#‘i offered katherine a life of wealth and leisure instead she chose to pursue a career’

[jackmkelly]

no one understands katherine the way i do & that is frustrating! sick of it!

[newsiepedia]

Character Profile: Katherine

Real Name: Katherine Pulitzer

Nickname and Meaning: Katherine Plumber (pen name, so that people don’t immediately recognize her as one of the richest people in America)

Age: Unsure. However, as she is a love interest to Jack, it can be assumed she isn’t significantly older or younger than him. 16- 19.

Gender: Katherine is always played by a woman.

Family: Joseph Pulitzer (father). She probably has other family, but we don’t hear anything about them.

Katherine…:

Is naive, but she’s a fast learner. In the beginning of the musical, Katherine has no idea what the newsies are going through. She thinks Jack is selling papers to pay for art school, (Newsies Live script, page 36) asks the newsies if they “think they have a chance” at winning (implying that they’re striking because they want to, not because they have no choice), (Newsies Live script, page 33) and acts incredibly patronizingly to them after they’re beaten up by strikebreakers. (Newsies Live script, page 47) However, once Specs makes her aware of the realities of life as a homeless child, she immediately gets on board with helping them, even expanding the strike to all underaged and underpaid workers- an action that ends up with the strike settled in the newsies’ favor. (Newsies Live script, page 66) 

Is witty. Obviously, Katherine is sassy, quick to fire back when Jack flirts with her or implies that she’s less than him because she’s a woman. But she’s witty in other ways too. She convinces the skeptical newsies to let her write their story (Newsies Live script, page 34) and beyond that, is an amazingly eloquent speaker and writer. (Newsies Live script, pages 33, 34) She even uses metaphors in her everyday speech, for example “So let’s get drunk, not with liquor, fame works quicker” (much to the newsies chagrin). (Newsies Live script, page 49)

Values hard work. As her father puts it, “I offered Katherine a life of wealth and leisure. Instead, she chose to pursue a career.” (Newsies Live script, page 59) The phrasing implies that not only did Katherine not accept the life of leisure, but she outright denied her father’s money, choosing instead to (mostly) support herself. She also doesn’t give up when the newsies think they’ll never win the strike, instead coming up with ideas to expand the goals and take Pulitzer down. Katherine sides with the newsies because, sexist as they may be, they also had to work hard to overcome obstacles she could never imagine.

Is insecure. When Jack says “Hey, what’s the last news story you wrote?”, implying he doesn’t have faith in her abilities, Katherine gets very defensive and snaps “What’s the last strike you organized?”, a far cry from her usually eloquent speech and writing. (Newsies Live script, page 34) She is especially defensive about being thought of as less because of her gender. Before Something To Believe In, she assumes Jack doesn’t trust her because she’s a girl, and cuts him off before he can defend himself. (Newsies Live script, pages 65, 66) 

May be attracted to women. When we first really meet Katherine, she’s reviewing a burlesque show at Medda’s theatre, a place where men go to see beautiful women with no clothes on. (Newsies Live script, page 21) Later, she sings “this is not some little vaudeville I'm reviewing”. (Newsies Live script, page 37) Vaudeville is the genre of show Ms. Medda’s theatre performs, a combination of comedy and burlesque. The fact that she specifically mentioned vaudeville implies that Katherine frequently reviews such shows, and possibly even seeks them out. She also seems to be annoyed and even surprised at her attraction to Jack. During Something to Believe In, she sings “I thought I knew what love was/ Now I’m learning what is true/ That love will do what it does”. (Newsies Live script, page 67) This line could be her understanding that she doesn’t quite understand her sexuality yet, and that’s okay.

Headcanon Fuel:

Why did Katherine want to be a reporter, specifically?

Why is Katherine so insecure?

What does Katherine see in Jack (besides his pretty face)?

How did Katherine end up valuing hard work if she was raised by Pulitzer?

Was the strike the first time Kath realized how bad things were for the working class? If so, how did she not recognize problems before?

Actors and Physical Appearance:

Kara Lindsay

Liana Hunt

Stephanie Styles

Morgan Keene

Katherine has curly red hair with bangs and a pointed chin. She generally dresses in pink. She is also canonically Jewish. The real Joseph Pulitzer was, and it can be assumed that his daughter would share his religion.

