I had never heard of this new show and when I first heard about it, all I heard were two words; Jeremy Jordan. I live in Corpus Christi, Texas and apparently so did he. "That's cool." I thought and blew it off.
Later one of my friends told me about someting that happened in choir that day. Ms. Byus (yes, like High School Musical but I'm 100% serious), the choir director, was telling the class about Jordan. " He is nominated for a Tony this year and we all should be very proud of him not only because he is a Corpus Christi native, but he also went here to Baker." I had never heard this before! This guy could win a Tony and I'm walking the same halls as him?! At this, everyone started talking so Ms. Byus had to hush down the kids, "Yes, yes, kids. But I wasn't his choir teacher when he went here."
"That's why he's gonna win the Tony!"retorted some kid in the back of the class. The whole class laughed but Ms. Byus was less than amused.
So that night I went home and listened to the Newsies soundtrack on Spotify. It was really catchy and soon I was singing right along. I wanted to know more about Jordan and the whole show itself. In one interview he said "This is a huge responsibility. I remember being eight years old and seeing it in the theater. This movie means a lot to people in my generation." I was clueless. What movie was he talking about? It turns out that there is a movie of the same name that the musical was based on. I had never heard of it because it is a few years older than me; it's from 1992 to be exact.
That weekend I was at Half Price Books and found an old VHS tape of it for one dollar. That's how you know it's old. What else can you buy for a dollar? When I was paying for it I made small talk with the cashier. "Hey I remember this movie! It was pretty good." I told him it was on Broadway now but he didn't really seem very interested. It wasn't until I mention Jeremy Jordan that it clicked for him. "Oh! That guy?! He went to Carroll. I remember now. A Tony, huh? Maybe we should be selling this for more than a buck..." Too late! I had bought it already.
So I developed my opinion of the show through the 1992 movie, YouTube clips and other people's reviews. I love Newsies now and I wish I could play one but I am a painfully tall hispanic girl so I seriously doubt that will ever happen. The more I think about it, the cooler Jeremy Jordan seems. He came from my city. He probably ate a few Whataburgers, put up with our crap weather, and was frustrated with our miniscule theatre life down here (it pisses me off all the time). He was one of us but is now a star. As I type this it's hitting me; what if I know a future Tony winner...BAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!! Yeah right! A city like Corpus Christi can only produce one person like Jeremy Jordan.
