Set in New York City at the turn of the 20th century, Newsies is the rousing tale of Jack Kelly, a charismatic newsboy and leader of a ragged band of teenaged “newsies” who dreams only of a better life far from the hardship of the streets. But when publishing titans Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst raise distributions prices at the newboys’ expense, Jack finds a cause to fight for and rallies newsies from across the city to strike for what’s right.
Newsies is inspired by the real-life Newsboys Strike of 1899, when newsies leaders Kid Blink and David Simons led a band of working kids on a two-week long strike against newspaper publishers Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst.