#hard promises

[jackmkelly]

congrats hard promises jack u finally got ur drink in pulitzers office

[make-friends-with-the-rats]

Just a couple notes from the Hard Promises script:

originally, Jack carries Les home not because he falls asleep but because he's "sick to his stomach" from the sweets

Esther is 38 years old, meaning she was born in 1861

also she has a Polish accent

Mayer is 43 years old, born 1856

"During the excitement JACK just looks around at the apartment. A home. To him the Taj Mahal. Food on the stove, sheets on the bed. Home. It hits him hard." ouch :(

Jack and David made 95 cents selling papers

Mayer reads from a book by Eugene Debs, a prominent American socialist

according to this script, Mayer worked as a tailor before his accident, the Newsies novel says that Mayer worked in a piano factory which is probably the unspoken canon of the movie as well considering David explicitly says his father got hurt in a factory accident. In Hard Promises, Mayer's arm was "busted for him" because he'd been striking.

Jack is impressed by Sarah's declaration of "my father and I are socialists" only for us to cut to Jack asking David what a socialist is. Boy is smitten.

"Yeah, it sounds good, but it doesn't put food on the table. (Jack looks at him) And it causes my mother a lot of grief. JACK sees DAVID'S worry mask. A look passes between them." Esther and David are worried about Mayer and Sarah :(

"JACK nods. DAVID slips inside and closes the window. JACK starts down, stops and looks back, remembering what he's missed." kill me now

That's all. For now.

[newsiesautismfrfr]

Don’t think about Micheal Kelly.

Don’t think about 5 year old Michael Kelly who follows around this big brother Jack wishing he could be a cowboy too.

Don’t think about 5 year old Michael Kelly, nicknamed Mikey, getting a red bandana to match his brothers red bandana.

Don’t think about 5 year old Mikey Kelly, walking with his brother across the street.

It was an accident

It was just an accident

Don’t think about 5 year old Mikey Kelly’s mangled body in the streets after a wagon ran him over without a second thought.

Don’t think about Jack screaming and wailing and holding his brother.

Don’t think about Jack holding Mikey so delicately despite almost all his bones being broken.

Don’t think about Jack begging for Mikey to wake up.

Begging Mikey to look at him.

Begging Mikey to say something.

“Look at me Baby, Baby Look at me it’s okay you’re okay”

“Oh god my baby please god my baby”

“Please please Mikey please wake up wake up”

“I’ll buy you whatever you want I’ll get you whatever you want please look at me”

“Ice cream, a new toy I don’t care it’s yours please baby please”

He’s dead.

[noxexistant]

JACK SEES a BOY [...] The clothes are David's. [...] "THE BOY" IS SARAH in David's cap and jacket. JACK: What are you doing here?  (He rips the hat off her head.) JACK: Take that off. You're a target, looking like your brother. 

forever thinking about sarah dressing in davey's clothes in hard promises

[highfalutin-son-of-a-gun]

i wish we could’ve seen more of badass sarah jacobs.

like, don’t get me wrong, she’s a sweetheart and i adore her endlessly, but she wasn’t written with much. the only really badass girlboss sarah moment we get is when she punches morris in the face. in the hard promises draft, she wears daveys clothes when she goes out at night to protect herself. that’s the kind of sarah i want. i love the sweet, quiet, nice side of her, but i also want the smart, sharp, witty, badass, not-afraid-to-throw-a-punch sarah.

give me more badass sarah jacobs.

[brian-in-finance]

Droughtlander: the season of our discontent ☹️

*Leap Year - 29th of February included in total

**Leap Year - 29th of February not applicable

(1) Episodes on 10 consecutive Fridays

(2) Allowance for one skipped Friday

Let's vote! 🗳️ Predict the Length of the Next Droughtlander

Remember… the waiting is the hardest part. — Tom Petty

[watchingwhathappens]

I FINALLY READ HARD PROMISES. JACK AND DAVEY LOOKING AT THE STARS AND DRINKING TOGETHER???

these two interactions near the end were also really fucking gay

[i-didnt-do-1t]

Pulitzer’s stairs were wooden, but they didn’t creak as Jack stumbled down them, only stopped from falling by a rough, too tight grip on either arm, a Delancey on both sides.

