Last Edition: NEWSIES Stars Recall Favorite Memories- Andy Richardson

NEWSIES plays its final performance on Broadway this coming Sunday, August 24, but BroadwayWorld (and the rest of New York, we hope) isn't ready to let the musical leave just yet! Throughout the week, we continue the Newsies love by bringing you favorite memories from a slew of the current and past stars of the show!

ANDY RICHARDSON (Crutchie - current cast; Romeo, Ensemble - original cast)

One of my happiest memories from my Newsies experience is when I graduated from high school onstage in front of my family, my Newsies family, and a packed audience. Right after our final bow at a Wednesday matinee, Jacob Guzman, David Guzman, Hogan Fulton, and I walked the stage in bright red caps and gowns. The orchestra played Pomp and Circumstance while Thomas Schumacher, the president of Disney Theatrical Group, introduced us. John Dossett and Tom Robbins as Pulitzer and Roosevelt even handed us our diplomas as the audience cheered! I swear I felt like my face was about to burst because I was smiling so much.

NEWSIES features a Tony Award-winning score with music by eight-time Academy Award winner Alan Menken and lyrics by Jack Feldman, with a book by four-time Tony Award winner Harvey Fierstein. Produced by Disney Theatrical Productions, NEWSIES is directed by Tony nominee Jeff Calhoun and choreographed by Christopher Gattelli, who won a 2012 Tony Award for his work.

When it opened on March 29, 2012, Newsies was intended for a Broadway run of just 101 performances. The show's fiercely devoted fans had other ideas, however: they propelled the show to a run that will total 1005 performances, attendance of more than 1 million and a gross of over $100M. At the time of Newsies' closing, only the landmark musical Rent will have played the Nederlander Theatre longer in its 93 year history.

Set in New York City at the turn of the century, Newsies is the rousing tale of Jack Kelly, a charismatic newsboy and leader of a ragged band of teenaged 'newsies,' who dreams only of a better life far from the hardship of the streets. But when publishing titans Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst raise distribution prices at the newsboys' expense, Jack finds a cause to fight for and rallies newsies from across the city to strike for what's right.