#newsies London

[brooklynbadboys]

let’s all say it together. thank you jeremy jordan for newsies content. you own our hearts <<3

[make-friends-with-the-rats]

I know it's hard, but this is for science:

rip to my own local production that cast the blondest guy known to man as David 😭

[newsiesstuff]

GUYS RYAN’S POOR GUY’S HEAD IS SPINNING IS JUST SO SWEET. ITS LIKE I LOVE HIS VOICE ABDHUSVDHQNDYAIAB

[asexualenjolras]

It is one week until Newsies London closes in Wembley, and I got to see it again the other day, so I want to talk about Ryan Kopel and his beautiful portrayal of Davey Jacobs one more time.

I love how Ryan portrays Davey to be autistic. Ryan has said that he plays Davey in a way that exemplifies his quirks, and it really works in this production. It’s what I am going to miss the most. I’ve never felt more seen.

As an autistic person myself, I have always headcanoned Davey as being autistic – in every format of Newsies previously. Ben Fankhauser’s Davey was always autistic-coded to me – his portrayal was one of my favourites. And I was nervous about seeing another actor take on a character that means so much to me ... but Ryan took Davey and made him even more autistic and I am so, so grateful and in awe of his talent.

Let’s talk about Davey Jacobs and his autistic traits, as portrayed by Ryan Kopel in West Endsies:

- Stimming:

Davey is stimming the WHOLE SHOW. And that’s not an exaggeration. He is shown to bounce on his toes, he is constantly fidgeting with his fingers (and standing with those stereotypical t-rex arms) and he runs his hands along his newsie bag, and he does a few little spins when he's excited, and he jumps up and down at one point.

- Difficulty with social interaction:

From the first moment that Davey is on stage, he is shown to be incredibly uncomfortable talking to other people. He is shown to stammer over his thoughts and struggles to coherently converse with the other characters on the stage. He is portrayed as someone that is reluctant to speak, and he stutters and rambles and struggles to maintain eye contact, looking down at his fidgeting hands a lot. Ben Fankhauser made Davey more confident in his ability to share his thoughts, but Ryan’s Davey struggles - both internally and externally - with this.

He is also shown to have a one track mind in conversations. He struggles to see why Jack is having doubts after the rally because he, personally, thinks it was a success. Davey is bouncing around and his tone is so light and he is so confused by Jack's doubts. It's so autistic. It's so relatable.

- Relationship with physical contact:

Davey is shown to struggle when people suddenly touch him, he flinches and wipes the touch away whenever he is uncomfortable. BUT he initiates touch with those that he trusts. He's so physical with Les, constantly holding him and giving him reassurance through taps. He is shown to hug Jack and he hugs Crutchie and it's nice to see.

- Strong moral compass:

Unlike Ben Fankauser’s Davey (who I LOVE), Ryan’s Davey is shown to be more reluctant to join in on the strike – he is a lot more sheltered, and is completely isolated on one side of the stage in that scene. Davey looks down to his feet and looks to be at war with himself. He looks completely defeated when Jack asks if his father would be in the mess he was in if he had a union, because he knows that Jack – this boy that he has just met – is right. But he is so conflicted because he knows that this is going to be difficult, and he’s so worried and so anxious and so questioning about what the right thing is. It’s such a minor part of the show, but it’s there and I love it.

- Autistic joy:

I don’t know how else to word this but the way that we see Davey unmask throughout the play makes me so smiley. We see him go from this uncomfortable, awkward, masked version of himself in the beginning to someone that genuinely feels accepted and like he has a place in this strike and in the Newsie family. The excitement in his voice when he is talking to Jack in Medda’s is UNMATCHED. He’s so bouncy and light and he’s STIMMING and he’s so happy. I love it.

I could go on and on but I won’t. I just really love the artistic differences between Ryan and Ben’s Davey Jacobs’. I love both of their adaptations, but Ryan’s Davey feels so authentically autistic. And I am PRAYING we get to see his Davey immortalised in a pro-shot?! PLEASE?!

Ryan Kopel, thank you so much for giving us this wonderfully autistic Davey Jacobs on stage.

[newsies-confessions-blog]

submitted by: @thenewsiestrike

[slingshotsandrosarybeads]

Found this on TikTok

[antinouswilder]

strong contender for the best part of newsies uk

[whoops-im-obsessed]

"Dumb crp's just too damn slow" sorry Jack inaccurate this is uksies and matthew duckett is on his way to mow you down

[the-mossy-rock]

GUYS I JUST GOT BACK HOME FROM NEWSIES REHEARSAL AND IM STUCK IN THE VOICE WHAT DO I DO 😭

[thecoloursoot]

When Albert first joined the newsies he was a loose cannon. They were all rowdy, they're teenage boys after all, but Albert was more than boisterous, he was angry.

He was angry to the point that the others were somewhat scared when one of the littles approached him complaining that he couldn't sleep. They expected him to be brushed off at best, shoved off at worst. Nobody expected Al to pick him up, hoist him over his shoulder until he squealed with laughter and haul him off for a bedtime story.

[someday-becomes-somehow]

anyway was anyone at newsies this afternoon because my friend was

[brooklynbadboys]

babe wake up unseen newsies pics just dropped

📷 robynlawesix13 on ig

[make-friends-with-the-rats]

Ultimate Newsies Source Materials Poll

Resources:

watch Newsies (1992) here

watch Newsies Proshot here

read Newsies: a novel here

read 1991 script here

read Hard Promises script here

[lithuanianking]

Give me newsies stuff to draw I'm in the mood

[waterfaery]

Idk how many people are interested in this but I have a tracked audio boot from the 5th of december preview of Newsies in London.

Aisle seats in Brooklyn section so you can hear some adlib lines that the mics dont pick up.

Link

edit: you can download, share link, everything just please don’t re-upload since it’s my own master thank u

and oh please tell me all your thoughts cause i have pages and pages of notes from this show and i wanna talk about it

[to-be-a-dreamer]

West Endsies Sprace is peak "badass woman who is so deeply in love with her pathetic wet cat of a boyfriend" energy except Race is actually just as capable as Spot and she will kick your ass if you imply he is anything less.

Spot: Wow my boyfriend is such a loser

Anyone Else: Lol yeah he is

Spot: Tf did you just say? *beats them up*