and pasted it onto her.

Ok now hear me out, I KNOW that it is not 1:1, but it really doesn’t have to be. If you step back and look at the bare essentials, it is the same shit. Jack and Katherine have the same enemies to lovers type dynamic that was Davey and Jack’s in the movie. There’s the initial mistrust, the dislike, she’s very professional, and kind of a know-it-all. Jack is the charming street rat, all dry wit and golden retriever energy. They tease and bicker and snap at each other. Exactly like Dave and Jack did in 92. Watching both versions back to back made this almost glaringly obvious to me. Like it was actually kind of shocking how obvious it was.

And the thing is, I understand why they did it! Sarah was such a nothingburger character in the movie (sorry Sarah, love you in fics, hate your actress with a burning passion) that they knew they had to add SOMETHING more to any potential romance subplot, and if they were conveniently sidelining David’s character anyway, why not take some cues from the most powerful relationship in the film? I understand the logic behind it, I really do.

But. That still leaves David, flopping around the script like a severed limb, with nowhere to go and nothing to do to help the plot. Cause here’s the thing, his and Jack's relationship is what makes the movie. I don’t care if I'm fandom-goggling this my tin hat is ON I have a MASTERS in FUJOSHI STUDIES. The movie is at its core, about brotherhood and community. It’s about boyhood and friendship and banding together with your peers to achieve great things. They give us this theme through Jack and Dave.

Dave is an outsider, unfamiliar to the ways of the street kids and working within a community like that. Jack is old hat to it, born and bred in it, it’s his home and his family. They come together through a twist of fate, Jack initially thinking only about what’ll earn him the most money at the end of the day, and Davey rightfully mistrustful of him. But they end up forming an organic bond through the strike, finding common ground with one another, and realizing if they team up they can accomplish great things. We see them struggle together, and break apart for a bit. We see Jack realize he’s gotten too close to this boy, brought him into something dangerous and now he genuinely cares for him which is even worse. David goes so far as to break Jack out of jail, but not before Pulitzer can get to him and threaten him with the one thing Jack will take seriously: David. Jack is forced to destroy David's and the rest of the newsies' trust just to keep them safe.

But through all this, facing incredible adversity, dangerous circumstances, gaining and losing a close friend, David is forced to come into his own, take on a role of leadership and stand up for what he believes in. In this way, his own character arc is fulfilled, by the end of the movie. And the one thing that gets Jack back to the newsies? Why David being in trouble, of course. The one thing he hoped to avoid by agreeing to Pulitzers terms. That’s all it takes for him to take it all back, the prospect of David being in danger.

BRO. WHEN I SAY. THAT THEIR RELATIONSHIP IS WHAT DRIVES THE PLOT. I FUCKING MEAN IT.

And y'know they make their own paper and radicalize all the kids in the city, they go to Pulitzer TOGETHER. BY THE WAY. TOGETHER. Which the musical cannot seem to understand. It’s only as a united front that they are able to beat Pulitzer and win fair terms for the newsies. And then jacks like ahhh yeah im goin to santa fe so long fuckers and then is like never mind actually i wanna come back and kiss Dav- I mean Sarah.

Which is also a hilarious fucking scene to me like that whole last interaction between Dave and Jack is so damn romantic in tone that the only way for the tension to break was with a kiss, so they had to have Sarah come in out of nowhere to kiss Jack 💀 like they knew that shit was leading to something but they couldn’t have the boys kiss obviously so they had to throw a woman in there real quick.

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So. tldr. I meant this to be a lot more organized and make a lot more sense than it did but oh well. The reason the musical fails is because it fails to recognize that Dave and Jack are EQUALLY both the main characters, you can’t have one without the other, their partnership is the core force of the plot and story, without both of them you are left with something resembling the story you once knew, but with none of the heart and spirit of the original.

Other Technical Things That Are Bad

i wanted to take a second and just touch on some smaller details that also stood out to me, but are less connected to my central thesis.

