HEY THANKS FOR READING THIS! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE COMMENT AS YOU GO. THX - Katie (also all of this is true I made none of it up)
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I never thought I'd get to see them again. Never for one second believed that I, a California fansie, would get to fly 2909.9 miles to get to see them again. But I did. I know that not a lot of people got to go and even less from my side of the country, but this was such an amazing night that I really wanted to share it.

November 6, 2016: New York City

There was nothing like a Newsies Day. By this point I'd already been through 3 and each one was significantly different. Something is magical about a Newsies day. The excitement and the nervousness practically consume you. For example, I didn't eat anything the whole two days I was in New York because I was so nervous and excited to see them again.

My sister, Sammie, and I were an emotional wreck this day. She was so excited to see Sky again and all of our other favorites. We watched the social media accounts all day for pictures about it which fueled our excitement. Tonight was going to be different than the past three Newsies Days. Tonight we'd get to see some people we've never seen before. Examples: Dan DeLuca, Jeff Heimbrock, Mike Ryan.

For those of you who don't know my full Newsies story, I didn't see the show live for the first time until May 2016. I had been begging for tickets since 2014, but my mom wasn't taking the bait. She nibbled the bait and got hooked on the show. Leading to two more trips to Newsies Square and a Christmas present trip to New York to see the Variety Show. Because of this, I never got to see Dan, Steph and co. (Hence why they aren't very present in my fanfictions- because I don't know them).

We spent the entire day leading up to the show in Central Park: enjoying the fall, watching the marathoners, being happy. Central Park is gorgeous in the fall. The leaves are all red and yellow and orange. That's magical to me because where I live the trees go from green to completely brown. No pretty fall, so getting to see one was amazing. The minutes ticked by and the show was getting closer and closer. The show was at 7 and the doors were opening at 5:15. We could barely wait.

I remember my sister asking me, "Are you excited to see Josh again?"

I think I recall just nodding and saying, "I can't even eat."

(If you don't know anything about my fan relationship with Josh please go read my other Newsies Day books right now)

At 4:30, our subway train pulled into the station 16 blocks from 54 Below. As I climbed the steps to get out of the station, all my butterflies showed up. I felt like I might vomit. There was nothing like it.

We walked all the blocks and laughed about how cool it would be to see Tyler Mount. Then we stopped at 54th street.

My heart was so full. I was on the same street as 54 Below. My poor inner broadway fangirl couldn't handle herself.

We turned down the street and walked three blocks to actually get to 54 Below. I was under scaffolding, but we found it perfectly fine. My family and I ducked into a hotel to change into the clothes we brought for this very occasion.

I changed as quickly as possible into my dress and leggings. I smiled in the mirror as I thought of what tonight could be.

We finished then walked down the street to get something warm to drink because it was so darn cold out (not used to cold: California).

Two hot chocolates later, my family walked back. I was extremely excited to share the Newsies with my dad for the first time. My mom had been with me at every single Newsies venture, and my sister at two of the three. But never my dad. He heard all the stories and even knew a few of the songs, but never tagged along when we went. My dad and I are extremely close so getting to share a group of people I'm so in love with with him was going to be awesome.

We walked up and I saw one of my best internet friends Abby. (newsiesforever1899 ). Getting to meet her was so exciting since we've had some deep talks and even cried/died together Role Playing. (PSA: don't ever ask to role play with me because I really only like my little three man group. Sorry to be a jerk but that's how it is). Abby and I had really only been friends for a little over a month, but getting to meet her and talk to her was something we'd both been looking forward too.

After we hugged and said hey, I got in the end of the short line.

5:16 pm

They opened the door to 54 Below and we all went in.

54 Below, for those of you that don't know, is underground. So the first thing you do is go down some stairs. It feels like an exclusive club or somewhere that gangsters would hang out in the 20s. We made it down to the restaurant level and got our reservation and checked our coats. They led us to our table which was right in the center of the back row of floor tables.

When I say back row, it didn't really feel very back row. I felt so close to them, like if I stretched just a touch I would be able to reach them. There were honestly only three rows of tables, so there wasn't a bad seat.

