July, 1899: When Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst raise the distribution price one-tenth of a cent per paper, ten cents per hundred, the newsboys, poor enough already, are outraged. Inspired by the strike put on by the trolley workers, Jack "Cowboy" Kelly (Christian Bale) organizes a newsboys' strike. With David Jacobs (David Moscow) as the brains of the new union, and Jack as the voice, the weak and oppressed found the strength to band together and challenge the powerful.
The high school is named after Harry J. Anslinger, the first Commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Narcotics (1932), known as the Father of the Drug War. Kristen Bell, Christian Campbell, and John Kassir all reprise their Off-Broadway roles. Robert Torti only reprises his role as Jesus, all of his other roles are played by Steven Weber. This is one of the most complicated musicals filmed for television. The movie contains sixteen musical sequences, several complex large-scale dance numbers, ...[Read Story ]