AUDITIONS 

What to Expect:

Welcome to MCS Theater Arts Department's production of Newsies!  

Auditions are Saturday, November 15th, 2025 from 8:30am-3:30pm.  

Call Backs will be Wednesday, November 19th, 2025 from 3:30pm-5:00pm.

PLEASE READ THROUGH THIS ENTIRE PAGE BEFORE EMAILING WITH QUESTIONS!

Make sure you complete the following steps for complete registration for auditioning.

1. Read through Getting Started.  

2. Determine the character for whom you will audition.

3. Make sure you can open the links and retrieve the list of songs, monologues, and dances. 

4. Click on Register to Audition and complete the Google form. This will require both STUDENT and PARENT signatures.

5. Click on Select Your Audition Timeslot and choose a time in which you will be able to audition.  Please arrive at least 15 minutes prior to your audition time.  

6. Call Backs will be sent via email no later than Sunday night November 16th, 11:59pm.

Getting Started:

Newsies Character Information: Choosing the right character is an important part of your audition preparation. A polished monologue/cold read, song, and dance gives you a chance to show off your skills and demonstrate your connection to the production. 

Here are some suggestions on how to get started:

1. Familiarize yourself with the show! Read the script, listen to the music, watch samples of performances on YouTube, and thoroughly read all of the audition information, including the character descriptions, that have been provided. 

2. Ask yourself: Which role(s) do I see myself in? Which role(s) do I think the directors will see me in? Consider all of the possibilities.

3. Choose a cold read that matches the characters that you would like to be considered for, but read through all of the options. Be open to the discovery that this exercise may lead you to.

4. Make character choices! Read the cold read and think about the character: Who is this person and what do they want in this specific moment? What is the story the character is telling? How can you, as the actor, use your body and voice to best express this moment/idea/story? And then try things - play with body language, posture, facial expression, and vocal expression. Commit fully to the character and tell the story.

5. Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse. Perform your monologue, song, and dance in front of your loved ones and ask for feedback to help you improve your audition and increase your comfort and confidence. 

6. Memorization is a plus, but is not required. We want to see your best work...if you’ll be stronger with your script and music in hand, use it! Have fun! We are excited to see your performance. 

List of Characters

JACK KELLY, the charismatic leader of the Manhattan newsies, is an orphaned dreamer and artist who yearns to get out of the crowded streets of New York and make a better life for himself out West. Fiercely protective of his best friend, Crutchie, and strongly loyal, Jack isn’t afraid to use his voice to attain better conditions for the working kids of New York City. Though living on the streets has given him a tough-guy exterior, Jack has a big heart and can demonstrate a sweet vulnerability – especially when it comes to bantering with a certain female reporter. Must have a great pop tenor voice and sense of physicality. 

KATHERINE PLUMBER, an ambitious young reporter, works hard to make a name for herself as a legitimate journalist in a time when women aren’t taken seriously. Quick, funny, and resourceful, she boldly captures the voice of a new generation rising in her coverage of the newsies’ strike. While she generally has no time for arrogant, streetwise young men, she makes an exception for Jack Kelly. Though she only has a brief dance solo in “King of New York,” Katherine should have a great contemporary pop voice with a high belt – diction is key 

CRUTCHIE is a dedicated newsie with a bum leg that’s painful, but helps sell more papes. Though he walks with the assistance of a crutch, Crutchie doesn’t let it define him; when in a jam, Jack Kelly’s best friend relies on a goofy, sweet sense of humor and optimistic resilience. Crutchie is the heart of the resistance. Though his movement will suggest his bum leg, Crutchie should still be included in the dance numbers. 

DAVEY, Les’s straight-laced, bright big brother starts selling newspapers to help his family earn a living, but becomes swept up in the fervor of the strike. A leader in his own right who is learning to use his voice to uplift others, Davey is the brains of the resistance. 

LES, Davey’s cheeky younger brother, is inspired by the freedom of the newsies and loves their independent lifestyle. A precocious and natural newsie, Les is an intuitive salesboy and a pint-sized charmer. He should present as younger than the other newsies.

 SPOT CONLON, the proud leader of the Brooklyn newsies, boasts an intimidating reputation and a short singing solo in “Brooklyn’s Here.” 