We were sitting at our little table and another internet friend walks in, sees me and waves enthusiastically. Katherine (kpbway on instagram) came over and gave me the tightest hug. She went to her seat in the front.

The service at 54 Below is like none I'd ever experienced. They treated me like a queen. The waiters would come around and refill your water if it was anywhere less than 3/4 of the way empty. Because of this fact, my sister and I took it upon ourselves to try and destroy the system. We started to subtly chug our water when no on was looking to see if we'd beat them to refilling our glasses. I almost did it, but one waiter refilled it when I had about a quarter left in the glass. My sister drained her glass and not even 47 seconds later, a waiter showed up and refilled her drink. She gave me the most frustrated look. We drank so much water- due to our lack of self-control, that I'm sure the employees at 54 Below think we have bladder issues.

The food was good, but being the picky eater that I am, I just got some french fries, but let's be real, those were the best gosh darn french fries I've ever had. Super high end, I know.

After like 10 bathroom runs, a Tour video highlight reel and talking to my girls Katherine and Abby, the show was finally about to begin.

It began with Joey coming from house left singing Once and For All. He was joined by Morgan and Stephen and eventually Ben. Ben grabbed the mike and belted "HERE THEY COMEEEE!!!" then from both sides of the house, the cast members came running in. They packed onto that little stage and made me start crying with the song. It was a beautiful moment. My eyes were constantly shifting from toursie to toursie, lingering on one Joshua Burrage for a little too long.

After the song ended, JP introduced himself as host and then introduced the first act: Ben and Josh.

Ben and Josh got on the stage and sat on their stools to sing their version of I'm Alive from Next to Normal entitled Unemployed.

Quotes from the song included:
"We need another show for men who look like boys"
"I used to have fans but they forgot me"
"Except for David who left and booked Hamilton"
"They ask my name and I say JoJo"
"All the damn newsies should be in Frozen"
"I have PTSD"

I was in tears laughing. It was stellar. I was blown away by Josh's singing voice because I had only heard it in small pieces, and each time it was more character voice than actual singing. His voice is beautiful. I'm obsessed with it. Like in the least creepy way, I just want him to sing to me everyday.

The next act was all the Les'. They were so very cute. Their song makes the fansies' heart skip a beat from the cuteness. All 6 of them had little solos and were honestly all the cutest things ever.

Then GinnaClaire, Meredith and Melissa took the stage and gave me chills with their acapella song. It was beautiful. They're all just so gorgeous.

Then Jon Hacker and Jeff Heimbrock went up there and cracked me up with their mashup of Man Up and a song from Jersey Boys that I don't remember the name of and am honestly too lazy to google. Jeff Heimbrock is a star and Jon Hacker is such a gem that it was a perfect pairing. My stomach hurt from laughing at their facial expressions during their little song battle.

Then all Becca, Kaitlyn, Alex and Mike got up there and sang a song all about what it was like to be a cover for Newsies on Tour. Another time that my stomach hurt from laughing. Kaitlyn sealed off the performance with a stellar mic stand fall onto the very front table. It was sort of the best thing ever.

Then DeMarius and Stephen sang a beautiful mashup of Dear Theodosia and a Cindi Lauper song that I really don't want to google. It was so gorgeous and their voices worked so well together. I had tears in my eyes. At the very end, Stephen kissed DMC on the top of the head and I had to spend the rest of the night proving to my dad that Stephen Michael Langton is in fact, straight, and does, in fact, have a girlfriend.

JP told some on tour nightmare stories and Chaz asked some questions that were tweeted to them.

After that, a large group took the stage: Chaz, Daniel, Iain, Jack, Beth, Zach, and Devin. They sang Hello, but about food and how horribly they ate while on tour and how out of shape they all were. It's my favorite performance from the night. They cracked me up with the clever lyrics and the killer solos, and at the very end they all pulled junk food of some kind out of their pockets and ate it onstage.

Then Dan and Joey sang a beautiful cut song from the movie. It was honestly so spectacular that I want to download it and play it everyday. Their voices were so uncharacteristically great together and they sang beautifully. Despite never touring together, I actually felt like they were still really good friends, which was pretty cool.