Their footsteps echoed against the high ceilings.

“Is’ it worth it.” Jack snapped, ignoring the churning feeling of panic in the pit of his stomach. “Whatever Snyder or- or Pulitzer’s payin’ you.”

Oscar shoved him, aggressive and reckless and Jack’s foot slipped over the edge of the next step; a sudden burn shot through his shoulder at the way Morris awkwardly twisted his arm as he caught it before he could fall.

“It’s worth it.” Oscar answered, his voice was cold, the words easy and thoughtless. Like he couldn’t be bothered. Like this was another job to tick off a check list.

“Just like the refuge.” Jack continued, and his voice was tight, he could feel the panic lacing it as the pain radiated through his arm and they continued down the impossibly deep staircase. “Cowards. Takin’ Snyder’s bribes and leaving the rest of us to-“

“Ain’t our fuckin’ fault you didn’ look out for yourself.”

“I ain’t selfish. Like you.”

“Maybe if you were your brother wouldn’t be dead.”

It was clipped.

Blunt.

A statement of fact that didn’t even make Oscar blink as he spoke it.

Jack faltered. Wished Morris would just let him fall and crack his head on the marble floor at the bottom of the stairs. His stomach churned again and he was sure this time he was going to be sick.

“Don’t talk about him.”

Morris yanked at his bad shoulder, brutal and careless and Jack hissed through gritted teeth. The backs of his eyes burned.

“Wouldn’t be nothin’ to talk about if you’d kept him safe. So don’t fuckin’ lecture me.”

[starlightandmusings]

a streetcar named desire, tennessee williams // hard promises, bob tzudiker & noni white // newsies, 1992 film

[mummelthecryptid]

bitter lemonade is literally his song

[carryingthebannershitposts]

I know who you pretend I am...

Some Hard Promises fuel for you people

[jackmkelly]

i think (i know) hard promises jack changed his name after his brother died. francis sullivan has a mother a father and a baby brother he loves So much. jack kelly is the boy with no family gone on to be strike leader. he Needs to separate the two different parts of his life because its entirely too overwhelming to admit Everything hes been through so young. like he said to sarah he knows whats real and what isnt. he needs to be jack because he cant stand the idea of anyone who isnt his mother father or brother calling him francis/any nick name associated with that (side rant on every adult in the script continuously calling him sullivan until he hits everyone with the baller line drop “francis sullivan at your service” because he can finally get some justice for the kid he’s hiding inside). he Needs to divide the two parts of his life because he Knows its made him a different person. he knows the way he acts now isnt the way he acted with his family. jack kelly is more than an allies to protect himself from snyder its also how he protects himself from his past.

[make-friends-with-the-rats]

hey remember that time when Jack canonically flirted with David?

[x]

[newsiesautismfrfr]

IM SO FUCKING MAD. I HAD A SUPER REALISTIC DREAM THAT I SAW NEWSIES ON BROADWAY WITH JEREMY JORDAN AND BEN AND JEREMY STARTE SINGING SANTA FE BUT THEN IT TRANSITIONED TO BEN FUCKING SINGING TRUTH ABOUT THE MOON. OH MY GOD AND I GOT A RECORDING OF IT AND EVERYTHING BECAUSE MY DREAM BRAIN WANTED TO SHOW YALL BUT THE RECORDING NO LONGER EXISTS AND AAAHHHHHH

[noxexistant]

[jerma voice] otto

big fan of this guy

[girlsies-week-2023]

Information on some of my favorite Girlsies !!! For sillies !!!

(working title was me infodumping about girlsies under the excuse that it is relevent to the event)

I don't have the energy to go through & update this post at the moment, but @thegroundsofbrooklyn has a post here that has more info on the UK Brooklyn Girls !!!

