#and medda sings two songs

[automaticphagic]

1992 newsies enjoyers let’s hold hands

[make-friends-with-the-rats]

can i hear more about why you think the bowery beauties were brought in "to retain vaudeville/burlesque elements while desexualizing Medda?" :0

But of course!

Allow me to set the stage...

Vaudeville and burlesque were both popular forms of variety shows in the 19th century. The first vaudeville show in America can be traced to 1816. A vaudeville show might have acts ranging from singing and comedy to acrobatics and ventriloquism [source]. Burlesque was introduced to theaters in New York as early as the 1840s and often were composed of comedic skits, satire, songs, and women dancers in rather provocative costumes [source].

As I touched upon in my previous post, Medda Larkin, in her stage musical iteration, is inspired by the vaudeville star Aida Overton Walker.

Born in 1880, Aida Overton Walker was arguably the most famous and influential African-American star of her generation. She was as progressive as she was talented. She refused to conform with black stereotypes on the stage and devoted much work to helping young African-American artists [source]. With her as inspiration, Medda becomes bold, comedic, and confident, every bit the vaudeville star.

As a result, in nearly every Newsies the Musical character description or script you can find, Medda is described as a vaudeville performer. But before the rewrite, this wasn't strictly the case. Of course, Newsies is a Disney musical at the end of the day, so you would never have found an overtly burlesque performer in the story. But in the original movie, the line between vaudeville and burlesque is blurred.

What I mean, to put it plainly, is that Medda Larkson in the film was sexualized. (The actress Ann-Margaret herself had been a popular pin-up star in the 1960s and 70s.) Although she is portrayed as a caring adult figure and a successful actress, several characters all but drool over her and we hear catcalls in the background of both of her songs. Not to mention her first song, My Lovey-Dovey Baby is very suggestive. The overall atmosphere that is created around Medda in the film is highly reminiscent of burlesque rather than purely vaudeville.

In the musical adaptation, that burlesque energy is redirected away from Medda and towards the Bowery Beauties. This is particularly obvious in the way the song Don't Come a-Knocking was presented in the Broadway show/proshot in comparison to Medda's solo, That's Rich. While Medda commands the stage with confidence and comedy, the Bowery Beauties are shown obscured behind a male audience or are viewed literally from the male gaze.

The Newsies musical adaption took Medda Larkson and created a separation between the vaudeville and the burlesque. Or: it made Medda purely a vaudeville actress and created the Bowery Beauties. In doing so, Medda was desexualized. There are two major reasons for this. First, because of the vaudeville inspiration taken from Aida Overton Walker herself. And second, to have Medda be portrayed as a more maternal figure.

But should Medda have been completely un-burlesqued? Here's the part where I take advantage of this ask to yap about something you didn't ask for. Enjoy!

While burlesque shows did tend to attract a largely male audience, there is another aspect of burlesque that is largely overlooked.

Burlesque and vaudeville not only gave women a chance to join the stage, but gave them the freedom to be loud and self-aware when society called for women to be soft-spoken and modest. But burlesque took it a step further in the costumes female performers wore. Not only were the costumes in direct contrast (and perhaps defiance) to the Victorian image of a woman...

"A woman onstage, displaying her body, speaking freely, and challenging her audience, was a strange and shocking sight in the nineteenth century, when female performers of any kind were still conventionally equated with prostitutes." [source <- highly recommend checking this one out]

Burlesque performances at it's best gave women a unique outlet for self expression as well as confidence in her body. It was much more forward thinking and feminist than you might think.

"Men loved to watch burlesque performers, but at the same time, they were afraid that her feminine power was too dynamic to stay safely confined to the stage." [source <- same as above, literally such an interesting read]

Now, keeping this perspective in mind, the original Newsies film had the right idea in giving Medda more burlesque elements, they were just going about it wrong. And rather than fixing the problem of sexualization with a complete separation between Medda and the Bowery Beauties, Medda and the Bowery Beauties should be building off of each other.

Personally, I think that Newsies UK did it best. In the West End production of Newsies, there isn't much difference between Medda and the Bowery Beauties. They share the same costume and they share the stage during That's Rich. Medda is still commanding the audience, but the addition of the Bowery Beauties here lends new meaning. Medda has remained the vaudeville star, but the Bowery Beauties have broken out of the male gaze and joined Medda in challenging 19th century society.

[brooklynbadboys]

An emotional and sporadic Newsies UK description for those unable to watch.

This is going to be a long one.

As you walk in there is theming under the stalls, like 'strike' signs. If you are sitting in Mahatten you walk up a staircase to a pathway. The stage is huge with the scaffolding in the centre. Above the audience, fire escapes span the walls, which are also themed. There is so much on the set from the scaffolding to a Santa Fe sign, hammocks, newspapers, washing lines, and a large window. One newspaper is lying on the stage with a spotlight

ACT ONE

The Overture begins, but the Santa Fe prologue doesn't start the show. Race picks up a pape with a spotlight as he smokes his cigar. He calls the newsies down. The Newsies begin pouring up the stairs into the walkway of Manhatten seating and alongside the stage. Henry ziplines across the audience and onto the stage. The newsies do a dance number and sell papes, trying to sell them to the audience too. A man comes along with a cart of fruit. Buttons steals an apple, as Ike distracts the man, and they give it to Tommy boy. The newsies then fall asleep across the scaffolding and hammocks.

Santa Fe Prologue begins at the top of the scaffolding. Jack's 'penthouse' has a lot more theming from having a little roof he made to small art pieces. The song is done very similarly to Newsies on Broadway.

Carrying the Banner begins and there are Newsies EVERYWHERE. Race gets his cigar which he continues to smoke the entire show. Newsies get ready throughout the audience, grabbing clothes from the washing lines and putting them on across the audience. If you are sat at the front of your section, they sing directly at you, which is amazing until you are crying and make eye contact with them. The choreography is on another level and seeing the newsies running across the audience pathways and staircases is like nothing I've ever seen. The nuns also appear from the stairs in Manhatten and walk down to the stage. They are carrying boxes and handing out coffee and rosary beads. Splasher sits alone on the edge of the stage looking upset and a Newsie hands him food and he cheers up.

When the song ends, after a very long applause, Wiesel comes down from 50+ft above on a platform with his newspapers. The Newsies buy their papers and walk along the pathways, asking the audience who wants a paper and giving them out.

The Bottom Line begins with newsies taking naps across the theatre and stage with their caps over their faces. Pulitzer’s desk comes out and is on a small platform made of stacks of newspapers. They lie there the entire song. A chandelier comes down and hangs above the desk where Pulitzer sits.

After the song, Snyder appears and chases Davey, Les, and Jack who run across the audience and the fire escapes. The chase ends with Jack sliding down a large slide into Medda's theatre. The set has lights that read out her name. Jack shows his paintings and all the paintings are different to the ones on Broadway minus the Pulitzer standing on the newsies painting.

That's Rich is now a dance number with the bowery beauties. One of the Bowery beauties takes a big pink feather from their costume and sticks it to Les’ cap. The Newsies sit on the floor by the stage and watch the show. During the song Medda says “hey baby, I was just talking about you” and points to the newsies on the floor and they argue over who Medda was talking about.

I Never Planned On You/ Don't Come A-knocking has the newsies dancing with spotlights surrounding the bowery beauties as they dance. Again, it has much more dancing than Newsies on Broadway.

Katherine walks across the fire escapes in the audience and watches the entirety of The World Will Know.

In Jacobi's when Jack asks who will take Brooklyn, all the newsies hide and two newsies put their bags over their head and sit there unmoving. Katherine walks down from the fire escape and onto the stage.

Watch What Happens has the newsies bringing out Katherine's desk but not a lot of change happens here. At one point Katherine puts her feet up on the table whilst singing. Having her watch The World Will Know makes a lot more sense for the story and her motivation. Is now the time to mention how incredible Bronté Barbé is?

Katherine also watches Seize The Day, this time as she takes notes. During Jacks speech the newsies face and audience. Crutchie holds onto his rosemary beads necklace and prays to himself. Seize The Day is 2 parts and probably double the length. The choreography and amount of tumbling is insane. Jack and Davey dance too, unlike on Broadway. The talent it took to choreograph and perform the number is phenomenal. Newspapers fall from the sky and also get thrown into the audience by the newsies. In the middle of the song, the Newsies do a role call, shouting out their names. Henry gets thrown into the air and tears a paper in half. Nothing I say can do this number justice. I can't remember a lot of it because I was watching through tears. This number often gets at least one standing ovation.

Newsies rip up papers and throw stacks of them to the ground. The fight with the bulls seemed a lot harsher and involved Les grabbing onto a rope and getting lifted 20+ft into the sky and shouting for help.

Santa Fe is also similar minus, behind Jack, a bright yellow light looking like the sun forming and slowly getting brighter throughout the song. Micheal Aelahomka is so incredibly talented and the ending note was breathtaking.

ACT TWO

The King of New York involves a lot more tables and dancing. Les gets his own tap solo. The newsies use the tables as cars and drive them around with plates as steering wheels. Lights come from the ceiling towards the end and Newsies grab onto them and spin. The lights begin to rise and Newsies swing above the audience. The number ends with Katherine putting on a statue of liberty looking crown made of spoons and holding an apple.

Letter From The Refuge is such a jarring shift from The King Of New York and it works so well. Crutchie is alone on a bed in the middle of the stage with a couple of newsies lying beside him. Mike is one of them and lays with his head on Jojo’s stomach. Crutchie’s eye is covered in a red/black bruise and bruises are visible across his body. As he sings, Snyder and another man watch down on him from both ends of the stage on the scaffolding. It is eery as you may not notice them at first, but they are there the entire time. After the song ends a newsie wakes up and helps to carry Crutchie out.

Watch What Happens Reprise doesn't have a lot of changes and the only thing I recall of The Bottom Line Reprise ends with the newsies pushing out Pulitzer and his desk into darkness and fog.

Brooklyn's Here begins, and a group of girls stand at the stairs of Manhatten. The girls are Brooklyn (!!!!) and they changed lyrics, such as 'That's our cue, girls, it's time to go slummin' and 'we're the girls from the beaches of Brighton'. The Brooklyn newsies go down onto the stage and dance. Spot sang into a little girls face during our perform. The newsies stand with signs of the names of the audience areas, such as the Bronx, Flushing, and Manhatten. After the song, we are introduced to Spot Conlon who is one of the girls we saw.

Something To Believe in didn't have any changes that I noticed.

Once And For All has newsies walking across fire escapes across the walls and on the pathways, carrying lanterns. This is the first time the theatre is ever fully dark. The papers are thrown between the newsies in front of the audience. The slide is used as Newsies slide onto the stage. Toward the end, two newsies swing above the stage (Mike and Mack), throwing newspapers down to the audience. The song ends with the children’s crusade newspaper falling from the sky and hanging in front of the entirety of the scaffolding. A large silhouette of Jack shines behind it.

As the Newsies, including Brooklyn, surround Pulizer's office, they are stood across the fire escapes along the walls. They are everywhere you look and staring down threateningly to Pulitzer as they punch their hands and slam their fists.

