#1 Albert Dasilva Fan At Your Service

the struggle ...

love when a moot likes my post after being away for a day or so ... like welcome back babe!!!

i think the lovely thing about this fandom is that it is constantly growing and changing fr like… there are always gonna be new kids who fall in love with the show bc its the first production theyre apart of and older fans coming back to reminisce on the movie and everyone in between. and yeah it’s over and nothing New is really happening (yet. looking at u, uksies) but the foundation is here and it keeps on growing and i think that is so lovely and beautiful and im glad u all are here

Ok, of course, yes please also tell us about your favorite Crutchie and why!

LETS FUCKING GOOOO OKAY

i have no problem with AKB as a person!! just getting that out of the way because i WILL shit on his portrayal of Crutchie swiftly and without remorse.

AKB is very good at playing the happy-go-lucky, innocent, wide eyed comedic relief character. he plays the same type of character in tuck everlasting as Jesse, and in the Dracula reimagining he's in now. he's a good actor and he plays that typecast well!

the problem is, that isn't Crutchie. i feel like AKB drastically sanitized the character that was written in the script. he made Crutchie into this pure and wholesome caricature of a disabled person, who gets pushed around and defended and is always upbeat about it. The general atmosphere of fan spaces in 2017 didn't help that at all either. I remember a lot of infantilizing Crutchie, all sorts of "smol boi ray of sunshine" shit. he was treated like this defenseless, needy little thing. he wasn't a person.

I really feel like Matthew Duckett (an actual disabled actor! almost like it matters!) read the same script as AKB, and got a person out of it instead of a pity sponge. Matthew's Crutchie is, to put it plainly, a little shit. He antagonizes the Delanceys, fights cops, slingshots his friends when he gets bored. He's playful and funny, but he's also whip-smart, fast on his feet, and will talk shit like it's nobody's business. his doubt about the strike isn't him being scared and worried about fighting, it's him being a realist and a strategist, recognizing flaws in their plan that jack isn't even thinking about. He isn't this defenseless little blob that the other newsies have to constantly worry about, but a competent and capable part of the community. one of jack's right hands and confidants, an intelligent and necessary part of the strike. it makes it so much more devastating when he's taken to the refuge. jack falls apart because he's lost his friend, brother, and equal, not because he let poor little Crutchie get captured by the cops.

and when Matthew's Crutchie gets back from the refuge, he is happy to be back and see his friends, but he is also angry. he's angry and hurt and has a lot of other emotions going on, which you can see when he cuffs Snyder. he doesn't just bounce right back, he is affected tremendously. like a REAL GODDAMN PERSON.

i love how Matthew Duckett gave Crutchie room to be a capable, emotional character instead of a clean-cut sunny blob. you can really see that he isn't just Crutchie, he's Sean (or Charlie or whatever name you prefer), the real person.

AKB made Crutchie a caricature, Matthew Duckett brought him to life.

teehee rehearsal one done!!!!!!!!!!! IM SO PUMEPD!!!!!!!! RRRRRRAAAAAHHHHHHH

rewatching livesies for like the 15th time ... davey inviting jack home to dinner THE FIRST DAY THEY MET????????????? true love

The production of newsies on youtube where racetrack is holdng Jack back from running away in the Sieze the Day fight when Snyder walks up, and Jack says "I can't go back," and race says "no, Jack, I know" and lets him go.

And then when Crutchie is getting beaten up, Jack is on the bridge right above him and again race is holding him back, this time from going to get Crutchie, who sees them and says "Jack, Race, you're RIGHT THERE!" but then they both turn and run.

And then Jack starts Santa Fe by saying "no no no no," like he's waking up from a bad dream.

ETA: here's the link.