I think I'm going to be earwormed with Newsies forever now.

The live production of it was really good. The thing that I was worried about what that the movies has some huge dance number with what looks like close to a hundred kids, and the stage a Paper Mill is pretty small and I didn't think they could get the dances to look right with only a dozen or so dancers. I was totally wrong about that -- they really used the different levels of the set (there was a moveable scaffolding thing) and I don't think anybody on stage was ever standing still, even for a second, but it totally worked -- at the times they needed it, they really got the dozen or so dancers on stage to look like they were just the front few rows of a few hundred. They changed around a few plot lines, and there's really only one that I thought didn't work as well as the movie version did -- they got rid of an old character and introduced a new one, and I thought her backstory was way too pat to make it something to take seriously. Overall, though, I thought it was great. (So did my dad -- he usually kind of rolls his eyes at the movie, but he thought the show was excellent and that it ought to be on Broadway and not just at the Paper Mill.)

FYI, I got my Pinterest invite hours after asking.

{{{askye}}} I hope you get relief soon.

{{{{Shir}}}}} hugs just for being here. I've missed you.

I can report that Daniel is really, really getting better. He still has a long way to go - now that the infection in his leg is yielding to the antibiotics, I can see that some of the tissue is beginning to heal. And I have noticed a change in his energy level and demeanor. For a couple of weeks it seemed like a huge challenge for him to even move around in the hospital bed. Now he has more strength to position himself more comfortably, and move around. He also tells me that when he gets up to go to the bathroom, there is considerably less screaming in pain.

Ryan does everything adorably - even have boo-boos.

Ryan does everything adorably - even have boo-boos.

What WindSparrow said. Also, a boy after my own heart. "Wanna see my bruise?"

Hil, now I remember you mentioning that you were going to see that. I am so freaking jealous! I have such a stupid, irrational love for that movie. I'm assuming from what you said, they got rid of the sister? Because she's the only female character in the movie. Or was it someone else? Tell me "Never fear, Brooklyn's here" Spike was still in it...

Andi,

what was the original source of the infection? I don't think I recall.

I am so pleased to hear he is better. I guess the move to a different facility was a good one.

Ryan does everything adorably - even have boo-boos.

Yeah, giving his parents the funny heart attacks is just the icing on the cake. At least he's old enough now that we can communicate with him. (In this case, asking if he can bend the offending finger.)

We really get off lightly with him. He's generally quite cautious, unlike (say) my younger brother, who still seems to have picked up some new scrapes and bruises every time I see him. It still doesn't make it easier when it does happen, though.

I'm glad Daniel is doing better. Now his leg is healing, do they have an estimate on when he'll be able to go home?

Also, a boy after my own heart. "Wanna see my bruise?"

I have to admit, when I heard about him showing it off, my first thought was "I got stabbed, you know, right here."

Hil, now I remember you mentioning that you were going to see that. I am so freaking jealous! I have such a stupid, irrational love for that movie.

Me too.

I'm assuming from what you said, they got rid of the sister? Because she's the only female character in the movie. Or was it someone else? Tell me "Never fear, Brooklyn's here" Spike was still in it...

Yeah, they got rid of the sister, and replaced the reporter with a female reporter who's trying to get into hard news rather than writing for the society pages. (And in a really stupid plot twist, she (spoiler) turns out to be Pulitzer's daughter. ) "Never fear, Brooklyn's here" is now a song. It's a kind of silly song -- I recall the lyrics as being mostly, "We are the newsies from Brooklyn! Never fear, Brooklyn's here!" -- but it was fun.

Also (more spoilers) they give Jack a future in New York. In the movie, it always bothered me that he spends the whole movie talking about how he has no future in the city, and then he decides to stay for Sarah, but he's still got no future -- he can't be a newsie all his life. In the show, they gave him some hidden artistic talent -- he paints sets for Medda, and starts drawing his memories of the Refuge when he gets depressed with the memories -- and at the end of the show, Pulitzer offers him a job as a political cartoonist. It was a bit too much of a happy ending, but I think I prefer it to the open-ended ended that the movie had.

Aw, Ryan. Toddlerhood is such a bumpy ride.

FYI, I got my Pinterest invite hours after asking.

I spoke too soon, because I did, too!

WindSparrow, I'm so glad to hear Daniel is doing better. Those kind of infections are scary and tough to fight, and it sounds like he's really improving. Hope he's home with you soon.