script dump . including h.ard pro.mises , and both the draft and final version of ne.wsies ( 92 ), and at the bottom, the lyrics of ‘ the tr.uth abo.ut the moo.n. ’
[ david’s sister, sarah, 18, turns from her piecework and faces us ]
[ sarah stands and looks at jack; at once defensive and curious ]
[ jack nods awakwardly, starts to say something when sarah, 16, enters from another room with an armlod of lace piecework. ]
[ jack wipes his mouth with his sleeve and knocks over his coffee. as he and sarah clean up their hands brush against one another .. they look into each other’s eyes. david, a protective cast in his eyes, watches them ]
[ jack : more when the headline’s good. ] so what makes the headline good?
[ jack : catchy words -- like, uh, corpse, or maniac, or let’s see, love nest or nude ] sarah and david giggle.
[ a silence. sarah glares at jack in defense of her father. ] my father and i are socialists.
[ esther, inside, sings a lullaby to les. sarah reads to mayer from the “debs” book. ]
[ david faces down esther’s fury as mayer, sympathetic, supports his wife. les watches. sarah sews, listening. ]
[ sarah appears inside, in a modest nightgown. she opens the window and breathes in the morning air. then she sees jack hunched against the wall on the fire escape, shivering. ] ( startled ) did you sleep there? why didn’t you wake us up?
[ sarah wakes up and looks out the window. she sees jack on the fire escape. ] did you sleep out there all night?
why didn’t you wake us up?
[ sarah climbs up behind him in a shawl, with a bundle. she sees the leaflet ] it’s all getting so big. the family’s very worried about the boys. and you, too.
papa’s so proud of you and david. you should hear him talking about jack kelly, strike leader, who occasionally takes his meals with us.
[ jack : your mom and pop are worried about me . . . ? ] ( shyly ) the whole family . . .
[ she unfolds the bundle to reveal a breakfast of bread and milk. ]
david says you’re moving away when the strike’s over. to santa fe. i’ve never been out of the city.
[ jack : ( . . . ) it’s all bigger. the desert, the sky, the sun. ] ( smiles ) it’s the same sun as here.
guess your parents wrote you about it. bet you can’t wait to see them again.
david said you spent all your money to rent the theater.
[ jack : sounds like you and david don’t do nothin’ but talk about me. ] we do not.
[ jack : not that i blame you -- me bein’ such an interestin’ guy and all ] ( smiles ) are you . . . ?
i should get ready for work.
[ sarah hears a tapping, looks up and sees jack ath the window. she quietly goes to him and opens the window. all whipspers: ] do you know what time it is?
[ sarah wakes before the others and looks out the window. she sees jack standing on the sidewalk just off the alley. he looks cold and disheveled. sarah, in her bathrobe, leaves the building and sits on the stoop. jack sees her and goes to her ]
[ jack : david up? ] no. you want to come in?
[ he sits down next to her. she pulls a roll from her pocket and eats. jack watches her out of the corner of his eye. she tears off a piece and hands it to him. jack. proud, won’t take it ]
[ jack : i ain’t hungry ] don’t be foolish. of course you are.
i love the quiet, this time of morning. the city can be so oppressive sometimes . . . so ugly.
[ jack : i could show you places, makes your eyes pop out. ] what places?
[ jack : places i go . . . places i seen . . . beautiful places . . . / sarah watches him as he talks, seeing another side. ]
[ esther : jack. you can’t go with a hole in your pants. / jack, embarressed, looks down at the hole in his knee. ] i’ll fix them, mama. ( prepares a needle ) give me your pants.
[ sarah stands next to denton and kloppman. behind them, the door cracks and in slides snyder. ]
[ the song fills the hall as jack, happy and proud, sees sarah smiling at him, reaches out his hand and pulls her on stage. ][ sarah screams, seeing what’s happened to david -- les, sobbing, kicks furiously at the cop’s leg. sarah pulls her little brother away. ][ cops come in and the newsies scatter. jack takes sarah’s hand and pulls her through the crowd ][ jack and david get sarah and les to safety ]
[ sarah is going through a pile of lace. she finds les’s old hot dog ] les. what is this?
david. it’s denton’s article. ‘the dark truth: why our city really fears the newsie’s strike’ by bryan denton. ‘last night i saw naked force exercised against mere boys, the newsies, who were . . . ’
jack ... jack. yoou don’t have to sneak out.