Finale seemed to have a lot more dancing too. Crutchie appears wearing a policeman hat and arrests Snyder wearing it. Katherine puts on a Newsies hat that matches her dress and dances alongside the newsies for the number. The show ends with a Brooklyn girl tumbling across the stage as she lays the newspaper that started the show back in the centre.

The show is incredible and the most magical theatre experience I have ever had, and I can't imagine anything will ever beat it.

[anotherdaveyjacobs]

Last night I saw a local production of Newsies

here are my notes!! (1000000/10, this was AMAZING)

the opening was so funny because they read the theatre rules like headlines (turn off your phone, etc) but the best one was about using the emergency exits and not rushing the stage, because of the fire curtain, it would be "great for readership, bad for you" 💀

important things to note: jack, davey, katherine, and race are played by college students. crutchie and buttons are played by 8th graders. the rest of the newsies, the delanceys, spot, bill, and darcy are all played by high school students. les is played by a 5th grader. the adults are played by adults.

(i didn't know any of this until minutes before the show, but they were on par with a full cast of adults imo)

tommy boy, henry, splasher, mush, ike, jo jo, and finch are all played by girls!! they did amazing

Pulitzer's cabinet is also all women!!!

When Jack is running from the Delanceys in the beginning, he did this cute little jump and wink at the audience, ran off, and when he came back he shushed the audience like we were gonna tell the Delanceys where he went

Race forgot his line ("don't worry kid it rubs right off") so Jack jumped in and said it for him

Buttons had little buttons sewn all over his suspenders and it was adorable

Medda was AMAZING oh my god I loved her so much

the bowrey beauties costumes matched hers, it was gorgeous

Watch What Happens was AMAZING. Katherine's actress sounded just like Kara Lindsay it's uncanny. She starts at her little desk and then moves her typewriter to Pulitzer's desk to get her inspiration. She also goes to take a drink of the alcohol on his desk, but puts it down once she smells it

During Jack's speech before the fight, the Delanceys are making fun of him (pretending to cry, yawning, etc.)

The fight scene was extremely short (no real pause between the start of the fight and the police showing up) but it was still really good

Crutchie gets carried away over a shoulder like a sack of potatoes (it was so fucking funny, I really struggled not to laugh)

Snyder gets face to face with Jack at the end of the strike but just has this evil laugh right in Jack's face before Jack runs away

Santa Fe??? CHILLS. he was SO GOOD. he pauses to heave breaths like he's crying and i.

Mr. Jacobi thought he was hilarious with his "fish in the desert" comment and repeated it to himself as he walked offstage

This production it was "there's a headline even Race could sell" 💀 poor Race (there was no Elmer in this show)

KONY was amazing. the bit where Katherine and Les have their little tap competition happens and then they like do a few twirls together it was so cute

Letter from the Refuge was excellent, Crutchie was on the top bunk with two newsies on the bottom. When the song swells the first time, they're gesturing at each other like neither wanted to be the one to tell him to shut up, it was amazing

During WWH Reprise when Jack calls Pulitzer a snake, he reaches back and grabs a fist full of Davey's shirt, who then has to get Jack's attention, and Jack smooths it down all apologetic like. love it

Also during WWH Reprise, DAVEY is the one who sings the "we've got Jack" line

Spot's voice was AMAZING

Jack doesn't shove or almost hit Les during the rally, but during the chaos of everyone running away and calling Jack a traitor and a sellout, Davey and Les are left standing in the middle of an empty stage looking lost and betrayed. STUNNING

Something To Believe In was really good, they harmonized so well together, Jack really belted the last "me" at the end and his voice just. ugh i loved it

Jack tried to spit shake Roosevelt so Davey and Spot LEAPT forward to grab his hand and stop him. Davey wiped Jack's hand with his hand, and then wiped his hand on his pants, and Davey and Spot were talking quietly amongst themselves while gesturing at Jack. iconic

"He doesn't do happiness does he" and Katherine shook her head like "yeah no"

Jack's mocking of Pulitzer "it's a compromise we can all live with" was perfect

Roosevelt had the funniest fucking fake moustache, it was this big black thing oh my god, i went back to the IG to check and he was NOT wearing it in the photo they posted, no idea what that was about lmao

Anyway the whole show was amazing and today's the last day of it, so I'm really glad I caught it when I did

[jewish-elphaba]

explain ~newsies~ pls

*kissing you on the mouth /p*

also I've listened to audios of newsies so much that I have most of the show memorized :p (thanks mike faist)

also im warning you this is super long so um yeah i’ll do a part two for the second act just send me another ask lmao

the show opens with a killer overture like I swear that shit fucks SO hard. and then crutchie gets up and tries to go downstairs (they're on top of the newsies lodging house) and jack is like bro. slow your roll. it is the buttcrack of dawn. and crutchie's like but jeck I wanna look strong so I don't get thrown in the refuge. and then he almost dies bc he falls down the ladder.

and then jack is like slow down and look around. guess what. I'm going to move to santa fe, and all my problems will be solved. if you come with me, all your problems will be solved.

ok so now it's ~actually~ time to wake up.

albert: I had the most amazing dream; my lips are still tingling!

race: a pretty girl??

al (gay gay gay): a leg of lamb *snatches cigar*

race: hEY thats My cigAr

and then all the newsies sing a nd dance about how they are newsies and they sell newspapers and sometimes it's hot and sometimes it's cold and sometimes it rains and sometimes it's very hard. and then they see the headline for the day and it's the trolley strike for the third week in a row. which is. boring. also jack tries to flirt with a girl on the street and fucking crahses and burns lmao

then all the newsies make fun of weisel and then a new kid rolls up wait sorry what did you say? oh, woops, sorry, he’s new too :)

lo and behold, its davey and les jacobs! davey asks for 20 newspapers, but oscar accidentally only gives him 19 on account of he can’t count to twenty with his shoes on. then jack offers to buy him more papes and davey goes I am NOT a fucking charity case. oh and also they become selling partners and then they do the spit handshake thing and davey’s gay ass is like “thats d i s g u s t i n g”

SCENE CHANGE!!!!!

pulitzer is losing money bc the headline fucking sucks and so he’s like, ok business assossiate, token female, and queer coded hairdresser, how can we sell more papers. and when none of them get the answer right, he reveals that the best way to do it is to ✨exploit the children✨ so they raise the newsies’ paper price by ten cents, which is a Lot. and he has the audacity to say that they’ll thank him.

ok we’re back to the newsies nwo and david is trying to sell a pape and he is Not Good At It. so jack grabs it and just fucking lies about the headline and sells the paper. and then les also sells a pape by pretending to be a poor orphan boy and being cute and shit (oh btw hes nine (almost ten) did i mention that?) and then they’re like jack do you wanna come eat with us and our parents? our dad got fired bc he got hit by a car, and this is exposition! adn jack is like oh um no thanks i got a date with a guy (in a totally straight not bisexual way ofc) adn les sees a spooky man and goes IS THAT HIM!? and the answer is nO

so they run away from spooky man and wind up at a theater, and then they exploit the new kid trope to give exposition to the viewers that that was sneider the spider, and he runs a jail for underage kids called the Refuge, and for every kid he nabs, he gets money straight to his pocket. woooo new kid trope

and then medda larkin arrives and is like i spy with my little eye a bunch of fucking children get the fuck out and then jack is like even me??? and she goes Oh. nvm. sorry love.take your time. also, thank you for painting very pretty picture i am saying this because the author needs a way to introduce you as an artist who paints backdrops for me <3 and then she sings a song about how shes so rich that whatever she touches rises (thats a dick joke by the way) and jack goes up to watch from a private box.

so he gets to the private box and there is someone in there and its the girl he failed at flirting with earlier and she’s like ...what the hot and crispy fried fuck are you doing in my private box you bitchboy i am a reporter who is doing reporting things and i am Not in the habit of speaking with strangers. and jack is like then why the fuck are you a reporter. and then he draws her on a newspaper while he sings a very bisexual song about love at first sight, and then he leaves the pape in the box and splits.

ok so it’s the very next day and oh good lord look at the new newsies price

so the newsies are like ya no that aint gonna fly and so jack is like lets do something! and davey goes oh shit you mean a strike? and jack is like fuck dude what an idea lets have a strike and davey’s like WOAH WOAH WOAH I SAID LIKE A STRIKE WE ARE NOT FUCKING GOING ON STRIKE. also you’re not a union :p

davey: you arent a union

jack: waht if i says we is

davey: you need to do things to be a union. you need a membership

the rest of the newsies: so are we fucking chopped liver?

davey: well you also need leaders n shit

crutchie: jack said gather round and everyone listened. do you know what it takes to get finch to listen to instructions?

davey: umm. how about a statement of purpose

jack: guess fucking what. if your dad had a union, he would still be employed

davey: oh shit your right. guess we’re a union now

okokok so now they’re a union and they sing a song about how they will make the world (hehe get it bc the planet and also the newspaper lmao) know that they are not taking any of this bullshit and there’s a whole thing about not having hats but they literally. all have hats. so umm. yeah.

ok so they’re now at jacobis for water and jewish representation and they’re like ok now we gotta spread the word. and it turns out that everyone is afraid of brooklyn bc spot conlon. so jack is like ok me and davey will do it and davey is like tf we are and then girl from before is back and is like why tf are yall afraid of brooklyn. and its because they are all homosexual for the brooklyn newsies. and because its the third largest city in the world. and she’s like okie dokie. so.

reporter girl: i’m a reporter. may i pplease... report you???

all of the newsies: no we want a man 

reporter girl: there is not a man on this earth who is going to give a fuck about this rn so take what you can get. 

newsies:

reporter girl: pwease :3

newsies: ok cool

and then the newsies leave and jack and the girl stick around for a sec and jeck is like what even is your name bro and she goes I'm katherine. plumber (?). and he's like you do not sound too sure of that miss girl and she's like its my pen name. you'll need that information later in the story *wink* and jack is like ok. write it good. :) and then kath has like a whole as breakdown where she's like this kid is a fucking tool but I gotta write it good.

ok so it's the next day and none of the other newsies are showing up to the strike bc brooklyn wants to wait until the manhattan newsies have proven they won't be scared cats. but they still do the strike, and they get the scabs to do it too. and then kathy gets a really nice picture, and then the police show up and fucking demolish them. and they get crutchie and drag him off to the refuge :((( and then jack makes it back to the lodging house and he's so fucking pissed and he sings about santa fe and how he deserves better (he does fyi)

okie dokie I think it's pretty clear I am incapable of being normal about newsies, so I'll do a part 2 if you like :) for now tho, this is really fucking long...

