60 Fun Facts About Newsies

Who plays Jack 'Cowboy' Kelly in the 1992 Disney film?

He was 17 during filming and later admitted he was not much of a singer; the film's failure stung him for years before its cult revival.

Which choreographer made his feature directing debut with the film?

He followed it a year later with Hocus Pocus, another box-office disappointment that grew into a cult favorite, and later directed the High School Musical trilogy.

Who composed the film's twelve original songs?

His usual lyricist Howard Ashman was too ill with AIDS to collaborate, so a new writing partner was brought in for the project.

Who wrote the lyrics for the film's songs?

He stayed with the property for two decades and shared the Tony Award for Best Original Score when the stage version reached Broadway.

Which Oscar-winning actor plays newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer in the film?

The role earned him a Golden Raspberry nomination for Worst Supporting Actor.

Which screen legend plays the Bowery performer Medda Larkson?

She sings two numbers in the film, and both were dropped when the story moved to the stage.

Which actor plays Bryan Denton, the newspaper reporter who champions the strike?

He even gets a musical number, leading the newsies through 'King of New York' after their story makes the front page.

When the warden testifies against Jack in court, what is revealed to be Jack's real name?

The testimony also reveals that his mother is dead and his father is in prison.

Jack dreams of leaving New York for which Western city?

The song about that dream is reprised late in the film after Jack is sentenced to the juvenile detention center.

What is the name of the orphanage and juvenile detention center that Jack once escaped from?

Its warden embezzles the money the city provides for the children's care, which is exactly what the newsies' own newspaper eventually exposes.

What is the surname of the corrupt warden who runs the juvenile detention center?

Kevin Tighe plays him; the other three names belong to Pulitzer's distribution man, Pulitzer's business manager and the lodging-house keeper.

Who leads the Brooklyn newsies, and initially refuses to back the Manhattan strike?

Gabriel Damon plays him in the film; when Brooklyn finally shows up, it turns the tide of the fight against the strikebreakers.

Which real-life Governor of New York arrives at the end to shut down the warden and thank Jack?

The governor's carriage ride is what talks Jack out of leaving for the West; he became President two years after the strike.

The film failed to earn back a fifth of its budget. Roughly what was its domestic gross?

Against a $15 million budget, it ranks among the lowest-grossing live-action films the studio has ever released and was pulled from many theaters after one weekend.

Critic Leonard Maltin mocked the film with which nickname?

He complained of a lackluster score and cramped production numbers that looked cheap despite the budget.

Which song from the film 'won' the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Original Song?

The composer finally accepted the trophy in 2019, having become the first person to win a Razzie and an Oscar in the same year.

The film's New York street scenes were shot on the backlot of which studio?

It was the first feature to shoot on the rebuilt New York Street set after a 1990 fire destroyed the original.

During production, cast members made a satirical horror short film. What was it called?

Its plot has a disgraced Don Knotts murdering the cast after being rejected for a comeback role.

The newsie Kid Blink is played by an actor who shares his name with which South Park co-creator?

They are two different people; the confusion is common enough that Wikipedia adds a footnote to the cast list.

Jack Kelly was inspired by Kid Blink and which other real newsie from the 1899 strike?

A memo from Pulitzer's business manager named him as the boy who actually started the strike in New York City.

What do the newsies call the paper they print on Pulitzer's old press and hand out to child laborers?

The issue reaches the governor and exposes the abuse at the juvenile detention center, which is what finally breaks the strike open.

Who plays Davey, the smart new newsie who becomes Jack's partner?

He was already known as the young Josh Baskin in the 1988 Tom Hanks film Big.

Who plays the cigar-chewing newsie 'Racetrack' Higgins?

He also voices the film's opening narration and was best known at the time as Vinnie on Doogie Howser, M.D.

Before Broadway, the stage musical premiered in 2011 at which New Jersey theatre?

The tryout in Millburn ran just three weeks, from September 25 to October 16, before Disney moved it to New York.

Which Broadway house was home to the musical from 2012 to 2014?

It was originally booked as a limited engagement and only became open-ended after ticket sales exploded.

Who wrote the book (script) for the stage musical?

The Torch Song Trilogy and Kinky Boots writer earned a Tony nomination for Best Book of a Musical for it.

Who originated the role of Jack Kelly on Broadway?

He was Tony-nominated for the part and left in September 2012 to join NBC's Smash, later returning for the 2016 filmed production.

Which newcomer took over as Jack Kelly on Broadway in September 2012?

He played the role until the show closed in August 2014; the other three names played Jack in the tour, London and 2010 workshop respectively.

How many Tony Award nominations did the Broadway production receive?

It won for Best Original Score and Best Choreography, but lost Best Musical to Once.

Who won the Tony Award for Best Choreography for the musical's acrobatic dance numbers?

The New York Times review singled out his full-speed-ahead phalanxes of dancing newsboys.

