Title: Newsboys – Now and Forever

Chapter: Act 1 – When Newsies Are Maddened By The Midnight Dance, Scene 2 – Ev'rybody Wants To Be A Cat

Rating: PG 13 to be safe

Disclaimer: Disney owns Newsies, Andrew Lloyd Webber owns Cats, and so does T.S. Elliot. And excepting Carrot, everyone else owns their own characters. You know who you are.

** * **

Monday morning, at 7:00 AM, is not a good time for anybody. Anybody, that is, except Andrea, who cheerfully barked orders at everyone. She stood in the middle of the room and cleared her throat loudly.

"Ahem." The dancers looked up from whatever they were doing. "I'm sure there are some of you who aren't as familiar with Cats as some of the others. So we're going to do a read-through. No singing, no dancing, we're just going to read through the songs." Andrea passed out scripts and highlighters. "Highlight your parts. I'm not going to do it for you. And, so I can learn your names, when you first speak, please say your name and character."

"Are you blind when you're born?" Jack began. He made a big blue line across his paper. He looked up. "Jack Kelly, Munkustrap."

"Oh, it's me now. Cainell Mazer, Demeter." Cainell glanced at her paper. "Can you see in the dark?" A tall, older man wearing an ugly bowtie who hadn't been at auditions took his turn.

"Dare you look at a king? Bryan Denton, Skimbleshanks. I'm returning from the old cast."

"Would you sit on his throne...? Asparagus, and my name's Dutchy Schuyler." The blond grinned. "Pet name." He coughed and blushed. "Well, nickname."

"Anthony – Racetrack, as most of the boys call me now – Higgins," Racetrack glanced at Jack, who was grinning like a, well, cheshire cat. "Rum Tum Tugger. Can you say of your bite that it's worse than your bark?" Curly-headed David Jacobs spoke up.

"David Jacobs, I play Alonzo. Are you cock of the walk...?" A few of the more immature guys snickered. Sarah rolled her eyes.

"It's just a song line, don't listen to them, Davey." The boys laughed harder.

"Don't listen to us, Davey," Spot said in a falsetto voice. "It's just the song, after all." David's cheeks burned. Luckily, Andrea came to his rescue and changed the subject.

"The next line is sung by a chorus cat, probably Admetus. Go ahead, Admetus."

"When you're walking alone...?" The boy scratched his head and mumbled something that sounded like "Admetus, and I'm P.E."

"P.E.? Is that your name?" Ruin snickered.

"Maybe it stands for Physical Education," Polecat ventured.

"Or Pink Elbow," Lute added.

"It could be Pie Eater," Shortie grinned. "P.E." brightened.

"I like pie..." Needless to say, he was Pie Eater from then on. Andrea motioned for everyone to continue.

"Everyone say these next lines, together. Well, try to say them together."

"Because Jellicles are and Jellicles do, Jellicles do and Jellicles would. Jellicles would and Jellicles can, Jellicles can and Jellicles do."

"I'm Polecat, as most of you know anyway. I play Jellylorum. When you fall on your head, do you land on your feet?"

"Um, I'm Skittery Branxton, or the 'boy in the pink jacket.' I play Coricopat. Are you tense when you sense there's a storm in the air?"

"Hey, I remember you," Carrot said, "You raised your hand when I asked..." Cainell put a hand over Carrot's mouth and grinned sheepishly. Skittery shrugged.

"I'm not ashamed of it," he said casually. Cainell yelped and Carrot smirked.

"She bit me!"

"Can you find your way blind when you're lost in the street?" The dark blue-eyed girl smiled. "I'm Mondie... I play Jemima."

"I'm Mr. Wiesel." A pudgy middle-aged man sat down by Bryan Denton. "I'm also Old Deuteronomy and Bustopher Jones. Do you know how to go to the Heaviside Layer?"

"Does anyone else feel like they're at an AA meeting...?" Lute mumbled. "Can we skip the chorus parts that say we're Jellicle cats?" Andrea nodded.