[we-are-inevitable]

me backstage during a literal show: ok so.

well! the show is Once. so how would you do a singer/songwriter au? -💥

starting off by saying: i have no idea how the actual industry works and i don’t really care enough to look it up but !! starting in high school:

jack is our star.

it starts in his bedroom, in a little apartment in lower manhattan that he shares with his adoptive mother Medda and his younger brother, Charlie— but really, to jack, it’s him and his guitar against the world. he’s self-taught; he doesn’t know how to read music, he can’t write notes to save his life, he’s so talented and has so much knowledge and can create something beautiful on the fly but he doesn’t know how to translate it into something tangible. he relies on sound and sound alone most times.

that being said, he does have a following, albeit small. he has a few hundred YouTube subscribers, around two thousand on tiktok, and around the same amount on instagram. he’s happy with that, since all he does is post covers, because he’s not sure how to write his own stuff. he has the vibes, he has the energy, but he doesn’t have the words.

enter david jacobs, the most underestimated boy in school (i imagine they’re in their senior year of HS when they meet). davey doesn’t really have a whole lot of friends, and the ones he does have are all kind of,, eh,, and they’re just boring. all they want to talk about is academics or debate team or politics— yknow those annoying guys in AP us history that just monopolize the conversation and play devil’s advocate? that’s what dave’s friends are like, but he’s been with them for years so he feels obligated to stay.

davey’s outlet is songwriting.

i think,, maybe jack an davey have always kind of known Of each other, and sometimes they’ll talk in the classes they share, but they’re not close at all. one day though, davey is on instagram and sees a video that jack posted of some really complex guitar work— like this— and something about it just absolutely takes over davey’s brain, and within twenty minutes he’s written lyrics to go along with jack’s playing. it’s pretty simple, since most of the heavy lifting is done by jack’s guitar anyway, but davey takes a photo of the rough lyrics and sends them to jack with:

@david.isaiah: Hey, sorry if this is weird and I hope you don’t mind, but I wrote some lyrics to go along with that piece you just posted? Feel free to ignore. Your playing is really good.

and jack reads them, figures out where the lyrics are supposed to fit, and within two hours he sends davey a video of him singing the lyrics and playing the guitar and jack really likes it. when he sees davey at school the next day, he immediately comes up to him and just starts talking.

“David! Hey, I just wanted to say thanks for writing those lyrics— they fit exactly what I was tryin’ to do, and they were so good, and I was wondering if you’d want to work together on some more stuff?”

“Work together?”

“Yeah! I have a lot of song ideas, but I don’t know how to… put the words together, I guess. I’d be willing to pay.”

“I, uh— I really just write for fun.”

“Hey, you don’t have to if you don’t want to. Just wanted to offer.”

davey thinks about it for maybe ten seconds, and that’s when it starts. after school jam sessions, with davey on piano and jack on guitar, davey writing lyrics and jack finding the sound that works for it, davey writing incredibly lyrical songs and jack posting them (with credit, obvi) until his follower count starts rising into the hundred thousands. they start recording the songs in a studio medda has connections with from past shows, and jack starts releasing everything on spotify and apple music and it’s crazy when he finally starts getting gigs, but no matter how popular he becomes he’s alway made sure to give credit where credit is due.

eventually there’s a label that really wants to pick jack up as an artist, but he refuses unless davey can stay with him as a writer, and they’ve barely just graduated high school but now davey has a career he’s passionate about and jack has a family of fans and supporters who have been with them from the very start.

years down the line, Jack Kelly is touring all across the country and David Jacobs is writing songs for some of the biggest stars on the planet, but they both come home to the same bed. they’re a power couple: there’s no Jack Kelly without David Jacobs, and vice versa. their wedding is small and beautiful and they’ve finally made it.

[ya-what--ya-erster]

so the random on crack song with Al and Race has become two gays singing about the safety of Medda's theater

So I have a few newsies songs in drafts including:

a delancey duet

race and Davey singing about Jacks betrayal

les solo!!!

davey solo

random on crack song with Albert and race being chaotic af

i might put them up

[miryum]

Maybe spot conlon x reader headcanons where reader is like, a protegee to Medda and they meet when she preforms or something?

Yes! Brilliant! Keep sending in requests guys! (I got so carried away....)

You were the protegee of Miss. Medda Larkin herself

And, as we all know, the newsies all love her

About a month after the strike, the newsies decided to get together and celebrate. Of course, Medda let them use her theater 

Medda encouraged you to be the first act, even though you blatantly disagreed

But, she practically forced you out on stage

Before your act, you peeked out from the curtain, and couldn't believe your eyes. There were so many newsies!

At the front tables sat the famous Jack Kelly and his all of his Manhattan newsies and at the adjourning tables sat newsies from Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens, Richmond, and so many more! 

You started to hyperventilate, but Medda pushed you on stage and signaled for the curtain to rise

Oh boy.

The curtain rose and the performer side of you took over

Singing one of Medda’s most famous songs, you danced around the stage, flirting with some of the newsies in the audience 

At the end of the song, you lifted your arms above your head, tucking your head down 

The place went wild

Not only had they gotten to see someone preform (and get a couple of drinks out of it), but they had seen an eligible young woman, their age, preform

And Spot Conlon was pretty sure he was in love.

The minute you had come out onstage, he thought that you were the most beautiful thing ever to walk the Earth

While on the streets of Brooklyn, he had seen a lot of pretty girls- even flirted and kissed some of them- but he realized than none compared to you

He knew that he had to talk to you

Unbeknownst to him, however, a lot of the other newsies had the same idea

After the show, he practically had to push through two dozen newsies just to talk to you

You were hovering next to Medda, smiling nervously as she talked to Jack. You weren’t really used to people flirting with you, so you just smiled, blushed, and said ‘thank you’ over and over again, trying to silently tell Medda that you were out of your comfort zone

Obviously, being the queen that Medda is, she noticed that. She just didn’t do anything about it

You were very close friends with Jack Kelly- you two had met through Medda- so when he started talking to you, you did grow more comfortable

“’Ey, uh, Jackie boy.” Spot pushed himself to the front of the small crowd, “Do ya wanna introduce me ta your friend?” 

Jack rolled his eyes, used to Spot’s flirting. But who was he going to say no to the King of Brooklyn?

“Y/n/n, this is Spot Conlon. The King of Brooklyn.” You noticed a hint of sarcasm within those words, “Spot, this is Y/n.”

Spot took off his hat and kissed your knuckles, “I don’t tink I’se ‘ad da pleasure of meetin’ such a beautiful goil such as yourself.” 

Boy, were you a blushing mess

And Spot was eating it all up

The newsies around you had quieted, knowing that when Spot claims a girl, it’s a big deal

“Thank yous.” You said, “But if I’se ‘ad known dat I would be meetin’ you taday, den I’m not sure I woulda come.” 

(Buuuuurrrrrnnnnnn!!!)

The newsies all ‘oooohhhh’ed and gasped. No one ever disrespected Spot like that!

To be honest you weren’t sure where that had come from. You weren’t the one to flirt back

But oh my god, Spot was in love

He knew that he had to get you

From then on came a long battle of wits. 

Spot would find excuses to come to Manhattan and then stay over to see your performances. He would then stay after the show and flirt with you

You, would flirt back, but not without a deeply colored blush on your cheeks at all times

Jack hated this, but what was he to do?

After a couple of weeks, Spot finally got the courage to ask you out. Who knew that the King of Brooklyn could get cold feet?

Spot had tried to ask you out a couple of times before, but he had always chickened out

“Hey Y/n?”

“Yeah Spotty?” Oh, he loved it when you called him that. 

“Well... ya know... I just wanted to tell you that you did great!” Dammit! He just couldn’t do it...

“Thanks Spot.” You softly smiled. It wasn’t often that Spot gave you a sincere compliment. But when he did, you knew that he meant it.

So, Spot tried again

He came up to you after a specially rewarding show

And frickin’ asked you out.

“Y/n.” 

“Yeah?” 

He met you backstage, out of the way of the prying eyes of the other newsies. 

You could tell that Spot was nervous- but that was a rare instance. He must wanna talk to you about something important.

“Would ya wanna do sometin’ wid me sometime?”

“Like what?” Your heart fluttered and you couldn’t believe it. Spot Conlon was asking you out on a date!!!

But of course you had to make him squirm

“I’se mean, I don’t know.” Spot shrugged. He took off his cap and ran a hand through his hair, “Whateva you wanna do.” 

“Would this be a date?” You asked, trying to bite back a large smile

“I- I mean I was tinking it would be butifyoudon’twannaden-” 

“I would love to go on a date with you, Spot. Pick me up tomorrow at eight, yeah?” 

Spot was so freakin’ relieved

“Yeah.” 

And when you kissed him on the cheek and left him standing there.... he almost died 

Needless to say, the date went wonderfully

And now that Spot had you, he was not letting go.

Let’s talk a little about your relationship with Spot *pulls up chair and clears throat* You ready for this? ‘Cause this boy is a mess.

Even though Spot is the “King of Brooklyn” this guy is a huge softie

But he can’t let his boys know that

And yet he still wants to show his affection for you.... 

As you can see, he’s very conflicted.

So, this usually results in pulling you into alleys and kissing the life outta you

No matter the social rules of the 1890s, Spot always has his arm around your shoulder or waist

He loves giving you kisses on you cheek or forehead

But the place he loves to kiss you most is your jaw and neck (cause it always leads to something else)

Spot is very very very (I can not stress this enough) very protective of you

If a boy even looks at you wrong, Spot’ll either soak him, or send his boys after the guy while he treats you like the queen you are

While on the subject of the queen you are, your official title is “Queen of Brooklyn” and all of the boys look up to you

The rare times that Medda and Jack let you go to Brooklyn, the Brooklyn boys are all very excited 

You play and sing with the younger ones, bring them all food, patch up some clothes, and let Spot take a break from the harsh duties as head of the Brooklyn newsies

But after the little ones have been put to bed, Spot pulls you into his own bed and you two have a very fun night *wink wink*

Speaking of which, Spot is always horny

Anytime that you’re onstage in those cute little costumes, Spot finds himself getting... aroused

He likes it when you wear his newsies cap or suspenders. He especially likes it when you pull him towards you using those suspenders

Ever since you and Spot got into a relationship, you had become a whole lot more confident in yourself

And Spot really likes it when you use that confidence in the bedroom

I’ll say it once, and I’ll say it again, he’s a horny boy.

Although he’s always horny, he’ll never say no to cuddles (because the poor boy is touch-starved)

But let’s be honest, all the newsies are touch-starved

Spot really likes it when he’s the big spoon or when he lays on you and you play with his hair

Spot, interestingly enough, also knows how to braid hair (not canon, just something that seems like him) 

He’ll sometimes do it before shows or just whenever he wants to

Spot loves you very much, but even the greatest couples get into arguments

On the rare occasion that you two fight, it’ll probably start with something small, but then snowball from there

For example, Spot wants you to spend more time in Brooklyn with him, but you also have other commitments to Medda and the Manhattan newsies. From there on, it comes to how Spot is too overprotective of you and won’t let you do anything but “’e’s sorry dat ‘e wants ta make sure his goil is safe!” (that was sarcastic in case you couldn’t tell)

It usually ends in either you storming out or you two coming to an uncertain ceasefire

If you were at the Brooklyn lodging house when you stormed out, Spot would hurriedly walk after you, trying not to make it seem like he cared so much. By the time he caught up to you, you were already down the street and he would always use the excuse “I can’t let my goil walk home in da dark” so that you would let him stay. You would usually make up on the walks home 

If you walked out when you were at Medda’s, Spot you try to come after you, but Medda would normally protect you. She would either make up something like “Y/n has to inspect all of her costumes for holes and tears.” or “Y/n has to go on stage soon, she can’t talk.” And then Spot would either go home or wait for you. But no matter what, he would settle this

If the fight ended in an uncertain ceasefire, you would sit on other sides of the room and talk quietly about anything but the fight. Slowly but surely, you two would inch your way back towards each other and make up

Spot figured out that he loved you ever since he first saw you patch up a littler newsie 

His love for you only grew when you would rub his shoulders and back while he ranted about the Brooklyn newsies or when you would comfort the little ones after they had a nightmare

He especially loved you when you would climb on top of him and start kissing him

When you finally turned eighteen, Spot, being the old fashion boy he is (I mean, it was the 1890s, so everyone probably did this but-) wanted to go to your father to ask him for your hand in marriage. But you didn’t really know your father. The closest thing you had to a family was Medda and the rest of the newsies. 

