Last Edition: NEWSIES Stars Recall Favorite Memories- Tommy Bracco

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 BRACCO (Spot Conlon, Scab, Ensemble - original and current cast)

Newsies tells the story of the underdog fighting for what they believe in. That story is very personal to me because its reflective of the struggle that actors go through everyday. This is a really tough business filled with lots of ups and downs and clearly, this point of my career has been an "up"! Going forth into the next chapter of my life, I will take what I learned at Newsies Square and hold it very close. And that is: if you continue to fight hard, your dreams will come true. I made my Broadway debut in this show together with a group of people I now call my family. There is something so special and powerful about this show that took my love for being a performer to a whole new level. I feel lucky, blessed, and honored to have been chosen to tell this story. We made history. NEWSIES FOREVER.

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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 courtesy of ABC