Newsies came out 34 years ago today on 10 April 1992, but for the writers, Bob Tzudiker and Noni White, Newsies began all the way back in 1985 when an article in the New York Times happened to catch Bob's eye...
Incredibly, I recently had the honor of speaking to Bob and Noni personally and the following are some of the facts and reflections that they shared with me:
Charlie, the original newsgirl character who was Jack's love interest, was named Charlotte! "Charlie" was a nickname.
The original Newsies script was a drama, but it was a drama with source music! Notably, the jazz club owned by Boots's family (which would be replaced by Tibby's) contributed significant music to the film. The fifth draft of the script that was pitched to Disney had the most music integrated into the story out of the early drafts.
The jazz club was owned by Boots's aunt and uncle.
Charlie's aunt Louise didn't just live in a "house of ill repute" but was the Madame of it, in other words she was the one managing the establishment.
Police chiefs and politicians frequented the house of ill repute, adding another layer of corruption to the original story.
The number one question that Bob and Noni were interested in regarding Santa Fe was the question of Jack's family. In their original script, Jack's younger brother had been shipped off to Santa Fe on an orphan train, so Jack's desire for Santa Fe was a desire to find his brother.
Jack's father was in fact in prison for murder.
Teddy Roosevelt was never meant to be anything more than an anecdote and Bob and Noni disliked the inclusion of Roosevelt as a real character, and disliked the later introduction of Katherine as Pulitzer's daughter, because they felt that these characters shifted the dynamic of kids with nothing and no power making a difference to people with power swooping in to save the day.
The relationship between Charlie and Jack was described to me as being very gradual and satisfying and both Bob and Noni were upset about losing Charlie and the original love story. Switching gears to Sarah (who had always existed in Newsies as David and Les's older sister) was a long and drawn out process as the meeting to get approval on the new love interest/love story kept being postponed.
Disney didn't believe in newsgirls (which is why Charlie didn't make the cut), but Bob and Noni did and their characters included newsgirls plural. Not just Charlie.
Even with all of the changes that their original story underwent, Bob and Noni expressed so much love and gratitude for the story they created, especially seeing what Newsies has been to other people.
I'm still in a state of disbelief that I really talked to the writers of this movie musical that has meant so much to me over the years, and what really struck me the most about the conversation I had with them was how passionate they are about Newsies even all these years later! Bob and Noni really created something special, didn't they?
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