So, he sat Medda and Jack down and asked them good and straight, “I wanna marry Y/n. Do I’se have your permission ta do dat?” 

Jack said no but Medda smacked him upside the head

Medda said yes (of course). Seeing how happy you and Spot made each other was enough for her. She then gave Spot a really big hug that left him gasping for air

Jack, however, was a little harder to convince. But in the end, he reluctantly said yes

So, the next week, Spot proposed to you with a ring that Medda helped pay for

It was old and the gold was faded and a bit dirty, but you couldn’t love it any more

Spot’s engagement speech was really sweet: “Y/n. I’se know dat I’m a poor newsie, but that doesn’t limit my love fo’ you. You’re da light of my life and ‘ave made me a much better man. I hope dat you accept dis ring an’ make me da ‘appiest man alive by marryin’ me.”

Davey helped him write it 

But you said yes (obviously) and you two spent the rest of your lives together in a very happy marriage 

[to-be-a-dreamer]

Julie and the Phantoms AU

What's going on y'all I've been enabled so now y'all get some half-baked angst!

Huge thanks to @we-are-inevitable for helping me finish this AU because it's been sitting on the back burner for literal months and I could never figure out all the details on my own.

CW: death, homophobia, terminal illness, emotional abuse

Okay, so! Here's the characters we're working with (they're not perfect stand-ins, this is just the general role they'll be fulfilling in the story)

Jack Kelly - Julie Molina

Racetrack Higgins - Rose Molina (he's Jack's younger brother tho)

Charlie Morris- Carlos Molina

Medda Larkin - Ray Molina

Spot Conlon - Flynn Taylor

David Jacobs - Luke Patterson

Sarah Jacobs - Alex Mercer

Albert DaSilva - Reggie Peters

Katherine Pulitzer - Willie

Joseph Pulitzer - Caleb Covington

Bryan Denton - Tia Victoria

Don't ask about Nick and Carrie, we don't talk about them, they've caused me so many problems in this AU. There's a version floating around in my brain with Spot and Race as Nick and Carrie. I've been through some things.

ANYWHO I have no idea how to structure this post because there is so much going on so we're just gonna start and hope for the best. I think we'll go by character and talk about where each of them is at the beginning of the story because I don't 100% know how everything fits together yet. Fingers crossed that this is somewhat comprehensible.

(Also, in case you haven't watched the show, Luke, Reggie, and Alex are all members of the band Sunset Curve, who died in 1995 before manifesting as ghosts in 2020. So when I'm talking about David, Sarah, Albert, and Les, their backstories take place in 1995)

Jack Kelly

Jack loves music, it’s basically his entire life. He spends all his free time out in the garage writing and playing songs with his little brother, Race. They would always talk about making it big one day and becoming a famous singing duo. But really what Jack loved was being able to share something special with his brother. He never felt closer to Race than when they were making music together. The two of them would sit side-by-side at the piano with their youngest brother, Charlie, and their adoptive mother, Medda, listening to them play and joining in when they knew the words. Those impromptu little concerts with the three people he loved most in the world were some of the happiest memories of Jack’s life.

Then Race got sick. Then Jack had to watch his fun-loving, goofy, energetic little brother waste away in a hospital bed so quickly it made Jack’s head spin. Then Jack was left with a garage full of instruments he couldn’t bear to play and half-written songs he didn't know how to finish.

He's still close with his mom and Charlie, but there's been a... shift... in the air around the house. He's written some short poems, but nothing substantial, nothing like what he used to write with Race. Jack doesn't play the piano anymore. He doesn't sing in the car or the kitchen like he used to. He hasn't even so much as hummed since Race died. He can't. Every time he even considers making music all he can think about is Race using what little strength he had left to ask Jack to sing for him one last time. All he can see is his little brother taking his last breaths as Jack sang him a soft, desperate plea. ("You'll never know, dear, how much I love you. Oh, please don't take my sunshine away")

Jack doesn't want to sing anymore. He can't sing anymore. So he doesn't. He tries to pretend that he doesn't need music anymore and just goes on with his life as best he can. He cheers at Charlie's Buddy Ball games and helps his Ma cook dinner every night and bothers his Uncle Denton at work and laughs with his best friend, Spot, and does everything he can to ignore the gaping hole in his heart.

He doesn't need music. Not really. He doesn't even want to make music without Race there to do it with him.

Jack Kelly does not need music.

He doesn't.

Don't ask why he still signs up to be in the music program the next school year. Don't ask why he can't bear to sell his keyboard like he told Medda he was planning to. Don't ask why he's so so disappointed in himself when he can't bring himself to just play when he's told he has one last chance to participate in music class before he gets kicked out.

It doesn't matter.

David Jacobs

David loves music, it’s basically his entire life. He loves singing, he loves playing guitar, he loves writing songs, he loves everything about it. He lives and breathes music, he doesn't want to do anything with his life other than make music to share with the world. That's the whole problem.

His parents have always told him he has great "potential". That he's smart enough to get into the top universities in the country and to get a full-ride basically anywhere. All he has to do is focus on his studies and fill out his resume with extracurriculars and work experience. Apparently, spending every waking hour of the day writing songs and rehearsing with his band doesn't count as "extracurriculars" to them.

He knows they just want what's best for him, he knows they just want him to get into a good college and get a good job one day. He knows that. But he just wishes they would understand that music is what he's passionate about, it's what he loves, and it's the only thing that makes him feel truly alive. David knows he's smart, he knows he could probably go to some big-shot college and become a lawyer or a doctor or something but he doesn't want to. He wants to write songs and share them with the world. He wants to do something actually meaningful with his life.

It's... tense... at home, to say the least. His parents get mad every time he brings home any grade less than an A, which is becoming increasingly more common as Sunset Curve, the band Davey started with his twin sister, Sarah, and their two best friends, Albert and Bobby, has started gaining some real traction in Hollywood. (I think Bobby is still Bobby, it doesn't really change anything about the story so he might morph into one of the Delanceys at some point, I dunno) His mom keeps signing him up for after-school activities against his wishes and then gets upset when he blows off the meetings to rehearse with the band. His dad keeps trying to get him a job at the company he works for but Davey never sticks around long enough for him to set up an interview. He manages to pacify them a bit by volunteering as an assistant coach for his little brother, Les's, little league team, but it barely helps.

The last straw for David is the day his sister, Little Miss Perfect Sarah, who had always followed every single outrageous rule and expectation his parents gave her, manages to work up the courage to come out to their parents and they act like she just confessed to a murder. There's a lot of yelling and, for the first time in his life, David worries that his mother might hit Sarah, she looks so angry. His sister leaves the house with tears streaming down her face and David moves to follow her before realizing he would be leaving Les alone with his parents looking absolutely murderous. He doesn't think they would actually hurt Les, but he's not taking any chances.

As David sits in bed with his little brother curled up at his side and trying to block out the sound of his parents fighting with each other over whose "fault" this was, David finally accepts what he's always tried to deny.

His parents would never truly accept him. He'd always wondered if he just did what they wanted, if he just worked hard to keep his grade up and joined all the clubs they wanted and got into a good college and got a good job that they would be proud of him. He had convinced himself that they would, that he was choosing their disappointment by pursuing a career in music.

But now he knew better. If they could manage to go from looking at his sister as if she'd hung the stars in the sky to borderline disowning her in a split second, they could never truly love him. Their love was and always had been conditional, and David had no intentions of fulfilling those conditions just to be accepted by the people who had never even tried to understand him.

Sarah came back after spending a couple nights at the studio (aka, Bobby's garage) but it didn't change David's mind. His mother kept insulting Sarah every chance she got and his father wouldn't even look at her. The twins spent a lot of time writing songs together at the studio, avoiding their parents together. Sarah insists that she's okay, that she had expected their parents to react the way they did and she just wanted to wait out the storm until they hopefully came around. David sees straight through her lie but doesn't comment on it.

David isn't sure what does it. But one day he's finally had enough. He comes home with yet another B- on an English paper and endures the lecture from his father and the screaming from his mother with a blank stare and no emotion in his heart other than mild disgust. Then he goes to his room, packs as much as he can into a duffle bag, and heads straight to Sarah's room. She knows exactly what he's doing without a single word exchanged between them.

"So that's it, huh?" "Come with me." "Davey, I can't" "Sarah, they're never going to change! Never. I know you want to fix things with them but there's nothing to fix. They never loved us. Not really. Not in the way you want them to." "Don't you think I know that? I'm not stupid, Davey, I know this isn't the way things are supposed to be but it's the way things are. And I- I know it's pathetic but I want them to love me. I want my parents back. So... so I have to try, Davey, just let me try." "...Fine. You know where to find me once you've had enough of their bullshit." "What should I tell Les?" "I- I'll figure that out later. I'll skip class and catch him at school before he gets on the bus and say goodbye then. I just. I can't stay here another second."

So Davey leaves and hides out at the studio. He never manages to catch Les in time to talk to him but Sarah tells him plenty of stories about what's going on at home. It took his parents three days to realize he was gone. They weren't happy. Davey couldn't care less about their happiness.

His parents don't even try to get him to come home, which just reinforces Davey's certainty that he did the right thing. According to Sarah, they're "waiting him out", expecting him to come running back to them within a week.

Davey never sees his parents again.

He's not particularly bothered.

Davey spends all of his time writing songs about anything and everything. Some of it meaningless, most of it not. He's never been that great at talking to people, so he pours every pent-up emotion he's been feeling for years into his songs. His anger towards his parents, his pleas to his sister, his regrets about his brother, his desperation to make something of himself. He writes about all of it. Some of the songs make it onto Sunset Curve's setlist, but most of them stay in his song journal.

His grades don't get any better or worse, but Sunset Curve gets big. Or, at least, big for a garage band of self-taught high schoolers with about $12 between the four of them. They start booking bigger and bigger gigs and they even manage to pull some favors and scrape together enough cash to self-record an EP.

Then their big break comes. A featured show at the Orpheum! It's everything Davey and his friends have been working towards for years. It's their chance to make it big, for real. Davey thinks about inviting his parents so they can see that he wasn't delusional, that his dreams weren't just stupid fantasies. But he talks himself out of it almost instantly. He doesn't need to prove anything to them. He doesn't want to prove anything to them. They already showed him their true colors and Davey didn't regret his choices.

