Broadway In Indianapolis & Indystar Announce Student Journalism Contest

Broadway in Indianapolis, presenting Disney's NEWSIES at Clowes Memorial Hall March 15-20, and IndyStar have partnered to create a unique student journalism contest. The top three winners will have the chance to interview cast members of NEWISES before the March 15 opening, attend a journalism "story pitch and editing" session with IndyStar arts reporter Wei-Huan Chen and other Star reporters and editors, get their work published in the IndyStar and/or IndyStar.com, and receive tickets to opening night on March 15 and have a chance to meet cast.

How to enter: Craft a thoughtful, creative story idea related to NEWSIES to pitch to IndyStar editors. Remember, a pitch is not a finished story, but a researched outline of the idea you'd like to pursue:

What to include in your 300-word (maximum) pitch:

• Your story idea and the defined angle. (What makes your story idea unusual or unique? Why will readers care?)
• What kind of research and interviews would you need to do for your story?
• What form will your story take? Will it be a video story? Buzzfeed-style list? Q&A? Traditional narrative?

This contest is only open to freshman through senior students enrolled at Central Indiana high schools. Please send your story pitch to wei-huan.chen@indystar.com by 11:59 p.m. Jan. 25, 2016. Please also include the student's full name, age, grade, name of high school and a phone number where the student can be reached. No late submissions will be considered. Winners will be notified no later than Feb. 5.

In Indianapolis, NEWSIES will play Tuesday through Thursday at 7:30 pm, Friday at 8 pm, Saturday at 2 pm and 8 pm, and Sunday at 1 pm and 6:30 pm. Tickets are on sale now and available in person at Clowes Memorial Hall, the Old National Centre Ticket Office, online at BroadwayinIndianapolis.com, or by phone at 1-800-982-2787. Groups of 10 or more can book now by calling 317-632-7469 x103.

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.

NEWSIES is inspired by the real-life 'Newsboy Strike of 1899,' when newsboy Kid Blink led a band of orphan and runaway newsies on a two-week-long action against Pulitzer, Hearst and other powerful newspaper publishers.

NEWSIES, the new American musical, features a Tony Award-winning score with music by eight-time Academy Award winner Alan Menken and lyrics by Jack Feldman, a book by four-time Tony Award winner Harvey Fierstein and is 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. The entire creative team has reunited to bring the break-out smash musical to audiences across North America.

The Indianapolis engagement of NEWSIES is presented by arrangement with Broadway Across America and is a subscription offering of the Broadway in Indianapolis Series.