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Costumes. Oh boy did they fuck that one up on stage. Now to be fair, I’ve only seen the 2017 pro shot and one (1) local children’s production. Not any of the other runs or anything. So I'm only talking about what I’ve seen here. But what I’ve seen is Not Good. There’s already a lot of names and faces flying around in the movie which are hard to keep track of as it is, but everyone looks different enough from the person next to them that you know who your main players are. Each kid has his own way of dressing, unique color palette, accessories, and other styling choices that make them stand out. If you know who you're looking for, you can pick out any named newsie from any of the major ensemble scenes. You can't do that with the show. Everyone is wearing a variation of the same bland shirts and pants, and the color palette is dull gray-brown across the board. I'm not saying you have to go crazy with colors and shit, the costumes in the movie are believably period accurate, but I can still tell Racetrack from Mush without having to squint. (Also hey shout out to whoever decided to do that little red/blue color palette motif on movie Jack and Dave. I see you, and I appreciate you.)

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The new songs suck but what can you do :/. Sorry to Alan Menken you ate with the movie my guy but you were just not on your A-game with this one. I didn’t even know it was still Menken doing the music in the stage show honestly, with how different and sucky the new songs were. Personal taste on this one I guess. But I don’t like them. Why does Pulitzer need a song. Literally why. If they had to give any pre-existing character their own song it should've been David! Like literally no question about it, it should have been David. Also why are we doing Santa Fe at the opening?? Did we forget how musicals work?? We never open with the "I want" song! ESPECIALLY if it's a ballad!!

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The set. Yeah I’m really here to tear everything down ig, I didn’t know I had this many gripes until I started writing this sorry guys 😭 But yeah it’s not as gooood. And I'm like. ok. I know they were never gonna be able to do anything close to the movie. It’s onstage. They had to make sacrifices. But tell me why it all had to be cool toned?? The movie's color palette is so nice and warm, it feels antiquated but also real, it’s homey and nice. But also unforgiving and rough when it needs to be. They could’ve done that with lighting and shit onstage, changing the tone when it needs to, but instead they opted to throw out the warm tones for mostly cool gray steel backdrops. Whatever. I’m not a set tech. They know better than me.

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THAT KID. IS SO MOTHERFUCKING ANNOYING. I AM SO SORRY. BUT IT IS HOW I FEEL. No hate at all to the kid playing Les in the 2017 pro shot, he was just a child he was doing his best not his fault at all. I’m choosing to blame the writing. But also goddamn if that kid's choices for delivery did not grate on my ears. His voice. just. did not sit right with me idk. Les in the movie is such a cute and endearing kid, I always adored him as he reminded me a lot of my own younger brothers. But this kidddd. is so unlikeable it’s like, going PAST annoying unfunny comic relief character straight into “how the fuck did anyone think this was a good idea”.

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The ending suuuuuucks boooooo it’s bad I don’t like it I'm kinda running outta steam here but I still got shit to say so fuck it we ball. it’s so over explained that it’s just. just dumb. It just becomes dumb at a certain point. Jack going to do cartoons for Pulitzer??? What??? Don’t get me wrong I actually really love them giving him artistic talent I think that really adds some actually GOOD dimension to his character, but this????? Really????? Everything is just so like *perfectly* wrapped up that it totally destroys my suspension of disbelief. In the movie it’s definitely very wish-fulfilling and unrealistic, but it’s from the perspective of kids. It’s exactly as a kid would perceive it. And we don’t see exactly how the conceding of Pulitzer goes down and we SHOULDN’T!! Because then it gets all bogged down with the logistics of it all which is exactly what happened to the play! We don’t need all the details, we just need to know they won.

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This one isn’t a gripe actually because I apparently DO have love in my heart: I love musical Crutchie. I love him, I love him so much my sweet boy. I love him being Jack’s little brother I love them having that deeper connection. I love Crutchie in the movie so to see him getting more screen time (so to speak) is just lovely. The one change I agree with. I love you forever Crutchie.

ok i’ve been writing for hours and my hands gonna fall off so im done now. if i think of anything else…well, you’ll just have to wait for my video essay i guess.