The only thing he regrets is that he had to leave Les. His little brother didn't do anything wrong and he was one of the only good things about living in that house. He misses Les every single day and considers going back just for him. Sarah tells him that Les didn't handle his running away well and she can only do so much for him. Their parents haven't been taking out their anger on Les, that's the only thing giving David enough strength to stay away.

He knows it's for the best, he genuinely would have lost his mind if he had to stay in that house any longer. That doesn't make him feel any better.

His songs about Les stay private.

Sarah Jacobs

Sarah likes music. She likes her drums, even if her mother would prefer for her to spend more time practicing piano. She likes helping her brother write songs for their band and goofing off with her friends in the studio. But what she really loves is performing. There's just something about being on a stage in front of a crowd of people, buzzing with energy and knowing that she's about to blow them all away. It makes her feel absolutely electric and leaves no doubt in her mind that this is what she wants to do with the rest of her life.

If only she could muster up the courage to tell her parents that.

She admired Davey for how little he managed to care about what their parents thought. Maybe he just had a passion for music that Sarah lacked. Maybe there was more pressure on him to succeed, therefore it was easier for him to disappoint, and therefore it was easier for him to stop caring in the first place. Maybe she was just a coward.

As much as she knew that it shouldn't matter what her parents thought, as much as she knew she would be better off taking a page out of her brother's book and just doing what made her happy, as much as she knew she had what it took to succeed in music, Sarah wanted nothing more than for her parents to be proud of her. And that meant keeping her grades above a B, staying in ballet classes, going to a good college, and getting a "real" job.

Sarah hated herself for how well she played the role of Perfect Daughter. She hated how easily she slipped into the pleasant, kind, soft-spoken little girl her parents had raised her to be. She hated how she kept her head down whenever her parents ripped into David for whatever way he'd managed to disappoint them this time. She hated how no one knew who she really was, not even herself.

She wanted to be able to listen to the kind of music she liked and not be scolded for it. She wanted to wear clothes that felt like her and not like she was dressing up in a costume as someone else. She wanted to do and love and enjoy the things that she wanted to do and love and enjoy. She so was sick of pretending to be someone she wasn't. She wanted it to stop. Sarah Jacobs wanted to be herself more than anything else in the world.

Maybe that's why she did it.

Maybe that's why she had looked her mother in the eye and managed to gather up enough courage to be honest with herself for once in her life.

She wasn't sure what she had been expecting.

She knew what she had wanted. She had wanted her mother to prove her wrong. To look at her with the same amount of love and adoration she always had and to tell Sarah that she loved her no matter what she did, no matter who she loved.

Sarah isn't surprised to find herself sobbing alone, curled up on the couch in the studio after listening to two people who were supposed to love her unconditionally call her the vilest names in the English language.

And it hurts. It hurts so so much. She had always known, deep down inside, that her parents would never accept her for who she was. That was why she had always hidden her true self so deep down that even Sarah herself didn't know what her true colors were.

She had always known what would happen when she finally revealed those colors.

But knowing you're about to be stabbed doesn't make it hurt less. It doesn't stop the knife from piercing straight through your chest, making it impossible to breathe through the pain. It doesn't stop you from feeling the blade twisting inside your heart, destroying every last shred of hope.

She goes back home. David tells her to stay at the studio, that he'll take care of her there and that it'll be easier, in the long run, to cut their parents off then and there. She knows he's right. But she can't help but want her parents to love her again. If they had ever truly loved her to begin with.

So she goes back, she endures the anger and the hatred, she watches her brother leave her to pick up the broken pieces of their family all alone, she lets her parents blame her for David leaving, she lets Les scream that he hates her for not stopping him, and she lets him come back an hour later to sob through his apology.

She lets it happen.

And her parents stop screaming at her every time she walks by, resorting to ignoring her as if that meant she didn't exist. And Les stops begging her to convince David to come home, deciding he hates his older brother for leaving him and crying into David's pillow when he thinsk she wasn't looking. And Sarah plays her role of the perfect daughter when they're out in public, resisting the urge to flinch every time her mother puts an arm around her waist with a fake smile plastered on her face.

She had revealed one of her true colors and it had ruined everything.

She didn't regret it for a second.

Charlie Morris

Charlie is ten years old. That doesn't make him stupid. He understands what's going on around him, no matter how hard his mama and his older brothers try to hide just how bad things are. He knows why Medda is constantly working overtime, but makes sure it's only at night so she can spend every possible second at home with her boys. He knows why Jack looks so sad and lost all the time and why he can hardly bear to let his little brothers out of his sight for longer than a few minutes. He knows why Race isn't going to school anymore and why he doesn't help out at Charlie's Buddy Ball games like he used to and why he keeps waking up in the middle of the night with coughing fits so loud Charlie can't sleep through them even though their bedrooms are on opposite sides of the house.

He knows why Medda and Jack look so frantic when they can't get Charlie's big brother to stop coughing and just breathe and why Medda makes him and Jack stay in the other room when the ambulance comes and why Jack is holding onto him so tightly while they wait for Uncle Denton to arrive. He knows why the doctors and nurses keep giving him sad smiles while he sits in the hard, uncomfortable chair of the hospital waiting room and why his mama looks so sad when she tells him he has to say goodbye to his big brother and why Race looks so unbelievably tired as he manages to give Charlie a small smile.

He knows why Race doesn't say anything when Charlie lays down next to him and just wraps an arm around his shoulders, letting Charlie ramble about everything and nothing. He knows why Race rarely even opens his eyes over the next few days and why Jack stops driving him to school in the mornings. Instead, Uncle Denton picks him up and brings him to the hospital where Medda and Jack had spent the night. He knows why everyone looks so heartbroken when Race finally manages to stay awake long enough to talk and his only request is for Jack to sing to him.

He knows why his mama is hugging him tight to her chest, her tears soaking into his hair, as the steady beeping that was always running slowed to a stop. He knows why Jack breaks down into heartwrenching sobs as soon he finishes his song. He knows why Uncle Denton doesn't even say anything, he just pulls Jack into his arms and stares at Race. At his body.

Charlie knows why he's never going to see his big brother again. He knows why Jack won't even hum along to the radio anymore and he knows why Medda can't bear to touch anything in Race's room, even though there's dirty laundry on the floor and he knows she hates that. He knows why Uncle Denton keeps bringing homemade dinners over every single night and why he keeps smiling and joking as if nothing's wrong. He knows why his teachers don't seem mad when he doesn't have any of his homework done when he comes back to school two weeks later.

He knows what Medda and Jack mean when they sit him down and gently explain that Race had to "go away" to "be an angel". He knows that Jack can barely drag himself out of bed every morning and that Medda is struggling just to hold herself together as it is. He knows that they don't need him to be having a breakdown every time he feels like it (which is fairly often, if he's being honest). He knows that at least one person in his family needs to be okay.

So he tries his best to go back to normal, to tell Jack all about this day like he always does, even when he just wants his brother to hold him close and let him cry. Jack smiles every time, so Charlie thinks it's worth it. He tells his mama jokes and stories while she cooks dinner, even though he wants to tell her about how much he misses his brother and how angry he is that he had to go. Medda laughs at his jokes every time, and Charlie knows it's worth it.

Uncle Denton gets him a tablet for his eleventh birthday, and Charlie discovered pages upon pages of stories, information, and videos about ghosts and the afterlife. Charlie thinks a part of him knows that none of it is true, but come on, can you blame him for wishing there was a way to know Race was still out there somewhere?

That's all Charlie wants. He just wants his big brother back.

Les Jacobs

Les is ten years old. That doesn't make him stupid. He understands what's going on around him, no matter how hard his older siblings try to hide it from him. He knows that Davey and his parents are always one wrong look away from the next fight. He knows Sarah would do anything in the world to make their parents happy, even though they treat her like garbage. He knows that as soon as he's old enough for his parents to start setting expectations of him, he'll be going through the exact same things.

He knows that it wasn't Sarah's fault that Davey left, and he'll feel sick to his stomach for the rest of his life every time he thinks about the things he said to her when he was too angry and hurt to think straight.

He knows that Davey would have moved mountains for him, that he never would have left Les if he had any choice. But he still can't understand why he never even said goodbye. He can't understand why Davey never came back for him. He can't understand why Davey would leave him and Sarah to fend for themselves.

He can't decide which of his siblings is being braver, David for having the strength to get out while he still could, or Sarah for having the strength to stay and try to fix things. Either way, Les is glad to have her around and, years later, when he knows that those three months were the worst three months of his life, his biggest regret in the world is that he never took a break from his forced anger to tell Sarah how much he loved her.

His parents dismiss Sarah's invitation to the band's show with an air of annoyance and indifference, but Les couldn't be happier. Davey would be there. And as much as Les has been trying to hate his older brother for more-or-less abandoning him, he can't help but feel giddy at the prospect of seeing him again. Sarah arranges for him to ride to the show with Bobby's parents under the guise that Les is spending the night with a friend.

Les is giddy with excitement the whole week leading up to the show and, as Sarah tells him goodbye before she leaves a few hours early to run a soundcheck, Les barely even gives her a second look, too busy digging through his closet to find the matching shirt he and Davey had gotten on vacation the year before.

It's not until days later that he realizes that was the last time he saw his big sister alive.

He's not quite sure why Bobby's parents seem so worried when they arrive at the theatre. It's a bit empty outside but they are kinda early. He doesn't like how Mrs. Shaw squeezes his hand tighter while she speaks softly to the worker at the ticket booth with a mixture of shock and horror on her face. He can’t understand why Bobby is sitting alone backstage or why he bursts into tears the second he sees Les or why he can’t stop crying long enough to answer him when he asks “Where’s Davey?”

His parents don’t show up at the hospital for nearly four hours. No one can get ahold of them, apparently. Les isn’t sure where they could be. He doesn’t know what could possibly be more important.

Albert’s dad and brothers are around somewhere, Les saw them come in but they didn’t exactly exchange small talk.

Bobby and his parents are the ones to tell him what happened. Mrs. Shaw is the one to pull him in close and wrap him tight in her arms while he cries. Mr. Shaw is the one to hold his hand when they finally let him see his siblings after hours and hours of begging. Bobby is the one to hold him close when he runs out of tears and can’t bear to do anything else.

Les is ten years old. That doesn’t make him stupid. He knows that his parents are the reason Davey never came home. He knows his parents are the reason Sarah was so miserable all the time. He knows that maybe they couldn’t have done anything to stop what happened that night, but they sure as hell took away Les’ chance to say goodbye.

So when his parents finally show up having the audacity to look like they’d been crying, Les doesn’t run into his mother’s waiting arms when she calls out to him. He buries his head back in Bobby’s shoulder and ignores her, just like she ignored every desperate plea Sarah ever cried. He pulls away from his father’s uncharacteristically gentle touch and begins to walk away. And when his father tries to follow after him, like he never, ever did for Davey, Les yells at them to leave him alone, in the coldest voice he can muster.

