Last Edition: NEWSIES Stars Recall Favorite Memories- Jess LeProtto

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!

JESS LePROTTO (Buttons, Scab, Ensemble - original cast) Newsies was truly a life changing experience for me. Throughout the two and half years I was in the show, I met so many wonderful people from our cast, creative team and crew to the supportive and dedicated fansies of the show. To say what was my favorite Newsiesmoment would be impossible! The labor of love that I shared with these wonderful people is enough. No matter if we were at the Tony Awards, Disney World or holiday get-togethers, I always cherished every single moment that I had with all of these genuine and kind people.

One of my favorite moments would happen occasionally when the cast and crew would meet certain fansies onstage following the performance. They would just happen to be people I admired since I was little like Joel Grey, Michael Douglas, Robert DeNiro and Julie Andrews! Everyday at Newsies was a treat for me and I couldn't believe how much I learned about myself as a performer and as a person. I will always remember and cherish the "good ole days" at Newsies!

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.

Photo Credit: Deen van Meer