[ sarah walks at the edge of the crowded sidewalk. otto and the delanceys are right behind sarah. otto bumps into her hard, knocking her basket of lace into the gutter. ] oh, no!
[ she starts to pick up the lace. / otto : oh, ‘scuse me, miss. / oscar : lemme help you. / they step all over the lace, grinding it into the mud ] stop! please . . .
[ sarah, with a basket of lacework, is coming down the street, les dawdling behind, in a bad mood. ] les, come on -- you’re supposed to be helping me today.
[ suddenly a man steps in front of her. / oscar : ‘scuse me, sweetface. / she continues to walk with oscar behind her. morris steps out in front of her. / morris: where’s your little brother, tootsie? where’s little davey? / sarah tries to get by, but the brothers push her around. ]
[ she tries to step around him but morris is there. he “accidentally” knocks her lacework into the gutter. ]
[ morris holds onto sarah while oscar pushes les into a puddle ] stop it! leave him alone!
( calmly ) you . . stupid . . ape! [ on “ape” she socks him square in the grin -- he recoils, licking a bloody lip ]
[ david, furious, runs down the sidewalk towards them. morris slips on brass knuckles in anticipation. sarah struggles, screaming ] david, no -- don’t -- !
stop it! stop, you’re hurting him! no! leave him alone!
[ an awkward momoent -- jack picks up the bundle to go and -- ] ( decisively ) you’re not going to run away. they’ll just come after you. you have to fight them.
you’re wrong. you touched people you don’t even know about. [ she removes the stained pages from her shawl ] denton’s story.
whatever happens, it’s jack’s decision. he’s the one in danger.
[ jack sees a boy leave an alley up ahead and walk towards him. jack clenches his fist, ready for a right, looking for one, needing one. / jack : that you, charlie? / no response. the boy gets closer. the clothes are david’s. suddenly jack grabs the boy by the collar and slams him against the wall; jack’s fist cocked. “the boy” is sarah in david’s cap and jacket. it takes jack a second to recognize the face. ]
[ jack rips the hat off her head. / jack : take that off ( her hair falls free ) you’re a target, looking like your brother. ] ( grabs hat back ) you look stupid in that suit.
why did you take the money?
[ jack : they’d lock me up again. i hate that place. it reminds me a . . . ( trails off ) ] your brother? david told me.
you don’t have to lie to us
[ jack : it’s easier sometimes to make up a family then to have one. ] you do have one.
[ jack, sarah, david, and denton enter the basement of the world building ] you’ve been living here?
you don’t have to runaway anymore, jack. you have a choice now.
les wanted to go with you you.
you’re not a cowboy, jack. you’re a city boy. you belong here.
oh the moon is bigger in sante fe?
honestly.
moon. a natural satellite of the earth,
latin name: luna,
hundreds of thousands of miles away from here,
no signs of water, or life, or atmosphere,
this is the truth about the moon,
the facts are black and white,
and yet i couldn’t think of one while watching it tonight,
i saw the words all fly away,
so fast, so far,
till every letter, every number,
had turned into a star,
and was the moon especially bright?
i really can’t recall,
and this was the first time
the facts of the matter didn’t matter at all
shall i try to deny all i know from moments that’s gone?
let my heart,
let me be,
someone different from me from now on
no
i learned the truth about the moon,
the facts i learned are right,
i only wish it made me feel like the lies i learned tonight
lies from that dreamer,
that dime novel cowboy that believes in a fantasy called sante fe
given name: jack
someone who seems to get by with a smile
having no substance, he compensates with style
this is the truth about the boy,
there’s nothing more to say,
though when i looked into his eyes,
i could not look away
and if i first though who he was who he claimed he was,
it’s just because that kind of boy must be good at what he does,
but then as gentle as a breath,
his hand was touching mine
and i discovered a feeling i somehow could not define
fly away, sante fe,
you’re the seed of a dream,
not a plan,
lovely dream,
still it seems like the dream of a boy not a man
at least i don’t shed many tears down here in my cocoon,
where i’m protected by my facts,
like the truth about the moon
moon. a natural satellite of the earth, the same size no matter where you are.
latin name: luna
lovely name,
jack