"I'm not going to be Tantomile. I don't want to be Tantomile. I want to be somebody else. I refuse to say her line, because I'm not her. You all," Ruin glared around the room, "Can call me Ruin." Sarah and Dutchy, who were sitting on Ruin's right and left, scooted as far as they could to the opposite edges of their chairs.

"As long as she's not saying her line," Sarah cast a wary glance at Ruin and continued, "I'm Sarah Jacobs, Davey's sister. Familiar with candle,"

"With book and with bell?" Misprint half-sang, ending the phrase. "Misprint, and I'm Electra. Meow."

"Were you Whittington's friend?" Carrot beamed at the group. "I'm Carrot O'Keegan, or Bombalurina."

"The Pied Piper's assistant? I'm the short one," Spot paused to scowl. "Mr. Mistoffelees. And the boys call me Spot."

"Yeah, we do," laughed Kid Blink. "Kid Blink, so named for the scar on my eye, in case you were wondering. I'm Tumblebrutus. Have you been an alumnus of Heaven and Hell?"

"Are you mean like a minx?" Snitch smiled in greeting. "Snitch Riccio, Mungojerrie."

"Are you lean like a lynx? Lute McDonaghey, and Mungojerrie's partner in crime, Rumpleteazer." Lute looked Snitch over, pleased.

"Are you keen to be seen when you're smelling a rat? I'm Shortie of the no-other-name." Shortie gave a silly grin and a few people who remembered laughed. "I play Etcetera."

"I'm Heather Watson," Heather smiled at group, her eyes pausing on Jack momentarily. "I play Cassandra. Were you there when the pharaohs commissioned the sphinx?"

"If you were and you are you're a Jellicle cat!" Mush and Snitch sang out. The others who knew the tune joined in, "Jellicle songs for Jellicle cats..." The line repeated four more times and then everyone belted out with, "We can dive through the air, like a flying trapeze. We can turn double somersaults, bounce on a tire. We can run up a wall, we can swing through the trees. We can balance on bars, we can walk on a wire." More "Jellicle songs for Jellicle cats" and the girls chirped their solo.

"Can you sing at the same time, in more than one key? Duets by Rossini..."

The boys grinned. "And waltzes by Strauss?" Skittery pretended to be waltzing as the girls "aah-ed" a five-note waltz-like melody. "And can you, as cats do, begin with a 'C'?" Misprint cheerfully broke everyone's eardrums with a perfect high 'C' note.

"That always triumphantly brings down the house? Jellicle cats are queens of the night," everyone sang, except Racetrack, who, instead, sang "Jellicle cats are kings of New York."

"Singing at astronomical heights. Handling pieces from the Messiah, hallelujah, angelical choir. The mystical divinity of unashamed felinity... 'Round the cathedral, rang 'Vivat!' Life to the Everlasting Cat!"

"The Everlasting Cat is like a Kitty-Jesus," Spot quipped. Cainell giggled.

"More like a Cat-God."

"Anyway, if we continue, there's more 'Jellicle songs for Jellicle cats,'" Andrea made a face, "And then a listing of different kind of cats. It's all very boring. Asparagus, can you go on after all that?" Dutchy nodded.

"There's a man over there, with a look of surprise. Well, as much as to say, now how about that?"

"Do I actually see, with my own very eyes, a man who's not heard of a Jellicle cat? What's a Jellicle cat...?!"

"Well, I don't know what a Jellicle cat is," Skittery grumbled. A couple other people shrugged their shoulders and those who did know looked amused.

"Don't worry, it's explained in the next song," Sarah said, matter-of-factly, causing a bunch of people to roll their eyes.

"There's more?" Skittery said incredulously.

** * **

After Andrea had run them through the first act, she had all the dancers move the chairs out of the middle of the room.

"Finally, some dancing!" Mush wanted to cheer. He waited for dance movements, or something, but, instead, Andrea rolled out a television and VCR. She popped in a video and turned to the confused dancers.

"Yes, we're going to watch a movie," Andrea leaned on the TV. "To learn motions."

