TABLE OF CONTENTS The Newsies Production Handbook is here to guide you through all aspects of production: from casting to design to rehearsal exercises and beyond. Disney Theatrical Productions took what we learned from the Paper Mill Playhouse, Broadway, and touring productions, as well as various high school pilots, to craft a guidebook for creating your own vision of the show. To help you organize your approach to this material and your staging and rehearsal processes, we have divided this handbook into three sections: • Before You Begin includes information you’ll want to start thinking about before you jump into rehearsals. • In Rehearsal consists of material that will assist you in working with your performers. • Beyond the Stage contains information that will help to craft an engaging and rewarding production for actors and audiences alike (consider referencing this section both before and during your rehearsal process). Incorporate the material in these pages as you see ft, and above all: Enjoy! BEFORE YOU BEGIN INTRODUCTION ................................................................................ 1 STRIKE TO STAGE ............................................................................. 2 DRAMATURGY .................................................................................. 8 CASTING ........................................................................................... 22 DESIGN ............................................................................................. 28 IN REHEARSAL MUSIC DIRECTION ........................................................................... 40 REHEARSAL EXERCISES ................................................................... 45 STAGING & CHOREOGRAPHY .......................................................... 52 BEYOND THE STAGE AUDIENCE & STUDENT ENGAGEMENT ............................................ 63 RESOURCES ...................................................................................... 78 CREDITS ............................................................................................ 112 “ NOW IS THE TIME TO SEIZE THE DAY STARE DOWN THE ODDS “ AND SEIZE THE DAY – “Seize the Day” lyrics by Jack Feldman INTRODUCTION elcome to the wonderful world of Newsies! Inspired by the Newsboys Strike of 1899 and adapted from the 1992 Disney W flm, Newsies became an unlikely Broadway hit in 2012. Now, we’re thrilled to share this celebrated musical with theater groups around the world to create their own beloved productions. Although Newsies is ultimately a work of fction, the historical strike that took place in New York in July 1899 was every bit as dramatic. It lasted over two weeks and was well documented by dozens of newspapers, which relished a bunch of kids bringing down their goliath competition: the New York World. Joseph Pulitzer wasn’t actually in New York City during the strike (he was home in Maine), and Governor Theodore Roosevelt didn’t intervene (although he certainly disliked Pulitzer), but these two titans make for terrifc drama onstage! Other characters in the musical are also rooted in historical fgures: newsies leaders Kid Blink and Morris Cohen were the inspiration for Jack Kelly; Katherine Plumber reveals traces of investigative journalist Nellie Bly; and vaudeville performer and producer Aida Overton Walker inspired a new take on Medda Larkin. Tracing these roots and exploring the relationship between history and drama (and fact vs. fction) will enliven your rehearsal process and help you engage your audiences as they grapple with the challenges of today’s world. In this Production Handbook, you’ll fnd resources that you can draw from as needed. Whether Newsies marks your frst or 100th production, we hope this guide inspires you to take risks, to explore new methods of storytelling, and to empower your cast to discuss and explore the rich mosaic of characters and themes within the musical. May your production of Newsies inspire your cast and community to feel empowered to keep the arc of history bending toward justice. Seize the day! Buster (6 years old) & Eldridge (11 years old) in Newark, NJ Newsies selling papes in the Bowery. photo by Lewis Wickes Hine (1912) photo by Lewis Wickes Hine (1910) A Note from the Editor Disney Theatrical Productions is committed to making our titles accessible to, and inclusive of, everyone. Throughout this Production Handbook, you will find casting, costuming, and dramaturgical tips that offer non- traditional and gender-flexible approaches to Newsies and its characters. Similarly, we realize that traditional English grammar has not yet adapted to the gender inclusivity that DTP – and increasingly, our most notable publications and authors – strives for. With that in mind, we have decided to embrace the singular “they” – for reasons of both inclusivity and efficiency – and we hope these efforts inspire you to approach this material, and the casting of your production, with an open mind and heart. 