Save the Cat on Newsies, Act II
- Rebecca Burnham
- Feb 26
- 6 min read
This week, we’re returning to a Save the Cat analysis of Newsies, with a little bit of Jack Viertel’s framework for a musical thrown in. Last week’s post took us through the 9 beats of Act I, closing with Jack Kelly, disillusioned, broken and alone, on the rooftop he called home. He’d just seen the strike he organized devolve into disaster, the buddies who trusted him get beaten up by Pulitzer’s goons and the police, and his best friend, Crutchy, brutalized and taken into custody. Jack closed out the act singing about the only hope for a happy future he could imagine, far away in Santa Fe.
Beat 10: Bad Guys Close In
Of all the Save the Cat beats, Beat 10 may have the least descriptive title. What actually happens in this section of the story is that the protagonist starts to recover from the defeat that ended Act I and begins taking action that looks like it’s going to be productive. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to him/her, the antagonist is working just as effectively in the opposite direction. This is a period of building tension that will bring the cup of victory to the protagonist’s lips, only to have it dashed away at the last moment.
According to Jack Viertel’s framework, there’s something that’s probably going to happen musically before the action gets fully underway. That’s a high-energy, throwaway scene that opens out the Act. Newsies delivers this in the comical “King of New York” scene at Jacobi’s Deli.
The newsboys (minus Jack and Crutchy) are lying about nursing their wounds when Katherine Plumber arrives with her front-page, above the fold, article about them “stopping The World.” The boys are ecstatic to be famous, Katherine is glowing with achievement, and they dance out their joy in a rousing number.
The next scene brings us back to earth, with Jack collecting payment from Medda for some backdrops, because he’s heading west. Medda touches briefly on the theme, asking Jack if he’s going somewhere or running away. Then Katherine, Davey and little brother Les arrive and persuade him that running away isn’t going to help. Their enemies have actually proven that they’re scared, and that means the newsies are actually in a position to make a difference. Newsboys from every neighborhood in New York are ready to join the union with a rally at the theatre that night.
Beat 11: All is Lost
This is where the cup of victory gets dashed away. Often, a “whiff of death” actually comes into the story at this point, symbolizing that hope is lost.
In Newsies, it happens when Jack arrives at Pulitzer’s office to invite the mogul to tonight’s rally. He’s confident to the point of brazenness. He doesn’t address his boss as “sir” or even “Mr. Pulitzer.” He calls him “Joe.” And then, Pulitzer systematically pulls away every block on which his hope is founded.
The rally doesn’t matter because not one paper will report it.
When Jack says there are people in this city Pulitzer doesn’t own and cannot bully, even reporters, Pulitzer reveals that Katherine is his daughter. She won’t be helping anymore.
For Jack, this is more than a blow to the union’s cause. It’s deeply personal. He thought there was some romance beginning to develop between them. But now, she’s an heiress, which means he’s a fool.
Then Snyder comes into view and Pulitzer threatens Jack with imprisonment, not only for himself, but for all the newsies; Crutchy, Davey and Les in particular. The only way to avoid it is if he speaks against the strike. And Pulitzer will give him the cash for a first class ticket to New Mexico and beyond.
The whiff of death shows up metaphorically, when Pulitzer asks “does anyone else feel a noose tightening?”
Beat 12: Dark Night of the Soul
“All Is Lost” sounds bad enough. But things have to get even worse before they get better. Jack’s dark night of the soul happens when he faces a theater full of all his friends and all the newsboys from the entire city, and tells them their cause is hopeless. As he leaves, one of Pulitzer’s men hands him a wad of cash, in clear view of the entire crowd. It looks like he’s been paid off, and everyone he loves thinks he’s a traitor.
Then he arrives on his rooftop, only to find Katherine there, looking through his drawings. As far as he can tell, she used and betrayed him. He informs her that if she weren’t a girl, she’d be sporting a black eye. She replies in kind and he tells her to go ahead and give him her best shot.
Beat 13: Break Into 3
This is the final shift, where the protagonist breaks through the darkness and starts on the path toward final victory. The transition in Newsies happens when, instead of hitting him, Katherine kisses him. Suddenly, everything changes.
Despite his apparent confidence, up until now Jack has been blind to his own capacity. The genre of his story is “Fool Triumphant” and Jack’s been unable to prevail because he’s kept reverting to the idea that he’s a fool; that he has no real power.
It’s Katherine’s kiss, more than her plan to bring the entire city to a halt with a strike by all the working children, that changes that. To ensure we don’t miss the point, we get “Something to Believe In,” the duet that closes out the scene. “I have something to believe in,” they sing to each other. “Now that I know you believed in me.”
Beat 14: Finale
This is where the protagonist finally triumphs. In Newsies, it starts with Jack, Katherine, and their crew sneaking into the basement of The World, where they use a discarded press to print out their call to action. The striking newsies distribute it to all the children.
Then Jack returns to Pulitzer’s office to negotiate an end to the stand off. This time, he can’t be intimidated by anything “Joe” says. And when Katherine arrives on the scene with Governor Theodore Roosevelt, who threatens a congressional investigation, Pulitzer is forced to negotiate a settlement.
It’s significant that Jack, in newsboy fashion, spits on his hand before extending it to seal the deal. Pulitzer balks, just like one of Katherine’s society friends had balked earlier, when Jack showed him the same courtesy in The World’s basement. Then, Jack wiped the spit off on his pant leg and then shook hands. Now, he tells Pulitzer this is the price of doing business, and Pulitzer winds up spitting on his own hand before they shake. It’s an eloquent acknowledgement of Jack’s equality.
After Crutchy is released from the refuge and Snyder is taken into custody, there’s one momentary glitch. Pulitzer offers to hire Jack as a political cartoonist, clearly hoping to use him to get back at Governor Roosevelt.
That’s a little much. For a moment, Jack reverts to his old pattern and says it’s time he headed to Santa Fe. But the newsies and Katherine remind him that everything he cares about is here in New York. Katherine promises that, newsboy or artist, she’ll be right at his side. And Jack sings that he’s done dreaming about a made-up world. He’s ready to face the world with eyes open and Katherine at his side.
He slams down his money to collect his papers, and all the newsies leap into the final dance number.
Beat 15: Final Image
The final image is supposed to contrast with the opening image in a way that brings home the unifying message.
The opening image was a bare stage in the pre-dawn light, with the facade of the “newsboys lodging house” as a backdrop. It represented the grey, subsistence life the newsies were surviving while dreaming of escaping somewhere else.
The final image has a stage flooded with light and crowded with newsies, all with a victorious fist in the air. Jack and Katherine are center stage and eye to eye, each with one arm around the other and another arm in the air.
All of this underscores the change in Jack. He’s learned that happiness can’t be found by escaping into dreams or running away. It’s achieved when you find the courage to connect with each other, and face apparently crushing problems together. In doing so, you become an equal to anyone.
It’s a powerful message that’s been masterfully conveyed. I never get tired of watching this show.
Comments