Newsies Newcomer Kara Lindsay on the Musical's Fans, Bill Pullman and Finding Love on the Prairie

Age & Hometown: 27; Rochester, New York

Current Role: Getting the scoop—and scooping up hearts—in her Broadway debut as female reporter Katherine Plumber in Disney’s Newsies.

The Newsies Fans: A self-proclaimed Newsies lover, Lindsay acknowledges the power of the 1992 film’s fervent fans, who are packing the Nederlander Theatre. “As soon as the orchestra starts, they start cheering,” the bubbly actress says. “We hear it backstage, and we’re like, ‘Oh my gosh!’ We break into tears onstage because we are so excited and grateful.” The enthusiastic response helped ease Lindsay's nerves about fans embracing her character, Katherine, who was added to the stage version. “That’s been my biggest fear—knowing that a character loved by so many fans was taken out of the show and replaced by a girl,” she confides. “I loved Bill Pullman [who played the film’s male reporter Bryan Denton], and I’m trying to get him to come to the show!”

False Starts: Shortly after graduating from Carnegie-Mellon in 2007, Lindsay was scheduled to make her Broadway debut in Lone Star Love, a Wild West adaptation of The Merry Wives of Windsor starring Randy Quaid. The production disintegrated after Quaid's bizarre behavior led him to be banned for life from Actors' Equity. “We had the Belasco Theatre and the marquee was up,” Lindsay recalls. “It was a really sad thing to watch happen.” A second potential break, Little House on the Prairie, in which Lindsay starred as Laura, also stalled out of town. Those disappointments have been forgotten, however, in the excitement surrounding Newsies. “It’s the best play to make a Broadway debut in,” she exclaims. “Half of us are making debuts, so on top of how successful the show has been, the best part is that there are dreams coming true, not just for me but for so many people.”

The Disney Gal: Lindsay, who dreams of starring in Beauty and the Beast, is floored at the notion that young Newsies fans might idolize Katherine the way she does Belle. “I can’t even fathom that!” she says with a laugh. “That’s such an amazing honor.” Reflecting on her character, Lindsay adds, “What I like is that she lives in the real world, not a fantasy world like Beauty and the Beast or The Little Mermaid so that’s a little bit more relatable. I hope people look up to who she is.” The actress met her real-life Prince Charming, Memphis cast member Kevin Massey, after they played onstage love interests in Little House on the Prairie. “We bonded over the debates between McCain and Obama,” she recalls. Three and half years later, she gushes, “We’ll be together probably forever.”