1 STRIKE TO STAGE PRODUCTION HISTORY he history of Newsies can be traced to long before the musical opened on Broadway. The 2012 stage musical is an T adaptation of the 1992 movie, which itself traces its roots all the way back to 1899 when a group of newsies banded together to fght for their rights. Based on a True Story Newsies is based on the real-life Newsboys Strike of 1899. The New York newsies – boys and girls who sold newspapers on the street – went up against two newspaper publishers, Joseph Pulitzer of the New York World and William Randolph Hearst of the New York Journal, to fght for the chance to earn a livable wage. (For more information on the strike and other relevant history, refer to the Dramaturgy chapter of this handbook.) The Spanish-American War made New Yorkers hungry for headlines, and circulation boomed as a result. Once the war ended, people were less inclined to buy newspapers – war was bad for the world, but great for the newspaper business. The strike was the result of the newspaper publishers refusing to lower the newsies’ cost-per-paper back down to the pre-war prices. The newsies were not willing to pay more for their papers to make up for a lack of headlines, so they decided to strike – their goal was to make the newspaper tycoons treat them as legitimate members of the business. The strike lasted two weeks, from July 20 to August 2, 1899. The newsies eventually came to a compromise with the publishers: The price would stay the same, but the publishers would buy back any papers that the newsies couldn’t sell. The newsies’ strike is a signifcant moment in history: It is one of the frst strikes that was carried out by children and it ended in compromise. The kids succeeded! Newsies sell their papes. Photo by Alice Austen (1896) 2 Newsies Production Handbook 1992 Newsies flm © Disney Turning a Movement into a Movie In 1985, actor and aspiring screenwriter Bob Tzudiker was reading The New York Times and came across a review of David Nasaw’s Children of the City. The book centers on the lives of urban American children at the turn of the 20th century, and the review mentioned that the author “had unearthed a flm-worthy tale” in the newsies’ strike in 1899. Tzudiker was struck by that notion and wrote it down on a list of ideas. When he mentioned it to Noni White, his wife and writing partner, she said, “That’s the quintessential David-and-Goliath story.” A few years later, they passionately discussed the idea with their agent while acknowledging a number of things they felt would hold the idea back. With their agent’s encouragement, White and Tzudiker embarked on intensive research. One of the frst questions they grappled with was whether to assign Hearst or Pulitzer as the antagonist of the story; they ultimately chose Pulitzer partly because Hearst had already been “taken” by Citizen Kane. Other decisions quickly followed, such as creating Jack as an amalgam of a number of newsie leaders that had been accused of betraying their cause, including one named Kid Blink. When Tzudiker and White pitched their idea of a flm about the newsies’ strike (not yet a musical at this point) to Marianne Sweeny at Finnell/Dante Productions, she swore to make it happen. Sure enough, she set up a meeting with Disney executives in mid-1990, and by the next day the studio had agreed to produce a movie about the strike. Inspired by the success and promise of the animated musicals the Walt Disney Studios had already released (beginning with The Little Mermaid in 1989) and was continuing to create at that time, Disney felt it was time for the live-action musical to make a return and that Newsies was a perfect project to launch that return. In making the decision to turn the newsies’ strike into a musical, the studio turned to Alan Menken. Menken had written the music for The Little Mermaid, and also had almost completed his work on Beauty and the Beast by the time he started on Newsies. Howard Ashman, his writing partner on those two projects, was too sick to work on Newsies (Ashman died in March of 1991), so Jack Feldman, a lyricist Menken had admired since they met at the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop in the 1970s, was brought on to write the lyrics. Kenny Ortega was tapped to direct his frst flm, largely due to his signifcant choreography experience, and Christian Bale, still fresh of his breakout role in Empire of the Sun (1987), starred as Jack Kelly. Newsies was released on April 10, 1992, and was considered a critical and fnancial fop (it grossed only $2.8 million). However,