He never quite remembers exactly what he said to them, but he knows it was all true. That they were the ones who drove Davey away, that they never once believed in him, that he was right to leave them, and that Les is surprised he stuck around for as long as he did. That they treated Sarah like she was nothing, less than nothing, that she had done everything for them, that all she had ever wanted was for them to love her. He tells them that his siblings died hating them and that he would die the same way.

He’s pretty sure Bobby’s parents stuttered out something about grief and Les not really meaning it but he did. And his parents knew he did. Because they knew he was right.

They could spend the rest of his childhood honoring his siblings and pretending they were heartbroken. They could keep trying to have a relationship with him and keep trying to “learn from their mistakes”. They could give Les the entire world and it wouldn’t change what they had done.

They had stolen something from Les that he could never get back, and he had no intentions of ever forgiving them for that.

Yeah so those are the only characters I've put a lot of thought into, so we're gonna do a rapid-fire version of the last four that are important to the plot. They'll all probably develop more as the AU goes on, and feel free to send an ask if one of them catches your eye!

Albert DaSilva

Listen, I love Reggie Peters with all my heart, he's probably my favorite character on the show. But I could not for the life of me figure out what to do with him in this AU. Jac suggested Albert be the third member of Sunset Curve and while I'm super excited to explore this version of the character, I have absolutely zero thoughts about his backstory.

Like, I guess I could do what I did with David and Sarah and just. combine his Newsies fanon backstory with his JATP counterpart's backstory, but I'm not 100% sure how to do that. He's definitely got some kind of daddy(?) issues 'cause I'm giving him Reggie's one-sided friendship with Ray/Medda

As of right now, Davey and Sarah are having a shared crisis, and Albert's just having fun hanging out with Medda and messing around with Charlie. He is simply vibing.

I told Jac that he would probably gain some trauma as the AU progressed and they responded, and I quote, "i cannot WAIT for this"

Send me an ask if you want Albert to get trauma and/or daddy issues.

Spot Conlon

Spot as Flynn is probably the best decision I have ever made in my entire life because they're such different characters but also they are exactly the same.

He’s doing all the same things that Flynn does, he tries to help Jack stay the music program, he gets mad when Jack lies to him about the band, he helps Jack get through the ups and downs of life, and he’s Jack’s #1 fan (he’ll accept being tied for first with Medda and Charlie)

It’s just. He’s also Spot. If you know what I mean. I don’t know how else to describe his role in the story, he’s Jack’s ride or die and that’s all there is to it.

Spot’s still a DJ I think, but I feel like he’s got a funny story for how he got into doing that. Or just how he ended up in the music program in general. Also, yes, during the I Got The Music scene, Jack does daydream Spot rapping. He’s very confused afterwards but I think it’s funny so it stays.

Joseph Pulitzer

He's taking on Caleb's role.

He's a creepy magician guy.

He manipulates his daughter.

He sucks.

That is all.

(I mean like I'll give him a backstory if you want but yeah, his main character trait is: sucks)

Katherine Pulitzer

Katherine my beloved!!!!

Okay so her backstory is incredibly involved with Pulitzer's (duh) so I guess this is kind of like a 2-for-1 type thing here.

Anywho, Katherine and her father were a double act together performing magic! I'm thinking around the 1970s or 1980s ish. She enjoyed performing but she wasn't a fan of her dad. He didn't really care about her, he just cared about how he could use her to make his show better.

She's only seventeen, so she doesn't really have a choice, but she's been making plans to get away from him the second she can, and then... well... she's not really sure. She's going to start out performing on her own, just to make enough money to keep a roof over her head, and then she'll figure it out from there. Maybe she'll find something she's actually passionate about. Maybe she'll be a performer for the rest of her life.

Katherine doesn't care. All she cares about is getting away and making something of herself. She doesn't care what she ends up doing with her life as long as it's something she can call hers.

Yeah so then a few months before her 18th birthday, one of her father's magic acts goes horribly, horribly wrong and that's the end of her story.

And then she becomes a ghost.

And now she's stuck under her father's thumb for the rest of eternity.

If only someone would come along and help her learn that she doesn't have to let her father define her and that she does have the power to stand up to him and take him down. And if only that someone was also very smart and funny and pretty and was a drummer in a 1995 rock band and was also struggling with figuring out who she was without her parents around to tell her....

IF ONLY

So yeah! That's more or less everything I have for this AU so far! I do have some ideas in mind for different scenes and overarching plotlines, so please please do drop an ask if you want to hear more! Ideas include but are not limited to:

Unsaid Emily scene but with Les! (I have a song in mind :D)

Wake Up scene but with Jack!

Les growing up and having to watch his siblings' best friend getting famous off the songs he stole from them (see it's even Worse because most of the songs are about his family because Davey wrote all of them)

Jack and Charlie having a nice little heart-to-heart about grief and such (it is criminal that we never got a scene between Julie and Carlos talking about how his obsession with ghosts and the supernatural was his way of coping with his mother's death)

Sarah and Katherine meeting for the first time

Albert telling Jack about Les (That scene from episode 5 where Julie calls Luke selfish and Alex+Reggie tell her about his mom)

Sarah running off to the studio after coming out to her parents (I have an idea for this scene that involves Albert! Mans gets to actually do things!)

Once again, huge thanks to Jac for their help with this AU and I hope y'all like it! I have spent two days writing this post instead of working on a paper that's due in 2.5 hours! Haha send help :D

[starlitink]

Made my sisters watch 92sies the other night. Here are some of the more memorable quotes from last night.

*Spot shows up onscreen* "OUR SHORT KING!"

*Medda sings her first song* "She would never sing something like that. She's a sass queen and she sings songs about being a sass queen."

*makes a rude hand gesture at Snyder* "Don't tell Mom I did that."

"*infodumps about the hidden nuances of the movie and how it compares to the actual Newsboy's Strike of 1899*"

"Every time you say that Davey and Jack are gay, the TV freezes up. I think our TV might be homophobic." "Straight. Straight. Heterosexual. Straighter than a ruler. Those two totally don't have any romantic or sexual tension whatsoever."

*singing along to Santa Fe* "I NEED SPRACE! NOT JUST AIR! LET ‘EM LAUGH IN MY FACE, I DON’T CARE!"

"Jack wants to go to Santa Fe. The horse just wants the stinking kid off his back." "Hey, it's not his fault. He doesn't have access to a tub."

"Christian Bale can sing... and he plays Batman... so where's our Batman musical?"

*aggressively tapdances on the couch*

"Sarah has the role of a lifetime. She's the only girl in a film of a dozen-plus hot guys."

"Well, since we're all taking our shirts off..." "Put your shirt back on."

[the-calvarys-coming-out]

I LOVE livesies and 92sies but...

Yeah. Livesies performance and dancing are amazing. The music is incredible. There's a lot of talent and better resources and techniques --which is normal. There's a reason why directors don't want to work with casts full of children.

But the 92sies plot and message is absolutely better. 92sies is about working class people vs rich people. They have adults helping them (Denton, Medda, David's parents). Livesies is about kids vs adults.

In 92sies they tell us that we can beat the rich people if we stay united and help each other. That the working class need each other's help. In livesies the idea of asking other kids to join the strike is a rich girl's idea and it's executed with the help of two more rich kids. They --the rich kids-- say that the problem is that they're getting old. No, dear, the problem is capitalism and you're part of the problem bc if the strike fails you go to your dad's house with pockets full of money, while the working class kids don't have anything to eat. That's the problem.

In 92sies they're getting support. First all the newsboys' support. Then, they get all the kid's.

In livesies there's so little time between Brooklyn comes and the crusade that you don't feel this grow step by step. It's very rushed.

Brooklyn realeted --it feels odd in livesies. They're talking all the time about spot conlon, how they want his help, how he's feared, but then... we only have him singing one song with all his newsies and nothing else. We don't get to see this incredible spot conlon about whom they've created all that expectation. We only see a strong boi dressed in red.

Yes, I like Katherine. But my ideal version of newsies wouldn't have her. Not as we know her. Maybe she could be a reporter interested in the strike, or even Pulitzer's rebel daughter (even though it's creepy bc she died at 2 yo), but she wouldn't be the one who has the amazing idea that puts an end to the strike. This would be the working kids' idea. Idc if it's a newsboy's or a newsgirl's but it theirs. Because this is a story about working class children, nor about rich ones.

Livesies es cool. I like it. Most of my content is livesies. I like the characters and I think they've done an amazing job giving each of then a personality and something unique. I like Katherine and I love making headcanons of her getting used to the newsies' life and writing articles everytime something happens to them. I like the songs better than the 92sies' and I like the dancing and acting better too. But, when it comes to plot and development, 92sies is superior.

[tarantulas4davey]

hey do u wanna talk about the midnight mischiefs for a bit? i’ll sit and listen and nod -💥

ur the best and i love u

⚠️attention everyone:⚠️ rizz is a bad bestie and doesn’t know the name of the au. everyone shame rizz /j

i’m dumb so i forgot it originally but find jac ( @we-are-inevitable ‘s) original band post here cause all my thoughts are actually jac’s, fun fact

i’m gonna talk about them based on how they are once they’ve gotten to being a functional touring band, but if y’all wanna hear how they are when the band’s just getting started like they are in the first fic, just lemme know !! concept art for the boys and their instruments are included with the character descriptions under the cut <3

The Midnight Misfits 🤘🌙

Jack Kelly:

22

July 7th

lead vocals and rhythm guitar

sort’ve a little shit honestly

the adoptive son to Medda Larkin and older brother of one Racetrack Higgins, he’s the ringleader of a lot of shenanigans, and it translates well to being their lead vocalist, even when he doesn’t write much music.

he’s been playing the guitar since he was about 12, and he’s better now than he’s ever been, but Race is their lead guitarist for a reason. Jack likes to be able to focus on singing and interacting with the crowd, so he gladly takes the rhythm guitar line

he’s an entertainer, first and foremost. he loves everything about being on stage - the energy, the crowd, the music, his band mates, singing and playing, absolutely all of it.

he’s also an artist, in the most basic sense. his guitar was hand painted by him, and it’s one of the only material things in his life he considers a “prized possession.” he’s always got a sketchbook stored somewhere, and his band mates are more often than not the subject of his art, especially Davey.

speaking of Davey, they get together two or three after the start of the band, about two years before this point. he is so utterly smitten and has been since before the band was formed, and his other bandmates tease him RELENTLESSLY for it, even if some of them are worse than he is.

absolute short king that gets memed on twitter every time they’re at a red carpet because for some reason they keep putting Jack (5’7) between Albert (6’2) and Davey (6’4) during interviews, making him look Tiny

David “Davey” Jacobs:

22

May 13th

drums (and vocals, occasionally)

such an underrated icon in this ngl

he works really closely with Albert, considering how interconnected the bass and drum lines are, but also because as a unit these two write roughly 90% of all the band’s music

