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newsiepedia · 5 years

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Character Profile: Davey (Musical and Film Version)

Real Name: David Jacobs

Nickname and Meaning: Davey (diminutive of David), Walking Mouth (given to him by Spot for talking so much)

Age: In the film script, Davey is stated to be 15, and his brother 8. (Newsies Film script, page 6) However, in the stage musical, Les says that he is “ten, almost”, (Newsies Live script, page 11) so Davey could be as old as 17.

Gender: Davey is always played by a man.

Family: Esther and Mayer Jacobs (parents), Sarah (sister) and Les (brother)

Davey…:

Is book smart. Not only is he the first one to suggest a strike, he knows everything the newsies would need to make it official and successful. (Newsies Live script, pages 25, 26, 27, 32) He has an extensive vocabulary (often causing his points to go right over the newsies’ heads), (Newsies Live script, pages 27, 32) (Newsies Film script, page 46) and is an eloquent public speaker. (Newsies Live script, pages 27, 28, 53, 54, 55, 63) His solo in Seize the Day is essentially a persuasive speech, telling the newsies not to quit- and one that works very well. (Newsies Live script, pages 40, 41, 42, 43)

Is street stupid. Davey comes to the circulation gate not knowing anything about buying papers, (Newsies Live script, page 10) and when he tries to sell, not only does he lack charisma, he seems to have never heard a newsie hawk a headline in his entire life. (Newsies Live script, page 16) He also has no idea who Warden Snyder is, despite probably being in the poorest family he knows (until he meets the newsies, of course). (Newsies Live script, page 17)

Says what he thinks. When Jack spit shakes with Les, Davey tells him flat out “that’s disgusting”, (Newsies Live script, page 12) tells Katherine she’s not a “real reporter” before he even knows her, (Newsies Live script, page 34) and says “that’s it?” when Kath starts dancing during King of New York (Newsies Live script, page 50) - certainly not the best first impression a guy could make. He isn’t mean, though- he also readily complements Jack on his art (Newsies Live script, page 19) and lets him know how much he cares about him. (Newsies Live script, page 69)

Doesn’t understand social cues very well. When Jack is having his personal moping session after Crutchie’s arrest, Davey completely misreads the room. He talks about himself, and how worried he was about Jack (Newsies Live script, page 53) and then acts like nothing is wrong, and Jack ought to be happy the strike is going so well. (Newsies Live script, page 53, 54) He even tells Jack “Lighten up, no one died”, even though Crutchie very well could. (Newsies Live script, page 55) He also continues to mention his parents around the newsies, despite seeing how uncomfortable it makes them, (Newsies Live script, pages 16, 17, 23, 53) and tries to sell papers to a couple while they were making out. (Newsies Film script, page 21)

Is very protective of his brother. He mostly shows this by keeping him in line and out of trouble, like keeping him away from people who could hurt him (Newsies Live script, page 42) (Newsies Film script, page 30) and not letting him gawk at the Bowery Beauties. (Newsies Live script, page 18) He also looks after Les’s future, reminding him that they’re going back to school as soon as their father can work again. (Newsies Live script, page 16)

Has a strong sense of ethics, which includes:

Honesty. Davey objects strongly to Jack’s “improving the truth a little”. (Newsies Film script, page 23) His dishonestly clearly marks him as a bad seed in Davey’s book, as when he says he was put in jail for stealing food, he becomes “suspicious”. (Newsies Film script, page 26) Though he learns to trust Jack over time, he brings up the lying again when Jack scabs, saying “You lie about everything headlines, your family -- because nobody counts but you -- nobody or nothing!” (Newsies Film script, page 105) Him bringing up honesty at such an emotional time shows how much it means to him.

Justice. Davey is very enthusiastic about the strike. He talks grandly about all the good striking will do- getting the newsies more rights, teaching adults they can’t exploit kids and get away with it, and helping other poor people. (Newsies Live script, pages 27, 63) He also preaches the importance of supporting other poor people to Medda when he’s trying to get the theater for the rally. (Newsies Film script, page 71)

Nonviolence. Davey strongly objects to beating up the scabbing newsies throughout the play, (Newsies Live script, pages 28, 41) (Newsies Film script, page 43, 80, 104) and is clearly disturbed by the violence of the police to the newsies (Newsies Film script, page 92) and the trolley strikers to each other. (Newsies Film script, page 30) The only time in either show Davey resorts to physical violence is when the Delancey brothers threaten his sister. (Newsies Film script, page 111)

Loyalty. Once Davey has committed to the strike, he really commits. He sticks by the newsies when they don’t (Newsies Live script, pages 40, 41, 42, 43), even going so far as to find their leader and bring him back when he tries to quit. (Newsies Live script, page 53)

Isn’t very social. When Jack buys him papers and offers to sell with him, Davey rejects him off the bat. (Newsies Film script, page 18) Even when he accepts the deal, Davey only does it “reluctantly”, (Newsies Film script, page 19) and he’s suspicious of Denton at first. (Newsies Film script, page 48) Also, he doesn’t appear to have any friends besides his sister, as he often talks to her about Jack. (Newsies Film script, page 75) However, he becomes more comfortable with them after they prove themselves trustworthy.

Is a nervous person. His dialogue is peppered with filler words (Newsies Live script, pages 17, 26, 27) (Newsies Film script, page 52) and dashes, (Newsies Live script, pages 40, 56) (Newsies Film script, page 51, 62, 101, 105, 123) showing that he isn’t confident in his ability to speak. He also asks the newsies to “leave him out” of the strike because he thinks it’s too risky, (Newsies Live script, page 25) and refuses to go to Brooklyn without Jack to protect him, (Newsies Live script, page 33) and starts “sweating, aware that all eyes are on him” while arguing with Wiesel about his papers. (Newsies Film script, page 17) This could be caused by him being the least favorite child in his family. (Highlights of the 1991 Script)

Is brave. Despite his anxiety, Davey doesn’t hesitate to stick up for himself or others. When Wiesel tries to cheat him out of a paper, Davey calls his mistake and doesn’t back down until he gets what he wants. (Newsies Live script, page 11) During the strike, he stands up for the cause the most and doesn’t back down when things get scary. His courage inspires the other newsies to stick with it. (Newsies Live script, pages 40, 41, 42, 43)

Could be on the autism spectrum. Davey shows a lot of autistic traits, such as not understanding social cues and having difficulty approaching strangers. His large amounts of knowledge on striking and unions could also be because they’re his special interest.

Headcanon Fuel:

Why is Davey neither of his parents’ favorite child?

Why does Davey value honesty, justice, loyalty and nonviolence so much?

Why did Davey become a newsie (rather than picking some other job)?

Why doesn’t Davey want to be friends with the newsies at first?

Actors and Physical Appearance:

David Moscow

Ben Fankhauser

Jacob Kemp

Stephen Michael Langton

Davey is tall and scrawny, with dark curly hair and a prominent nose. He dresses to impress. Davey and his family are canonically Jewish and at least half Polish, as was made clear in a previous version of the script. (Highlights of the 1991 Script)

#newsiepedia #davey jacobs #david jacobs #newsies #newsies live #livesies #92sies

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