Then they wrapped it up with a full cast performance of The World Will Know. I smiled, I laughed, I cried. It was the best hour of my life. Afterwards they all disappeared and I ran out to the little "stagedoor" thing.

Abby, Katherine, Sammie, a few people I didn't know, some other cool beans, and I all stood and waited.

The first two out were Stephen and Devin. To be completely honest, I don't think they wanted to stagedoor, but I really didn't care.

Stephen is always so sweet and I really enjoy talking to him. The same with Devin. They're both just such gems and they're so talented.

(They're so one of my OTPs btw)

DeMarius also tried to sneak away but we stopped him. He's so amazing and honestly just slays my life. And meeting DMC was honestly something I never thought would happen considering that he was never at one of my shows. I look up to him so much and he's just so perfect.

(You can't see it but he's rocking some orange pants)

Then we waited for a while but then BOOM. THERE WAS A HUGE CROWD OF THEM ALL COMING AT US LIKE A SWARM. AND IN THE SWARM WAS THE ONE, THE ONLY, MY KNIGHT IN SHINING NEWSIES CAP, MY CELEBRITY CRUSH, MY FAVORITE THING THAT BREATHES:

Joshua Burrage

I scrambled to get my tap shoes out for Josh to sign, and was having a minor freak outs. I had been waiting for this moment for two months. What was I gonna say? Was it going to be awkward or the best interaction yet?

Luckily for me, he was as excited to see me as I was to see him. In rewatching our video, I noticed him turning to talk to me before the conversation with the last fansie even ended. (Sorry Abby. Love you).

Joshua Burrage smiled at me and wrapped his arms around me, "Hi! How are you?"

"I'm great, you were amazing."

"Aww thank you."

Then I asked him to sign my tap shoe to which he replied, "of course." He signed them in my silver sharpie and smiled at me. "Did you enjoy the show?"

"I did," I gushed, "It was awesome." I continued to ramble (I can't remember what I said and it doesn't pick up in the video but it must've been cute because Josh kept chuckling).

Then I asked my big question, "did you get your gift?"

"Still not yet, but Disney offices are like right over there. One day I'm just going to go over there and get it. I'm like, I just can't wait any longer!" He said, making my poor fansie heart die.

"When you get it you've gotta let me know."

"Absolutely,"

"Like message me or something"

"I'll tweet you."

Then I said something stupid probably, but he replied, "Oh I gotchu."

"Can we take a selfie?" I asked

"Of Course"

I pulled my phone out and we took our selfie then I asked, "will you sign my selfie?"

He nodded and I handed him my phone. Via snapchat he switched the color, "I'm going to do green because it's my favorite color."

I looked up at him in mild disbelief, "no way that's my last name."

Josh looked me in the eyes and said, "yeah Katie <>, I know." Then he signed his name in green and whispered, "and a little heart" and drew a little heart. By this point the last living part of me was dead because he full named me.

Then I asked for another picture, "so we have a picture of you kissing my cheek-"

"Uh huh"

"But can we get a picture of me kissing yours?"

"Absolutely!"

I handed my sister my phone and started to lean in a little bit. He gave me a super cute lil look before I kissed him, and turned his head so he was looking at my sisters camera. My lips touched his face and the world melted away.

Until Sammie said she didn't have her phone on.

Josh and I both laughed and then I kissed him again. I pulled back and he said, "Awww" then he hugged me.

He rested his head on mine and said, "Thank you so much for coming out."

"Of course," I said back. Then I said something that made me and him both chuckle.

I thanked him for something else and he said, "absolutely you guys are amazing!" Then as he was taking a picture with my sister and said, "and the Sadies thing"

"Did you like that?"

"Oh yeah! I loved it!" He said enthusiastically.

Then Sam and Josh took a picture and I thanked him again probably to which he responded, "you guys are the best. Thank you so much." He pulled me into another hug and said, "all the way from across the country."

"Yeah it was an early Christmas present," I explained. Now I think, Wow that was really dorky. Nice going Katie!

"Merry early Christmas," he chuckled. Then I said something that made him laugh, and he looked me dead in the eyes and said, "come back to New York soon."