[fraserbairne]

KATHERINE PLUMBER

FULL NAME:   Katherine Ethel Pulitzer. MEANING:

Katherine:   Pure, clear.

Ethel:   Noble snake. Diminutive of Etheldreda, from the Old English name Aethelthryth, meaning noble and strength.

ALIAS / PSEYDONYM:   Katherine Plumber. NICKNAMES:   Kath,  Ace,  Star Reporter,  King of New York. TITLE:   Miss. DATE OF BIRTH:   May 5th,  1881. GENDER:   Cis - female. PRONOUNS:   She / her. ORIENTATION:   Bisexual biromantic.

NATIONALITY:   American. HOMETOWN:   New York City. CURRENT PLACE OF RESIDENCE:   Manhattan,  New York City.

FAMILY:

Joseph Pulitzer:   Father,  alive.

Katherine Davis:   Mother,  alive.

Ralph Pulitzer:   Older brother,  alive.

Lucille Pulitzer:   Older sister,  deceased.

Joseph Jr. Pulitzer:   Younger brother,  alive.

Edith Pulitzer:   Younger sister,  alive.

Constance Helen Pulitzer:   Younger sister,  alive.

Herbert Pulitzer:   Younger brother,  alive.

SOCIAL CLASS:   Upper. OCCUPATION:   Reporter for the New York Sun. MBTI:   ISFJ. CHARACTERISTICS:   Refined,  feisty,  independent,  smart,  spirited,  ambitious,  intelligent,  principled,  intrepid.

HAIR COLOUR:   Auburn. EYE COLOUR:   Brown. DISTINCT FEATURES:   Freckles dusted all over her nose and cheeks.   Curled power bangs. FACE CLAIM:   Kara Linday,  Liana Hunt and Stephanie Styles.

Non-musical FCs include:   Jenna Coleman,  Conor Leslie,  Maia Mitchell,  Elizabeth Henstridge,  Carey Mulligan,  Olivia Cooke and more.

BIOGRAPHY

Katherine Ethel Pulitzer was born on May 5th 1881.   She was a small,  energetic child with a big personality,  and when four more followed,  Katherine was surrounded by her siblings and overshadowed by her brothers.

Though the times were plagues by pneumonia and typhoid fever,  rising conflict in Asia and the East,  the Pulitzer family had it well.   Katherine’s father,  Joseph Pulitzer,  owned the sensational New York World newspaper,  and their family was incredibly wealthy in contrast to others in New York.   For the Pulitzers,  life was good …   Until December 1897.   Katherine’s older sister,  Lucille,  had fallen ill with typhoid fever and died on New Year’s Eve.   Katherine,  who was 16 at the time,  grieved the loss of her sister intensely.

Despite her sorrow,  Katherine’s aspirations were higher than expected of a woman in the nineteenth century.   She strived to become more than just a wife,  more than a piece of accessory on a man’s arm.   She wanted to work for herself,  earn her own money and find her place in the world.

❛   I offered Katherine a life of wealth and leisure,  but instead she chose to pursue a career.   ❜                 Joseph Pulitzer,  July 1899.

By the time July 1899 rolled around,  Katherine had become an employee at The New York Sun,  a competing newspaper of her father’s,  usually covering flower shows and reviewing theatre plays,  just busting out of the social pages.   When the newsboys strike happened,  Katherine decided it was her turn to write a real story.   Thus,  she planted her roots deep within one strike leader,  the one and only Jack Kelly,  and by befriending the Newsies,  Katherine ended up writing the article that landed the boys on the front page of The Sun,  effectively helping them win.

IMPORTANT NOTES

I will often nickname Katherine’s mother as Kate just to differentiate between the two.   The name Kate will not be used as a nickname for Katherine,  as hers is and always will be Kath.   (  or Ace,  if your name is Jack Kelly  )

Katherine and her father’s relationship is very strained.   She loves and respects him and his work,  but they don’t see eye to eye on a lot of things.   Their relationship especially fell apart after Katherine’s older sister Lucille’s passing when Katherine was 16,  as Joseph was distant and cold to everyone in their family.

In my modern verses,  Katherine was born on May 5th 1991.