When publisher Joseph Pulitzer needs more money to finance his war against upstart archrival William Randolph Hearst, he must either raise his prices to the public - and kiss his profits goodbye - or take the money from the newspaper distribution apparatus: the newsboys. He decides on the latter, assuming no one will care if a few penniless streetkids go hungry.
One of those penniless streetkids, however, refuses to accept the price hike. Jack Kelly and his reluctant partner David Jacobs rally the newsies of New York into unionizing and then striking against both Pulitzer and Hearst, shutting down the two biggest newspapers in America throughout New York City.
But the publishers strike back where Jack is most vulnerable: a past he'd rather forget and a future he can only dream of. The past is embodied in a man called Warden Snyder; the future, by a city he has never seen: Santa Fe.
When a rally turns sour, Jack is arrested, and brought before Pulitzer is offered all his dreams if he becomes a turncoat and breaks the union. Else the demons of his past will be unleashed upon his friends ... especially David.
Jack must choose between his friends and his dreams. Which will he choose? Which would you?