Last Edition: NEWSIES Stars Recall Favorite Memories- Tommy Martinez

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!

TOMMY MARTINEZ (Romeo, Ensemble - current cast)

My favorite memory from Newsies is the day I was cast in the show. Mostly because it makes me sound incredibly dense. I didn't have an agent at the time so the call went directly to my phone. I answered and Eduardo (the Company Manager) said, "Hi Tommy, we'd like for you to join us at Newsies Square." And I didn't know if that was some sort of meet and greet, or a callback or something so I didn't say anything. So Eduardo says, "Is that something you're still interested in?" And I said hesitantly, "l'm not really sure what you're saying." So he said, "We want you to join the cast of Newsies." And I replied, "Oh! Yes, yes I would like to do that." Then he said, "Now we need to have you come in for a costume fitting in 20 minutes at the Nederlander."

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.