(younger) twin brother of Sarah, who also happens to be dating their touring manager, Katherine. Sarah plays drums when Davey’s singing lead for any reason, and they have a little brother, Les, who’s about 15 by this point

he’s been a drummer since he first learned hitting stuff made noise, but he got his first actual drum kit at age nine for his birthday and hasn’t looked back since

the most likely to get lost in the music and forget he’s on stage when he’s drumming, so there’s lots of fantastic pictures of him on stage taken by fans. he’s also got an unbelievable voice, but he hates being the center of attention and would rather just let Jack do the singing most of the time

expresses most of his emotions through song, especially the romantic ones, so if you track the songs he’s written from oldest to most recent you can literally follow the path of his and Jack’s relationship and how it developed from his pov

also he put a kick me sticker on his kick drum cause he thinks he’s funny n he’s right

Charlie Morris:

23

december 21st

keyboard and backup vocals

SUCH A KING

he’s the oldest age wise but he’s ALWAYS up to something and is honestly such a little shit. he is truly the enabling older brother even though he’s not technically related to any of the other boys, even by adoption

he picked up classical piano in elementary school, but he never really got into it until he learned how to play more mainstream music. he can play loads of other instruments, but an accident permanently damaged his leg, so he can’t stand to play most of them on stage for a full show without his crutches

he’s always so hype, playing off Jack to the crowd and getting everyone to sing along. if Jack ever starts just messing with the crowd on stage, Charlie’s always the first one to quip something clever back at him

he’s usually helping Albert and Davey write music, but he doesn’t have a ton of interest in writing the lyrics themself. he’s ace/aro, and he loves making jokes about how many love songs he’s forced to sing by his sappy ass bandmates.

started the tradition of going to 24h diners at 3am on their off days while they’re touring. it’s a time they’re least likely to get recognized by a lot of people, and who doesn’t love some good breakfast food? also the one that encourages Jack and Albert when they start bickering and wrestling in the parking lot cause he’s a menace

so many peolple are in love with him n he’s the most likely of the boys to get proposed to by a fan

Antonio “Racetrack” Higgins:

21

August 17th

lead guitar (and vocals, if he must)

this Race is one of my favorites tbh

he started playing guitar when he was nine, and he’s by far the best at it out of the band. he loves crazy complicated riffs and combinations, and his boyfriend writes all of them in just for him. he also came up with the original idea to start a band, even if he credits Albert with getting them off the ground

Albert is said boyfriend. literally half the songs in their entire discography are about Race. he literally gets named in the songs (by Toni, Race, or even Higgins) more than once

he LOVES being on stage but he usually hates singing. he still always has a mic in front of him, and he’s quite good, he just doesn’t like it. most of the time he uses him mic to laugh when Albert starts singing about him or to riff off Jack and Charlie’s jokes

their first hit single, Running Around, is a song about him, and it’s the theme of his guitar that he had Jack paint for him. there’s also a little reference that matches with Albert from one of the couple songs he’s written himself

He’s been with Albert since before they formed a band, and you can see it by the way they interact on stage even when they’re not looking at each other. they didn’t tell any fans they were dating for the first year, but a lot of people clocked them anyway based on the way they look at each other in interviews

so goddamn chaotic. at the beginning of their careers they used to have to turn Race’s mic off cause he wouldn’t stop interrupting songs to talk cause he was so excited there was that many people to listen to him

Albert Dasilva:

21

October 28th

bass and backup vocals

ANOTHER UNDERRATED KING

he didn’t start playing bass until high school, but like Charlie he plays multiple instruments. he’s just the only one in the band that can play bass, and they needed it for the type of music they make and enjoy

so fuckin in love with Race. he’s so down bad it’s not even funny. he wrote all of the songs on their first EP and literally all of them are about a certain blond haired blue eyed boy

like i said earlier, he works A LOT with Davey. they both understand each other’s processes really well, especially by now, and they’re just a good team. him and Jack get along like a house of fire, in the best way, and Charlie always takes his side against Jack out of spite

not really a fan favorite, although the people that love him LOVE HIM, and a lot of the boys in the band credit him with really getting the band started (against his will). he wrote their first original music AND offered up Midnight Misfits as their band name, which ended up sticking

he’s technically the baby of the band, but he acts like the oldest a lot of the time. he’s the one with the most difference between interviews and the stage, especially compared to Jack and Race, so people that watch concert clips tend to love him a lot more than people that just watch sit down interviews

there’s the boys !! this is so chaotic and such an info dump LMAO

i love u sm rizz !!! mwah mwah mwah thank u for letting me yell at you about these idiots

[tending-the-hearth]

listen y'all can have your preferences on Sarah Jacobs, but i'm sharing some soft hcs about her because she doesn't get talked about enough and it makes me very sad:

Sarah takes up a job at the Lodging House, working as a bookkeeper for Kloppman so he can slow down a bit. All the Jacobs kids are absolute nerds, and Sarah is incredibly smart, and all the newsies adore her.

She tracks all the payments and sales, and if she notices a newsie is falling behind in their sales, she pulls them aside quietly and helps them to pick up their sales and find new areas.

Sarah always wanted to go to a real school, like David and Les, so being able to work on her mathematics while working for Kloppman means more to her than anyone will ever know. Mayer and Esther are so proud of their daughter, and give her any help she needs.

her nickname becomes Bear, purely because of the day that the Delancey brothers attempted to rough up Pie Eater, and Sarah decked both of them without breaking a sweat, and now everyone knows not to mess with Manhattan or their Mama Bear.

If Jack finds any new kids, especially if they're little kids, he takes them to Sarah first, before he introduces them to the other newsies.

Sarah, David, and Jack are the ones who visit Pulitzer every few months to make sure he's holding up his end of the deal, and to negotiate things if needed.

Spot will send his newsies over to Manhattan if he needs assistance, and they only ask for Sarah or David.

Sarah also helps out at Medda's theater, fixing costumes, helping to paint props. If he's not extremely busy, Jack joins her, and the two sit and chat while working.

That's how their relationship develops more, and they fall in love even more during those little moments together.

Jack calls Sarah "lovey-dovey" because it's one of his favorite songs that Medda sings, so when they're alone together, he'll sing it softly to her under his breath, and it always makes her laugh, especially when he pulls her into a dance.

Sarah's the first person Jack really opens up to about his past, about what really happened in the Refuge.

[turtlegirlave]

So this has a ton of opinions which I usually stray away from but i really let all my opinions out here. Also there is definitely fact mistakes, probably name mistakes and some incorrect singing terms in here, I wrote this at 2 A.M. with a limited knowledge of theater I’m just trying to get a point across.

Why s2 of hsm the series should have been newsies instead of beauty and the beast:

They say straight up in the show “we need a real Alan Menkhen musical” and they pick beauty and the beast instead of newsies, a literal Broadway stage production???

At first I assumed it was because the cast was primarily male, but that isn’t even a reasonable argument. 1)as shown by s1 when a boy played sharpay, gender doesn’t matter when being considered for a role. 2), a cast with multiple male leads would give the gay men in the show a chance to shine, instead of shoving them to background roles like Chip. Not to mention Carlos is a dancer, and newsies is a musical driven by choreography. 3), since nini moved there are only like 2 lead females anyway, which works for the 2 female roles in newsies.

Casting Wise, the play works SO MUCH better!

Ricky: jack kelley is a much better role for him than the beast for many reasons. First, their personalities are very similar with the mischievous main teen vibe, so the role would be like Troy where Ricky can slip into it easier. Second, it fits him better vocally. It is very clear from listening to Joshua basset sing that he has a relatively high vocal range, and singing low notes or in a deep voice doesn’t come as naturally to him. Jeremy Jordan has a similar vocal range, where he stays in higher octaves and more rarely uses a deep, monotone voice (at least never to the beast’s extent). Ricky would sound perfect singing in Jack’s vocal range. The beast, however, sings almost exclusively in an extremely deep, monotone voice that Joshua cannot easily perform.

Ashlyn: not only does she look quite similar to Katherine, but they have similar personalities as well. Also, katherine’s high and bubbly singing voice would sound lovely with Ash’s, which is also high and bubbly but often softer. This would allow her to push herself to sing louder and more confidently. And she still gets to play a smart bookworm lead female role.

Kourtney: she was born to play miss medda larken. Mrs. Potts’ debut song “beauty and the beast” is a soft romance ballad, which does not match kourt’s stadium reach, strong, powerful voice. “That’s rich” not only shows off her vocals better, but matches her personality and voice much better with the grit and power behind it. Also, Mrs Potts as a character is the soft, motherly type. Miss medda is a rambunctious, empowered, “I got men if I want em but I don’t need em” kinda woman. Which role better fits the girl power, loud, activist, personal cheer squad type person that Kourtney is?

Carlos and Sebastian: not only would this stop shoving the gays and only interesting men other than Ricky to background roles (sorry big red), but it would show off their talents. Seb would make a wonderful crutchy, with his innocent nature and likeness to the character. It would also give him a chance to flex his vocals and sing a duet with Ricky in Santa Fe, further developing the friendships in the show. Carlos could play really any of the main boys, I mostly think he would kill in this due to his dance and choreography skills, which newsies really emphasizes.

Big red: PLEASE this boy would be perfect as Ben Cook’s role (can’t remember the newsie’s name). They’re both the kinda dumb but endearing friend type, and he leads “king of New York”, a song with a killer tap dancing break, which is the whole reason big red wanted to try out! His chemistry with Ricky as crutchy would make that a fine role for him too, but since Sebastian has stronger vocals I think it’s better for him to take a more prominent role while big red relies on his dancing skills over singing.

Gina: though there’s no more lead girl roles, I think she would kill it as mr. Pulitzer. They could add some spice to the character through her insane dance skills, and she would play a great “cunning yet intelligent buisinesswoman” type. This dude also gets 2 or 3 songs, and honestly I don’t remember who she plays in Beauty and the beast so idk.

EJ: I admit Gaston is a perfect role for him and I can’t fit him into newsies well. He would play a good spot conlin, though it is a significantly smaller role. No one really cares about ej though so small loss.

Plot valuability:

doing newsies makes literally way more sense. Firstly, they are kinda planning entering this show last-minute compared to the competition, so to pick a show already written and choreographed for stage production would really save time. (Even though it would still need work to be condensed for a high school production). Second, miss Jen is so determined to stand out from the crowd and win the contest so she picks... beauty and the beast? One of the most popular Disney movies (and honestly with one of Alan’s weaker soundtracks compared to tangled, Aladdin, and the little mermaid imo). Having them do newsies, especially when switching up gender roles like casting Gina as Pulitzer, would actually make them stand apart from the dozens of schools performing Disney movies. It would also give a significantly more impressive vocal and dance performance, since the songs were written for Broadway singers rather than actors. The set is also more cheap and condensed, while still looking professional, which would help with their “we’re too poor and late to afford a straight-up aquarium so let’s do the most with what we’ve got.” Putting the characters in these roles would also not alter their development or main story plots much, besides strengthening certain friendships and pushing aside less popular characters (ej). It would also give more rep for the gays as well as switching up gender roles. Imagine, the gay guys get actual things to do in the show and aren’t defined by the sole plot of “my boyfriend rich” relationship drama! (I love these two but I am a tired ace). Also jerjor performs in both this and tangled the series, so it’s a double whammy for Alan menkhen representation.