"I love it here. I've literally been geeking out his whole weekend," I chuckled and looked around.

He geeked out too, "I know, it's the actual best city in the world." Then I said something dumb, and he looked between my sister and I and said, "Thank you guys so much." He looked like his heart was breaking as he looked at us on last time and said, "see you guys soon." Then Joshua Burrage moved on.

I felt my heart break. I was fullfilled with our conversation, but I honestly wanted to talk to him longer- forever if possible.

Later on I found out from my mom, that the two of them had talked and she told me that after she introduced herself as Katie's mom, he started gushing about me. Calling me awesome and the best. That right there meant the world to me. He's my favorite person and to hear him say such lovely things about me made my heart swell and break.

It's hard to be a fansie of someone like him. Because you know just how much you love them and just how much you value them and how much they impacted you, but they can never stick around for more than 5 minutes. That's dedication.

I'm thankful for Josh. He's pulled me through some tough times and has made me smile more in the past 6 months than in the past 3 years put together. He's my favorite for a reason, and the conversation we had that night plays a huge key into why my appreciation and love for him only grows.

Oh great now I'm crying.

Anyway @ Josh: If you ever end up reading this. I love you. Thank you. I miss you so much. Hope to see you soon:)

(If you wanna check my credibility: the video is uploaded onto my Instagram... check it out.)

After Josh, I got to talk to Alex Prakken. I love Alex Prakken. He's so talented and such a gem.

(Our selfie is cute too)

Then I met Stephen. When I asked for a selfie he leaned back dramatically due to my smallness and his tallness. Then he signed over his face. Stephen is always so sweet and permanently my favorite Davey.

(Stephen is such a muffin tbh)

So then I saw Kaitlyn. I squealed and tried to find my other tap shoe for her to sign. I obsess over Kaitlyn Frank. She's the greatest ever. When I was talking to her, she asked how I've been and I thanked her for the advice she gave me on my audition. She smiled and said you're welcome. Then I asked her to sign my taps since she inspired me to take tap and she exclaimed "I love signing Taps!"

Anyway, I love my role model/honorary big sister/ Favorite girlsie.

(You can see the actual tears in my eyes because I love and respect Kaitlyn Frank so much)

Then I got to meet Dan DeLuca for the very first time! Dan was so nice and called me Love and I was like AKSHJSKANA. He asked where I was from and I said "California". He was like, "where in California?" I gave a more specific answer and he just nodded and replied "I love California. It's honestly where I want to be." I almost asked Dan if he wanted to trade, but I didn't. Anyway Dan was so incredibly kind and he was one of my favorite people that I got to meet.

(I'm going to switch places with Dan. He's going to live in Cali with my family and I'm going to live in the apartment in New York. Just kidding)

Then I got to see my cinnamon roll Jack Sippel again. He's so incredibly sweet and HAS AN AMAZING VOICE LIKE WTH JACK STOP BEING PERFECT. He gave such a great hug and has the cutest smile in the history of smiles. He's just cute. Like a little cinnamon roll or a little bug or something.

(I LOWKEY LOVE JACK SIPPEL AND IM NOT AFRAID TO ADMIT IT! Like if I chose a Newsie to be my older brother/best friend: Jack would be it)

Then I stopped this robot.

Ben's just so Ben. I could tell though that he really didn't want to talk to me because 1) I probably scare the bejesus out of him and 2) His robot hard drive was telling him that I was a red flag. I'm not complaining. I still hugged him and we talked a little bit so it was okay.

I live with no regrets ever. (As you probably already know)

(Ah a robot)

So it was Meredith's birthday. Because of this fact I made Katherine (since we were standing next to each other) sing Happy Birthday to Meredith with me. It kind of caught on and before long even a couple of Newsies were singing along. It was a blast. Meredith is such an amazing role model for young girls and is probably one of my favorite ladies of all time. I just look up to her so much and she's so incredibly kind and loving and generous.