Starting out with our number one, the original girlsie: Charlie (Hard Promises) !!!

Charlie was the original love interest for Jack in Hard Promises, and she was a newsie !! Her story was that she was living in a house of prostitution with her aunt (with her aunt trying to shield her from as much as possible to stop her from going into that life / being exposed to it) and she was planning to (and did!) go with Jack to Santa Fe at the end.

Next up: Smalls (Papermill - Broadway) (Manhattan / Possibly The Bronx) !!!:

I know that whether or not Smalls is a girl is up to interpretation but I am interpreting her as a girl & including her in this list (same with Sniper).

Smalls is a Bronx newsie (as implied by her yelling so's da Bronx during Brooklyn's Here), but she's still allowed in Manhattan (hence being there for KoNY in some versions), so she's probably allowed to wander around on her own.

According to Liana Hunt, she lives in a family with at least one parent and a ton of brothers who all work to support them, so she's sort've eager to be one of the boys in that sense — she's also super tough.

Talls !!! (Broadway) (Manhattan / Possibly The Bronx):

Talls was Caitlyn Caughell's newsie whenever she was on for that track. I have no information on her besides the fact that she was played by Caitlyn Caughell & is probably a play on her height of some kind — + also being a play on Smalls. Smalls & Talls <3

Sniper !!! (Tour) (Manhattan / Possibly The Bronx):

I'm going to be mixing in other backstories for this because as far as I'm aware Sniper's the only newsie on that list with a backstory that isn't from their actress ? + she has more involvement in the show when she isn't a girl so I'm going off that

But according to Alex Wong — Sniper's last name is Wah, and she's the daughter (son in this backstory but it's okay) of Sam Wah, who owns the laundromat above Jacobi's (the sign of which can be seen in the pre-uksies Jacobi scenes). She's named after her 'incredible aim' with a slingshot.

In certain versions, she's one of the scabs, the last one to throw down her papers, and the one to go 'Ah, what the hell? My father's gonna kill me anyway!' in the proshot. In the tour, she was also the one to yell so's da bronx.

Puddles !!! (Tour) (Manhattan / Possibly The Bronx):

Puddles is in the same group as Talls in the sense that there is like no canon lore about her & there isn't even any information besides her name and the fact that she was played by Melissa Steadman Hart during the tour. However she has the cutest nickname and deserved to be included in this list.

Marriott! Buttons !!! (Marriott) (Manhattan):

According to Adrienne Storrs, the actress for Buttons, she's been a newsie for three years. Her parents are poor Italian immigrants that don't speak English, so she works to support them. She was convinced to start selling Newspapers by JoJo after being caught pickpocketing on the street.

Buttons & JoJo are best gal pals, she sees Specs as a younger brother figure (she's always looking out for him), and Race and Albert are her favorite people to joke around with!

She has (had?) a rich boyfriend that went to jail for forgery a bit before the strike, so she's a little heartbroken during it, but she's 'continuing to live her life and she has the best newsie friends'.

She has a really positive mindset in general.

She also (along with JoJo) checked Katherine out when she walked into Jacobi's and later taught her how to Irish dance during KoNY with JoJo !!!

Marriott! JoJo !!! (Marriott) (Manhattan):

According, once again, to Adrienne Storrs, JoJo (who's real name is Josephine) is 'one tough cookie'. She was originally a pickpocket, but Jack found her and took her under her wing for ten percent of her earnings when she was almost twelve. She was one of the original newsies in the Manhattan group, and after three years she started seeking out other girl newsies (& that's when Buttons came along !!). She's been a newsie for about five years, 'not too far behind how long Jack had been selling'.

She has an Irish father and a Romanian mother and they were circus artists that came to America with P.T Barnum in the 1870s. She was born in 1882 (making her seventeen at the time of the strike) and she was raised around a circus.

