#newises live

new favourite video alert

- we rented the same set that tutsies used! the company is ‘front row theatrical’! (that set is $18k btw)

- the costumers got prescription glasses that fit the time period for our specs and mike! (both wear glasses and don’t have contacts) and both actors got to keep the glasses!

- our jack kelly had only been in two productions previously and this was his first lead role! (i was shocked when i learned that, cuz he’s amazing)

- there were four daveys in the show! 3 former daveys and the current davey! crutchie, henry, and finch (me) had all previously played davey!

- over 80 people auditioned but only 37 made it into the cast (still one of the largest casts in gpt history)

- andrew keenan-bolger is an alumni of gpt and even sent the cast a video message! if he wasn’t in the dracula comedy he most likely would’ve gone to see the show! our director had worked with him before on shows and many folks in the cast know him personally!

- we had more newsies than there were newsies names in the cast so we gave our extra newsies names: Rusty, Jellybean, Kritter, Midge, and MC

- all of our girls playing newsies were kept girls, but none of them wore dresses! most of our newsies were girls. only jack, davey, race, crutchie, les, finch, albert, specs, romeo, henry, and elmer were played by guys

- mush and finch are siblings (not irl, just in the show) and we swapped socks so we had mismatched socks. we also decided that mush’s clothes were all finch’s old clothes

- we went through approximately 440 newspapers for just tech week and shows for the papes dance alone!

- it was the most expensive show in gpt history (over $70k !!)

- finch (me) was actually the person behind jack’s drawing of katherine

- we recreated some iconic newsies moments (the video of ben annoying andrew with what what happens reprise, and the titanic pose one!)

i hope you watch it! comment your thoughts on the show :33 i would love to hear them!

hell yeah son i got som racetrack higgins hcs for u

aight so

im gonna do modern bc my brain is too tired to think of canon shit

this kid

has a weird obsession with burt's bees chapstick

he has them everywhere

in his pockets, in his backpack, he even has one in his wallet ("for emergencies")

all flavors

his lips are v soft because of it

good for kissing

he goes into every room with the mission of making everyone there confused and slightly uncomfy

"hey does anyone wanna come outside and eat rocks with me?"

"alright i'm about to reinstate the death penalty in north carolina, who's with me?"

he has a meme account with thousands of followers, even some celebrities follow it

listens to move soundtracks on the daily

his favorite one is Inception

owns every single Keanu Reeves movie ever made

is in the process of collecting every single Leonardo DiCaprio movie ever made

brags about vaping but secretly has the nicfree vapes because nicotine addictions at age 17??? not great

sells oregano to the underclassmen

humor is a coping mechanism for him, and his friends can notice when something's wrong if he starts cracking jokes in between every other sentence

has a caffeine addiction

Real Name: (none) Higgins (Trading card) However, the real Racetrack Higgins was named Ed.

Nickname and Meaning: Racetrack, Racer, or Race, because he likes to gamble on horse races. (He also gambles using other games, but he probably either got into races first or likes them the most)

Age: Unsure, but he was 18 in the first draft of the film script. (Highlights of the 1991 Script)

Gender: Race is always played by a man.

Family: Race is an orphan, (Trading card) but he may have siblings we (and possibly Race himself) don’t know about. He does have three cousins who live in Brooklyn (one named Joey) (Interview with Adrienne Storrs) but again, its not clear if he knows of their existance.

Race…:

Likes to gamble. Race is shown gambling with other newsies, (Newsies Film script, pages 6, 7, 13, 123, 134) frequently talks about gambling, (Newsies Film script, pages 35, 82, 84) (Newsies Live script, page 9) and even uses gambling- themed metaphors. When the price of the paper goes up, Race says “It's a rigged deck -- why waste time kiddin' ourselves? They set the price, we gotta pay it.” (Newsies Film script, page 40) He also seems to be pretty good at gambling- Race wins 10 games out of 10 with Snoddy (Newsies Film script, page 7) and has enough cash to spare that he can casually give Davey 25 cents. (Newsies Film script, page 17)

Isn’t afraid of anything. When Snyder, the man who could imprison him at any moment, shows up at the lodging house, Race doesn’t even flinch. He just focuses on distracting Snyder so Jack doesn’t get in trouble. (Newsies Film script, pages 73, 74) He also directly antagonizes the Delancey brothers many times, despite knowing that they will attack him,  (Newsies Live script, pages 8, 9) (Newsies Film script, page 12) and goes to attack Wiesel as soon as the fight breaks out. (Newsies Live script, page 44)

Constantly thinks about romance. His first line is asking Albert if he was dreaming about “a pretty girl”. (Newsies Live script, page 4) He also attempts to get his papes for free by sweet talking Wiesel (Newsies Live script, page 10) and flirts with Miss Medda. (Newsies Film script, page 84) Race’s romantic intentions may not be purely directed at girls- when Jack says that they can’t beat up anyone who doesn’t join the strike, Race replies “Whatta we s'pose to do, kiss 'em?”. Race could be making a joke, but Jack replies “I personally wouldn't go that far, Race”, making it seem like Race could be seriously considering seducing the working boys of Manhattan into striking. (Newsies Film script, page 80)

Is mean when he’s jealous. As soon as Davey and Les mention having parents, Race snaps at them, (Newsies Live script, page 23) and he mocks Crutchie’s picket sign behind his back when he sees that the other newsies like it. (Newsies Live script, page 40) He also attempts to keep Davey an outsider, by interrupting him when he tries to talk to Katherine. (Newsies Live script, page 49)

Feels a strong sense of community with the newsies. Race is the most upset when Jack scabs, and later when he leaves for Santa Fe. (Newsies Film script, pages 108, 134) He’s also the first one to notice when Crutchie comes back from the Refuge. (Newsies Live script, page 76) This could be because he lived at the lodging house for most of his life- the newsies became like his brothers. (Trading card)

Is actually pretty smart. When Les says that he has a mom and a dad, Race replies “Hey, ain’t we the hoi polloi?” (Newsies Live script, page 23) Hoi polloi is ancient Greek for “the common people”. Not only is Race speaking in an obscure language, his insult has several meanings- hoi polloi sounds like an insult even if you don’t know what it means, and the meaning could be taken as mocking Les for not being a normal newsie (by being a normal person), or as calling Les stuck up. It also takes a lot of smarts to be good at gambling- Race would have to have a firm grasp of probability and body language, and have a very good memory, to consistently win money on games of chance. 

May have ADHD. Race constantly has a cigar with him, but never smokes it- he could use it as a way to stim without drawing attention to himself. He is also very touchy, often without seeing if someone wants to be hugged first. Lastly, Race has a very short attention span. In Carrying the Banner, Albert steals his cigar while he’s buttoning his shirt. He doesn’t remember to finish buttoning it, and it stays that way for the rest of the show. In King of New York, he appears just as sad about Jack and Crutchie’s disappearances as the other newsies- until Kath tells him about their front page article. Then, he immediately forgets about them, even when the other newsies are having none of it. (Newsies Live script, page 47)

Headcanon Fuel:

If Race is Italian, why does he have such a non- Italian sounding last name?

What happened to Race’s family?

How did Race get into gambling?

Where did Race learn ancient Greek phrases? 

WHY did Race learn ancient Greek phrases?

Why is Race named after horse races instead of any other kind of betting?

Why does Race gamble at Sheepshead (a racetrack in Brooklyn) (Newsies Film script, page 7) if Spot is so territorial and frightening?

Actors and Physical Appearance:

Max Castella

Ryan Breslin

Giuseppe Bausilio

Ben Tyler Cook

Daniel Switzer