(I'm sad our picture is blurry but our pictures from last time are so High-Quality that it doesn't really faze me too much)

I got to meet Mike for the first time! And Mike was on the list of people I was most excited to meet that night! He's so enthusiastic and kind and SO TALENTED LIKE HOLY CRAP. I told him he was terrific and I loved him but he didn't hear me, so Stephen Langton was like "bro she just complimented you. How rude" and I laughed but Mike hugged me and apologized because he felt bad about that. He also asked where I was from and was amazed that I was from California. He asked if I saw the show while it was there and I said "yeah but it was after you had left so I've never met you before". He was super kind still and I just think he's so great.

(Mike is another Newsie that I would want for an older brother/ best friend)

Then I stopped Princess Morgan and we really didn't talk but we got a really cute selfie and I honestly just adore Morgan. She's such a queen and such a positive role model.

(QUEEN)

Now, I finally get to talk about Jeff Heimbrock. So I'd also never met Jeff before and he was at the top of my list of people I was excited to meet for the first time. We took our selfie and when I asked him to sign it, my phone kept getting twitter alerts. He accidentally clicked it while trying to swipe up and then was super embarrassed and tried to cover his face and stuff. I thought it was all funny so I laughed. Due to this, he signed it and put a little "xo" Prior to all of this going down, I accidentally clicked our faces and the filter thing popped up. I was like "oops"

"You don't want to take one with the filter?"

"Let's do it after" So we did.

Anyway, I love Jeff so so so much.

(Jeff is the third and final newsie on the big bro/ best friend list)

While I was waiting to talk to Chaz, I noticed I was right next to all the Les' (except Anthony) so I took advantage of this and did a big ole group selfie. It's kind of my favorite thing ever.

(SO MANY LES')

Then I got to talk to Chaz. I thanked him for organizing this and for messaging back my mom about this being a surprise. He thought it was the sweetest thing that my mom took me out here for Christmas and gave me a hug. He asked if we were seeing any other shows while in the city to which we replied, "we saw something rotten last night". He talked about how much he loved that show and how much tap was in it and my mom said, "I could totally see you as a tapping egg"

"I would love to be a tapping egg" he laughed.

Then I asked about his trip to Europe and he said it was life changing and he learned some things about how small he actually is in the world and such. Chaz is just so wise and I respect him so much.

Getting to see Chaz is always so amazing to me because he was the very first one I learned their name and sort of obsessed over so getting to Chaz is always super fun for me.

(Chaz Wolcott for tapping egg)

Seeing Becca again was like a flashback to San Jose. Becca was my first Katherine and I told her that. She smiled and was like "Katherine's so much fun." Then I asked her to sign my selfie and she didn't know how and actually told me, "I'm such a grandma with these things." Which made me laugh. Becca is such a pure soul and talented performer. I'm so thankful to have met her one more time.

(QUEEN)

Anthony is so precious. His signature has a smiley face for crying out loud. AND his voice is way more quiet in person in my opinion. It's just that in all his videos and stuff he's really loud.

(CUTE LITTLE BEAN)

Finally, Jon Hacker. Whom I'd never met before this either but blew me away onstage. He's so talented and ice too. Getting to meet Jon Hacker was crazy fun, and he honestly had the best signature.

(Look at this cupcake)

The Variety Show was truly a memory that will live with me forever. It was such an incredible experience to get to fly 2909.9 miles to get to see all these wonderful performers one last time and to talk to Josh again. Nothing compares to this night. Nothing at all. It was such an amazing day that I believed never would've happened to me, but it did. I'm forever thankful to my parents and to the cast and to everyone who's ever supported my crazy fansieness. I never thought I'd get to see a 54 Below show or the Variety Show. Despite my thanks, I'm heartbroken to think that I'll never see any of them for a very long time- if not never again. See you soon is only believable for so long.

I didn't cry that night when I reminisced on all my pictures like I usually do after a newsies day. I cried the next morning as I sat on the plane ready to fly 2909.9 miles home. I remembered the amazing night before as I stared out my window and watched New York City grow smaller in the distance. I never thought I'd get to see them again. Never for one second believed that I, a California fansie, would get to fly 2909.9 miles to get to see them again. A single tear rolled down my cheek as I stared at New York City from my window and I whispered to myself, "Bye Josh."
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THANK YOU FOR READING THIS IT MEANS THE WORLD TO ME! -Katie