Marketability: I know the musical has to be widely known and appealing to viewers. People watched s1 because they love hsm. People also love beauty and the beast, so viewership may raise with fans of the movie. Newsies doesn’t die here, though. It is a very widely popular play among theatre people, and existed first as a movie musical so it isn’t exclusive to theater kids. Also, fans of Newsies are generally between their tweens and early twenties, the exact age demographic for the show. Beauty and the beast is a classic and more widely known, but also doesn’t draw in large numbers of the exact age group you want. Also, the fact that newsies is a little less mainstream only helps the plot point of them choosing it to still have something well known while also standing out from the competition. Doing beauty and the beast is not only an awful choice for casting that limits the actors vocals or is completely out of their range, but it also makes them blend in with the crowd.

Final notes: beauty and the beast was IMO the worst choice for the play this season. Movies like Aladdin and tangled both have very energetic and loud soundtracks that allow these characters to belt their hearts out. Beauty and the beast has a very folksy, quiet, ballad type of track that limits the actors. The only actor that I think sings ballads better than big booming tracks is Nini, who isn’t even in the play this year. Ricky also sings great ballads, which is why ballads that are still slow but also emotional and powerful like “Santa fe” or “something to believe in” (which would sound AMAZING in his and Ashlyn’s voices) fit much better than the deep voice of the beast that he can not comfortably sing in. Also, the beast has very few songs whereas newsies would allow him to belt his heart out in nearly every song with that lovely voice he has. The age range of the newsies cast (that characters are supposed to be 17) fits better with these very teen actors than a movie about old fashioned French young adults. Really newsies was the best musical choice for this season, but I also believe beauty and the beast was the last one they should have chosen.

(After reading comments I rescind my statement that beauty and the beast was the worst choice, but it’s still second to newsies imo)

Feel free to debate me in the comments or point out my mistakes, I’m very open to other points of view

[starboystation]

Heard you were upset and was wondering [since I haven't seen it] if you could explain the plot of newsies to me [as a distraction type thing]. Go into a little or as much detail as you'd like <3

[For reference, I'm ok with spoilers, idk anythin about the characters except what you've already told me, and I hope you feel better /gen]

Okok okkkokokkokk. Ok so I'm literally just gonna explain the whole thing because I can't summarize at all

OK SO we start w the prologue which is literally just Jack and Crutchie being cute qpps that's LICHERALLY it. Jack's just like "oh ya we should run away to Santa Fe together and we can be gay cowboys doesn't that sound great! B]" THAT IS LITERALLY THE ENTIRE SONG and it's really sweet. But then OOPS mornin bell goes off and they haveta Sell Papers cause That's What Newsies Do !

Insert song and dance number (only thing I want to mention about this is in the background Jack is tying Crutchie's shoe n when he's done he kisses it??? And Crutchie's just "????????" AND I THINK IT'S REALLY FUNNY SKDGSKHFKSGFJDGD . Also Jack flirts with some pretty girl, she'll come back later trust me

Anyway they're going to buy their papers for the day and this new kid shows up (TWO actually)! That's Davey n his lil brother Les ! Jack decides him and Davey should be selling partners because Davey has no clue what he's doing and Jack is. Well. The Famous Jack Kelly and If You Learn From Him, You Learn From The Best ! So yeah Jack and Davey become selling partners!

End of the selling day and they're splitting up the money and stuff and BDHSHFBDBFDHFB then someone's chasing Jack down so AAA they run away to the theater ! Davey is so confused and he's just like "WHO THE FUCK WAS THAT" and Jack explains that the guy chasing him was Snyder and he runs an abusive prison for children so that's. 😶 He also comes back later unfortunately. Anyway then Medda (Jack's friend/mother figure and owner of the theater) comes to talk to them and then sings a song about how cool and pretty and awesome she is. As she should.

And then Jack sees that pretty girl in a lil box at the top and he's just like 👀👀👀 and goes to talk to her ! Turns out she's writing an article about the show and Jack finds her very charming ! He draws a picture of her and leaves it there and Katherine is just o///o over it ykyk.

MEANWHILE ON THE SIDE WHILE ALL THIS IS HAPPENING Pulitzer (the guy who runs The World, the newspaper company the newsies work for) is pissed they're not making enough money and sings some song with way too many ridiculous metaphors . Anyway they decide to raise the price of papers and Hannah is a gem as always (she's VERY MUCH a side character but she's really funny and sassy I love her)

NEXT DAY NEXT DAY the boys go to buy their papers to sell for the day ! And so they read the headlines and NEW NEWSIE PRICE??? 60 CENTS PER HUNDRED??? (My favorite comments being the "I'll be sleepin on the street !" ".. you already sleep on the street" "in a worse neighborhood") And they are PISSED. And so when Jack shows up everyone's like "JACK ARE YOU SEEING THIS SHIT?" and he's like "lol no they're joking cmon let's just get our papers". They Were Not Joking.

So Jack's like "WE'LL JUST. GET OUR PAPERS SOMEWHERE ELSE >:(" but noo prices are up everywhere! So they group up to try and work this out . Davey jokingly suggests a union and Jack's like "HELL YEAH REVOLUTION LET'S START A UNION" which Davey . Doesn't Like! Because they're like. Dumb kids ! They Can't Start A Union! But Jack convinces him to go along with it and BOOM! THEYS GOT A UNION BABEY! They sing a song abt it yeahyeah everyone's Thrilled.

Then they all head over to a lil restaurant to chill out and get some water and decide to have a rally with support from the other boroughs ! And everyone gets assigned to a borough to go and talk to blahblah

Then GASP! PRETTY GIRL'S BACK! She wants to write an article about the boys n their strike and GASP (AGAIN)! THEY'D MAKE THE FRONT PAGE! So everyone gets all excited and stuff . Davey and Crutchie like. Reach for eachothers hands WHICH IS KINDA. SUS. 👁👁 Davey/Crutchie qpr real!!! ANYWAY yeah she talks to Jack about the rally and stuff .. mild flirting and Jack being .... REALLY horny for a Disney musical ensues.

Then Katherine goes to write the article! She's a mess about it but she tries her best and sings actually a really nice song! She also makes a few comments about how Jack is Pretty and Charming and stuff because of course she does . So YEAH she writes up the article wahoo!!!

NEXT DAY NEXT DAY! The boys all group up for the rally ! Buuuut there's absolutely no support from the other boroughs . At all . So they're all bummed out and everyone just kinda wants to go home but JACK DOESN'T! But they don't listen to Jack so he just kinda gets Davey to convince them which. Works really well. Insert song! They do a silly dance number THAT ISN'T THAT SILLY ITS ACTUALLY SUPER COOL!!!! Anyway yeah dancey dance convince kids to join the strike with your silly gay dancey dance! Everyone's SUPER EXCITED and they get their picture taken for the papers !!!!!!!!!!

But then there's this bit that I actually really love where they're all singing really loud together cause WAHOO REVOLUTION!!! but then it starts fading out like almost Unevenly cause everyone realizes Shit Is About To Go Down. The cops n ppl from the Refuge (that abusive prison from before) show up and everyone's freakin out and big fight scene happens ! ALSO I WANNA MENTION. The cops show up. And Romeo says "IT'S ABOUT TIME YA SHOWED UP! THEY'RE SLAUGHTERIN US!" AND THEN GETS HIT BY A COP SO HARD HE FALLS OVER AND PRESUMABLY PASSES OUT. SO. WHAT THE FUCK

Anyway more fight scene and right at the end Crutchie gets Beat Up! I won't go into detail because that. Mmm it's really triggering for me but HHHHHHHH Snyder beats him w his Own Crutch and he gets dragged to the Refuge while screaming for Jack's help and it is. IT'S A LOT. /neg

So now Jack is really upset and basically having a panic attack/breakdown on the rooftop and screaming about how much he hates himself . Insert another song! He sings about again how much he hates himself and how he wants to run away to Santa Fe and just forget about all of this and stuff . END OF ACT ONE !

(I'll stop here and dm you the rest for the sake of everyone's dashboards cause this is getting UNREASONABLY long ,,)

[jewish-elphaba]

NEWSIES TWO NEWSIES TWO

part one

AIGHT

so

we are at the refuge, and crutchie writes a heartbreaking letter to jack, serving as the only major crutchie singing part in the musical and it ISNT EVEN ON THE CAST ALBUM anyways

back at the jewish representation deli, everybody (sans jack) is laying around super banged up and jacobi recites a proverb and the newsies are not very receptive

enter kathy

kath: why are you sad

newsies: bc we fucking lost one friend, another gave up on us, and we got our asses kicked

kath: but.. you're on the front page of the newspaper

newsies: oh then I guess it's a party?

and then they tap dance

ok member that piece of exposition about jack painting stuff for medda? he's doing that. he's painting santa fe when all of a sudden hOW ABOUT LETTIN A PAL KNOW YOURE ALIVE its davey <3 and kath and les are close behind and *8 year old voice* 🎶 les has a girlfirend! and they're like ok we have an idea. what if we hold a rally at the theater for the newsies and jack is like FUCK NO???? PEOPLE ARE??? HURT???? *cue "lighten up, nobody died*

^^^ live jack reaction

anyways one pOOr gUYS HEAD is Spinning later and he's on board, and immediately heads over to make a big fucking oopsie and goes to pulitzer's office to tell him about the rally personally. big mistake.

jack: hi mr jerkface mcdick we’re having a rally do you wanna come

pulitzer: no. also, this is katharine. shes my daughter. :).

jack:

pulitzer: oh also shut down the strike or i’ll hurt all of you badly. here’s some money :)

and then he sends his goons morris and oscar who i’ve somehow managed to leave unmentioned until now and theyre like ok we can do whatever we want with you. so we’re going to make you sleep on a printing press. because nothing is worse than sleeping uncomfortably;

ok so now we’re at the theater for the rally and the brooklyn boys are like hi. we are here. we just now this very moment only like two seconds ago very recently found out about this very new and unheard of strike. but we’re here now. so hi. and then they’re like ok where the fuck is jack. and then jack arrives and hes like ok okok so. if we disband the union, pulitzer wont raise the price for three years. and obviously he gets booed off the goddamn stage bc wtf bro. so he. runs off to the roof of the lodging house and theres katharine!

jack: what the fuck are you doing in my room

kathy: umm. specs did it not me

jack: put away my plot devices drawings

kathy: are they the refuge?

jack:.......maybe

anyways they get into an argument and then threaten to punch each other and then they kiss and then they sing their love for each other and devise a plan to create a pamphlet to rouse all of the working kids of new york and theyre like ok where should we print it. and then jack remembers the printing press he was made to sleep on. and gets an idea.

so. they go to the printing press and print the papers and sing a rousing song about changing the world once and for all with a little help from sons of famous people or whatever. then, roosevelt gets a copy and shuts down the whole parade and pulitzer is like ok but. my pride. and so jack is like hmm. ok so what if you lower the price by half, and buy back any papers we cant sell.and hes like ok deal and then jack initiates the spit shake thing adn pulitzer is like thats fucking gross and jack goes thats jsut business so pulitzer does it. and then they go back to newsieing around but this time jack and kath are a couple :)

that was very fun, thank you for the ask! also shout out to mike faist as jack kelly in newsies for making me memorize the whole fucking show <3