Rafaela (Marriott) (Brooklyn):

Once again, according to Adrienne Storrs, Rafaela's parents moved from Spain to Puerto Rico in the 1880s and she was born there in 1885. They moved to New York City when she was five and she's very close with her brothers, who were six and eight at the time. All three children became newsies at the same time, being expected to work as much as their parents did.

She didn't go to school, she taught herself how to read and speak English, using her time as a newsie as a teaching device. She's super tough, and she had to grow up really fast. She 'has a strong sense of community with her family and fellow Brooklyn Newsies'.

Joey (Marriott) (Brooklyn):

You guessed it, information yet again from Adrienne Storrs!

Joey is Racetrack Higgins' cousin, and she's super positive. She's also secretly a really good fighter.

Hildy (Marriott) (Brooklyn):

You'll never guess where this info is from.

Hildy is German, and her parents own a sausage shop, and she likes to get into trouble.

Honorable mention to Nancy, Hazel, and Muriel from Newsies Jr.

I don't have the energy to read through all of newsies jr rn to find out which lines they have, however I can tell you off the top of my head that they are very supportive of Katherine and probably also on the younger side (because. Newsies Jr. Obviously).

If anyone who's played them would like to mention their backstory in the rbs or in this accs ask box, that would be lovely !!!

Spot Conlon (UK) (Brooklyn):

Using Lillie-Pearl's backstory for Spot here, because Clarice never got the opportunity to share hers if she had one :(

Lillie-Pearl's backstory for Spot is that her parents were Irish and African American immigrants living in Seneca Village.

Spot in Uksies is very close with Davey !!! According to Lillie-Pearl, she doesn't call him Davey, she calls him David, and in her cameo description she added 'making rhymes with Davey' into her list of things she enjoyed. She is also very close with her girls (obviously), specifically Lucky & Stray, who she did the handshake with depending on what point in the show it was. She also liked Race, depending on the day.

(She also probably isn't on awful terms with most of the Manhattan newsies, especially if they're girls.)

Lucky (Newsies UK) (Brooklyn):

Lucky doesn't have a lot of canon lore too her HOWEVER I can tell you that she used to do the handshake with Spot back when she existed, was called Tops for some performances, AND her real name is Eliza !!! She also interacted with Scope a lot during The Rally.

Mack (Newsies UK) (Brooklyn):

Mack's real name is Jeanie MacDonald, but she shortened it down to Mack because she didn't like her name.

She's a Scottish immigrant whose family moved to the U.S (just North of New York) to start a farm, but a plague of locusts destroyed the farm, so they had to move into the city for work.

She couldn't stand being stuck in their one bedroom cramped apartment, so her father suggested that she take up work as a Newsie.

Splint (Newsies UK) (Brooklyn):

Splint's arm is in a Splint !!! For some mystery reason that definitely isn't because Bobbie's hand was injured at the time of the first preview. Definitely not.

She doesn't appear after The Rally, which is because — according to Bobbie — she falled down & died :( (Bobbie needed 2 be there as Hannah)

Also her real name is Splinty McSplint.

(Bobbie also said that if she were to have a love interest it would be Buttons.)

Scope (Newsies UK) (Brooklyn):

I have no canon info about Scope besides the fact that she has the world's cutest pigtails and hung around Lucky at The Rally a lot :(

Ritz (Newsies UK) (Brooklyn):

Ritz' real name is Rita, and her nickname comes from ritz crackers and also Lucy's last characters name !! That's all the canon info we have on her as far as ik :(

Stray (Newsies UK) (Brooklyn):

Stray's nickname comes from her feeding all of the stray animals of New York !!!

She is related to Specs in some way (probably siblings, considering the fact that Sam & Immie are).

She becomes a Bowery Beauty when she's older, and her real name is from a newsgirl turned dancer but Immie doesn't remember who that is — the closest I got in my research is Lillian Russell, who wasn't a newsgirl but yk close enough.

(Her love interest would've been Mike !!)

Pips (Newsies UK) (Brooklyn):

Again, no canon information on Pips as far as I'm aware, besides the fact that she is literally adorable