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DEAN
I hate going to the theater, having to dress up and be around all those stuffy people, and sit in those tiny, cramped seats! It sucks! But Sam showed me that apparently there are such things as recorded bootlegs of Broadway shows. I had no idea people even cared enough about musicals for that to be a thing, but apparently it is. So one night he convinced me to check out Newsies and, call me a softy, but it was a slow night, we were home at the bunker, and I had already started in on my 6-pack. Plus, I think I saw a version of this musical starring Batman when I was younger so I was curious.
I'm not really sure what the big deal about Santa Fe is, but there sure are a lot of people in musicals who want to go there. I mean… not that I’ve seen many musicals or anything. I just.. I know there’s a song in RENT about Santa Fe, too. What’s the big deal? I’ve been there. Not a lot to it.
That Jack Kelly kid was really my kind of guy. Tough kid always cussing, hitting on a girl with a nice line in the very first scene, then he beat two people up with a crutch. And he was the only one who wasn’t dancing all over the place like a freak.
I mean, these kids look rugged, puffing up their chests, stepping up to the man, talkin’ tough with their badass accents... but then they start doin’ these weird ballet moves and spins and dancing like fairies! What am I supposed to do with that?
There are just too many dudes dancing!
Musicals are hard enough to deal with, but this one has like… zero girls in it! I guess, there’s one, but she’s just a kid. If there has to be dancing, at least make it hot chicks!
But anyways, Jack is cool. He's a leader and he doesn't back down from a fight. I can respect that, even if he does keep singing about his feelings. And, holy shit! Those corporate assholes were fucking brutal to that Crutchie kid! I’d light’em up if they did that to Sam.
I don't think Batman was as good of a singer as the kid in the stage version. I kind of respect him for that, if I’m bein’ honest. What are the odds that that many kids selling newspapers can all sing, ya know? Seems more accurate if one isn't very good.
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SAM
I've always really connected with Newsies. I think as a kid, seeing a bunch of boys around my age stand up against their unfair circumstances really resonated with me. I don't really keep up with the Broadway world, there isn't really time, but somehow I caught wind that Newsies actually became a Broadway show, so I was interested to see it. Finding a bootleg was easy, getting Dean to watch with me was not. I waited for him to have a beer or two before I suggested it.
Even through the shitty quality of the video I could still tell the set was incredible. It moved all around, expanded, raised up, came back down, and linked and unlinked different ladders together. And all this happened while actors were moving around on stage, so the ladders have to always line up accurately and the lighting has to be just so. I bet the concept art for it was cool. I probably sound like a nerd, but it got me thinking about when I did tech in High School. The techies must have been a really important part of this production.
As for the show itself, they changed a bit from what I remember of the movie, but it was still good. Jack is a really interesting character because he’s street smart and you’re probably supposed to think that means there’s not much else there. But then they show him coming up with creative headlines on the fly, and they reveal that he’s an artist. I don’t know, it just makes you wonder what Jack could be doing if he had gotten to have a better childhood with a family and a support system and an education.
Then there’s his vulnerability. He puts up this front, but really underneath all he wants is a different life, this wish for a family and to feel valued. That’s what Santa Fe means to him, some idealization of what a nice, normal life would be. I’d be lying if I said I couldn’t relate to that, that rebellious edge in Jack that questions why he has to live this kind of life, especially when I was Jack’s age doing work I wish I didn’t have to do.
These lines in the "Santa Fe" reprise kind of struck me: “Where does it say you have to live and die here? Where does it say a guy can’t catch a break? Why should you only take what you’re given, why should you spend your whole life livin’ trapped where there ain’t no future? Even at 17, breaking your back for someone else’s sake.” He’s good at what he does, but it’s pretty clear this wasn’t ever what he wanted to do with his life, so he questions it. At some point, Santa Fe became the key for Jack to get away from that, at least in his mind. When he sings “Just be real, that’s all I’m asking, not some painting in my head,” he kind of admits that even he doubts if the normal life with a family he dreams of is really a possibility for him.
And even though that’s really sad (at least it made me kind of sad), what’s great about this story is he realizes his friends are his true family and what he’s been fighting for is important enough to keep going. He thinks twice about running away and finds everything he would have been seeking in Santa Fe right where he already is.
It’s a happy ending, not really how things tend to work out in real life, so definitely a Disney ending. But sometimes we can all use that kind of an ending.