NEWSIES, including ALBERT, BUTTONS, ELMER, FINCH, HENRY, IKE, JO JO, MIKE, MUSH, RACE, ROMEO, SPECS, SPLASHER, and TOMMY BOY, are some of the hard-working kids of New York City who go on strike for a livable wage. 

SCABS are three newsies who are hesitant to join the strike. 

DARCY, who can double as a newsie, is the upper-class kid of a publisher who sides with the newsies. 

BILL, who can double as a newsie, is the son of William Randolph Hearst who joins the newsies’ cause. 

PHOTOGRAPHER takes the triumphant photo of the newsies at the end of “Seize the Day.” 

All of the below are non-dancing roles, and with the exception of Nunzio and the Guard, all sing in “The Bottom Line.”

 JOSEPH PULITZER, a pompous businessman through and through, owns the World and is concerned solely with the bottom line. Katherine’s no-nonsense father, Pulitzer doesn’t sympathize with the strikers, but he does eventually – and grudgingly – respect Jack. 

SEITZ, editor, advises Pulitzer, but ultimately admires the kids’ newspaper. 

BUNSEN, Pulitzer’s bookkeeper, comes up with the idea to raise the newsies’ price per paper.

HANNAH is Pulitzer’s practical and insightful secretary. 

NUNZIO is Pulitzer’s barber. 

The GUARD removes the newsies from Pulitzer’s building. 

With the exception of the stage manager, these are singing and dancing roles. 

MEDDA LARKIN, inspired by vaudeville performer Aida Overton Walker, this big-voiced saloon singer and star of the Bowery offers her theater as a safe haven for the newsies. An astute entertainer with great comic delivery, she’s a good friend to Jack and stands firmly behind the newsies in their fight for justice. 

BOWERY BEAUTIES are female performers at Medda’s Theater. 

STAGE MANAGER introduces Medda’s act. 

While the nuns sing, the others are all non-singing, nondancing roles. 

NUNS (3) offer breakfast to the hungry newsies. Feel free to cast additional nuns. 

WOMAN is a newspaper customer. 

MR. JACOBI allows the newsies to congregate in his restaurant to plan their strike – when he doesn’t have any paying customers, that is. 

SNYDER, the crooked and sinister warden of The Refuge, a filthy and horrible orphanage, is concerned only with catching enough kids to keep his government checks coming.

POLICEMEN assist Snyder and turn against the newsies in the fight that concludes Act One. 

The MAYOR of New York City rebuffs Pulitzer’s attempts to shut down the newsies’ strike.

GOVERNOR TEDDY ROOSEVELT, a well-respected lifelong public servant, inspires Jack to stand up to Pulitzer. 

Unless otherwise doubled with the newsies ensemble, these are all non-singing, non-dancing roles.

 WIESEL, or “Weasel,” runs the distribution window for the World and knows most of the newsies by name. Assisted by the intimidating Delancey brothers, who keep order by any means necessary, Wiesel is Pulitzer’s disgruntled paperpusher. 

OSCAR & MORRIS DELANCEY, toughs who work at the distribution window for the World, take the side of the publishers in the strike and are known to use their fists to make a point. 

GOONS assist the Delanceys in roughing up the newsies at the end of Act One. 

Audition Links

7th-12th: Please sign up for an audition time slot that falls within Groups 1-4 time frame.

3rd-6th: Please sign up for an audition time slot for Groups 5-6 timeframe.

Click Here to Select YOUR Audition Timeslot

Auditions will be done in groups.  The timeslot you sign up for will designate the audition group you are in. 

7th-12th graders will be required to know the songs, have a memorized monologue, and be prepared for the dance PRIOR to audition day. COME PREPARED!

3rd-6th graders will be required to know the songs, and read (or memorize) a monologue linked above. We will walk through the dance with them the day of. 

DIFFERENT FROM LAST YEAR!

There will be NO Company this year. 3rd-6th graders will be placed in either Creative Arts Club or Ensemble (unless casted in a main role). Creative Arts Club will not meet until February. 

 Please arrive 15 minutes prior to your group's start time to allow for registration.  Once your group is complete and dismissed you may go home.

 Group 1 8:30am-9:30am

Group 2 9:30am-10:30am

 Group 3 10:30am-11:30am 

Group 4 11:30am-12:30pm

Group 5 1:30pm-2:30pm 

Group 6 2:30pm-3:30pm