The newsboys' strike of 1899 was a U.S. youth-led campaign to facilitate change in the way that Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst's newspapers compensated their force of newsboys or newspaper hawkers. The strikers demonstrated across New York City for several days, effectively stopping circulation of the two papers, along with the news distribution for many New England cities. The strike lasted two weeks, causing Pulitzer's New York World to decrease its circulation from 360,000 papers sold per day to 125,000. Although the price of papers was not lowered, the strike was successful in forcing the World and Journal to offer full buybacks to their sellers, thus increasing the amount of money that newsboys received for their work. This event inspired the 1992 movie musical, Newsies, which was adapted for Broadway on March 29, 2012.
Did I know about this story? No. Did I ever watch the 1992 film with Christian Bale? No. Have I seen the Broadway Musical version on Disney +? No. Did Anabelle and Ruby love this show and were excited to drive 2 hours on a Saturday to Hartselle to watch the show? YES. Do I love musicals? Yes. So it was a simple choice to join up with the girls on this trip up to Hartselle to see the College Players production.
We stopped at Top Hat to visit with Marcia and Stella, and the BBQ there is still so good. I often reminisce of days gone by when there. We sat very near to where Magan and I probably enjoyed a few Sunday lunches as early as 1998. Strange to think that only 26 years ago, we were falling in love as two young kids. But the time gap was clearly visible in the chairs we were sitting in probably being the exact same ones we sat in back then. And the two places in the floor that seem to be rotten and slowly sinking as you walk by are another indicator of time gone by. But the flavor of that BBQ and the waft of aroma from the bowl of ranch with a few pieces of lettuce from the lady sitting next to me...yep, it just takes you back.
At the play, Anabelle met up with her friend Isabella Grace (IG to her friends), who was a little on the crazy side of a NEWSIES fan. I think we were planning to sit with them, but only realized when we got to the show that Magan had purchased tickets for the Friday show instead of the Saturday show. Fortunately, we have some insiders with College Street and they moved our tickets to the right day, but a little further back. It was a really great show, and I love the connection to my girls with these musicals. "I'm the king of New York" was my favorite song, probably related to the dancing and Choreo (I think that's what the kids call it) that night...but the song that resonates in my head is of course the ballad "Santa Fe". Have I watched the Disney + version since this night? Perhaps once or twice...
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