"Not the 'All About Cats' movie again..." One of the returning dancers, a young man, groaned. "We've all seen it about five times."

"Sorry, Oscar, that you're unhappy. None of the new kids have seen it." The other speaker was the middle-aged man with the ugly bowtie, Bryan Denton. Andrea put her hands on her hips.

"It doesn't matter if any of you are unhappy, it's time to get on all fours and act like a cat." A couple people looked around, trying to figure out what she meant.

"On the GROUND?"

"On all FOURS?"

"Like a CAT?" Pie Eater paused, "Wait, that part makes sense."

"Yes, yes, and yes. While we watch the movie, I'm going to do different things, such as ring a bell. Your task is to react as a cat would, and keep the character of a cat." Andrea turned to the (bored) returning dancers. "You guys should probably take part in this. Don't even start to complain, because I've noticed your Macavity is getting too human, Oscar." The man scowled and sat on the floor with the others.

Chuckling to themselves, a few of the guys started meowing at each other. Carrot began to play-fight with Cainell, who hissed and giggled at the same time. Mondie stretched out on the floor lazily, pretending to catnap. Andrea pushed play on the video and people began to mimic all the cute, kittenish things on screen. Oscar rolled his eyes as Blink tried to cough up a hairball. Soon, everyone one was being a social kitten, interacting with those they'd never met before and all having a good time. That is, except for Oscar, who was still scowling, and Ruin, who looked like she might kill someone.

Suddenly, Andrea dropped a heavy book on the floor. Mush turned a somersault and hissed. Lute and Snitch, staying true to their thieving characters, looked around shiftily and sneaked off quickly, as if escaping after setting off a burglar alarm. Jack idly rolled over and shot a very cat-like glare at Andrea, while Carrot yowled and jumped into a very surprised Dutchy's lap.

"That was fairly okay... a few more minutes of being four-legged, and you guys can break for lunch." Andrea glowered at Ruin. "Why aren't you being a cat?"

"I told you, I want you to change my part." Ruin glowered right back. "Give it to someone else and give me a better one." Andrea crossed her arms.

"You fit the part of Tantomile in body shape and abilities. Just because you don't like it doesn't mean I care." The two began a glaring contest, which lasted until Spot finally declared a lunch break.

** * **

Author's Note: Heh. Abrupt ending, no? Planned on having "lunch" in this chapter, but I really just wanted to post something, as I haven't posted anything in, um, a really long time. So next chapter will have that in there. ^_^

Shout-outs ^_^:

Lovey: Haha, love to the anti-Sarahs out there... and don't let on who you're crushing on, the person who has claimed them might kill you! (Ah, no, she won't.)

Shortie: Man, how long ago was my last chapter for you to have had that nose...? *runs around to the superhero music triumphantly*

Stacilee: Thanks for doing the IM beta thing. ^_^ *snuggle* Love to the Snitchy-ness and everything. More rp(ness), okies?

Cainell: *licks Life-sized Chocolate Dutchy* Mmm, thanks. He's perfect. ^_^ You knew I had to get rid of Crutchy somehow!

Deejay Supastar/Polecat: (Not sure which one to call you... *runs around, confused, and falls overs*) I like that part, too... it kind of needed to be done, teehee. Too many sexy gay dancers! (Ah, well, slash opportunities!)

Omni: Okay, she'll probably come in next chapter. ^_^ Thanks for getting me the profile... ah, thanks came a little late, but I think I thanked you before, anyway.

Mondie: O.o No, I think Rosacamora is your first nick for me. And I love that you love Cats, although it seems to have diminished since your love for Aaron increased by about a thousand-fold. Admetus is in the movie/DVD, he's got a cute little face... um... he's the one who stands behind Bustopher Jones and makes faces, he also plays the Rumpus Cat in the movie.

Misprint: Uber love to Skittery's jacket. Didn't make you wait too long for this chapter? I'm sure I did. ^_^ Took me a while, and it's so short... *apologizes*

So anyway, hopefully next chapter will have plot... but... um, seriously doubting that right now.