In the musical, reporter Katherine Plumber's byline is a pen name. Who is she really?

The character is named for the publisher's real daughter Katherine Ethel, who died of pneumonia in 1884 at the age of two.

Kara Lindsay, who created Katherine Plumber, said she based her portrayal on which real journalist?

Fitting, since the real journalist made her name at Pulitzer's newspaper by going undercover in an asylum.

In Newsies, Katherine Plumber replaced two film characters, including Jack's original love interest. Who was she?

Ele Keats played her in the film; on stage, Davey and Les's family is only mentioned in passing.

The Broadway production was capitalized at $5 million. How long did it take to recoup that investment?

That made it the fastest of any Disney musical on Broadway to turn a profit.

How many performances had the Broadway run played when it closed in August 2014?

The final public performance was August 23, with a private invite-only closing the next day.

The 2016 filmed stage version was shot at which Los Angeles-area venue?

It was recorded over three days in September 2016 with the touring company plus the original Broadway leads.

The filmed Newsies stage production first streamed on which service before Disney+?

The digital release date, May 23, 2017, was announced on the 25th anniversary of the original film's premiere.

The 2022 London production was staged in the round at which venue?

Matt Cole directed and choreographed the immersive staging, which ran until July 2023.

What was distinctive about how the London production cast the Brooklyn newsies?

Many real newsgirls took part in the 1899 strike, a fact the film and original stage productions largely ignored.

Which Jack and Katherine duet replaced 'Then I See You Again' for the Broadway production?

It was one of three songs written between the New Jersey tryout and the Broadway opening.

Who originated the role of Crutchie on Broadway?

He left in March 2013 to rehearse Tuck Everlasting, then returned to play Crutchie in the 2016 filmed production.

Which character did future star Mike Faist play in the original Broadway cast?

He doubled as the understudy for Jack Kelly.

In April 2012 the show broke its Broadway theatre's box-office record. What capacity did it play to that week?

The week's gross topped $1 million, a record for the house that stood until War Paint in 2017.

In the musical's ending, Jack negotiates the price of a hundred papers down to what?

The real 1899 settlement kept the price where it was; the show's writers gave the boys a slightly better deal.

On stage, the film's two songs for Medda were replaced by which single number?

The rest of the film's score was rewritten to fit the plot changes, and new numbers were added for Katherine and Pulitzer.

The 1899 strike targeted the newspapers of Joseph Pulitzer and which other publisher?

The two men's 1898 circulation war is what pushed the price of papers up in the first place.

The publishers raised the price newsboys paid for a bundle of 100 papers from half a dollar to how much?

The extra dime mattered because the boys sold each paper for a penny, so their profit margin was tiny.

Which 1898 conflict boosted newspaper sales enough for publishers to raise prices on the newsboys?

Once the fighting ended and sales fell, most papers rolled the price back; the Evening World and Evening Journal did not, which sparked the strike.

What was the most recognizable physical feature of strike leader Kid Blink?

Newspapers described the 18-year-old as an undersized boy with red hair; his other nicknames included Red Blink and Blind Diamond.

What was Kid Blink's real name?

When arrested during the strike he told police his name was Louis Ballat, which was likely a lie or a mishearing.

What prize was Kid Blink given for delivering the best speech at the strike's big July 24 rally?

Two days later rumors spread that he had taken a bribe from the publishers, and he stepped down from leadership.

Where was the strike's city-wide rally held on July 24, 1899?

An estimated five thousand boys from Manhattan and two thousand from Brooklyn attended, and a state senator sponsored the event.

The strike ended on August 1, 1899 with the price unchanged, but publishers agreed to do what?

That meant boys stuck with extra copies no longer had to sell late into the night to avoid taking a loss.

Roughly how long did the real newsboys' strike last?

Short as it was, it cut off circulation for the two papers across New York and many New England cities.

During the strike, the New York World's daily circulation fell from 360,000 to roughly what?

The public largely sided with the boys and stopped buying the boycotted papers even where they were available.

On July 18, 1899, newsboys overturned a Journal delivery wagon in which neighborhood?

The next day they declared the strike in City Hall Park, and Manhattan and Brooklyn newsboys joined on July 20.

Union president David Simmons, aged 21, was also well known locally as an amateur what?

He had sold papers since he was a small boy, and his reading of the union's resolutions at the rally reportedly bored the crowd.

In 1942, DC Comics fictionalized the newsboys as which team of young heroes?

They first appeared in Star Spangled Comics issue 7 and have resurfaced in modern comics.

'Major Butts' Butler was arrested after telling World executives he would not break the strike for less than how much?

He had taken over the Upper Manhattan union after Kid Blink stepped down.

Which solo for Crutchie was added to the musical for the national tour?

It replaced a film scene in which Jack visits Crutchie after his capture by Snyder, and is now part of the licensed show.