With Christmas just days away, it’s crunch time for holiday shoppers. Here at BroadwayBox, we are going to make your job a little easier: buy Newsies: Stories of the Unlikely Broadway Hit for that Broadway fan(sie) in your life. The new book, available at the Nederlander Theater and at select online retailers, is filled with beautiful behind-the-scenes photos, personal essays from the cast and creators and even fan testimonials. Below, we selected just five of the countless fascinating facts we learned while reading the book. Brush up on your Newsies knowledge now, and then pick up the book (and tickets to the show) to become an Newsies expert in 2014.

5. On their down time while filming the movie, the cast of Newsies made a homemade horror film titled Blood Drips Heavily on Newsie Square. 4. Over 1,000 people auditioned for Newsies’ Tony-winning choreographer Christopher Gattelli for the show’s Paper Mill Playhouse production. Original newsboy Aaron Albano says of the experience, “It was like A Chorus Line in real life.” 3. On the second day of Newsies rehearsal, the guys participated in something called The Circus McGurkus, where one by one everyone had the chance to show off what tricks he could do. 2. In the film there was supposed to be a female character named Charlie, described as, “a girl newsie who dressed like a boy and had an unrequited crush on Jack.” The original ending of the film included Jack and Charlie hopping on a train to Santa Fe together. 1.Tony winner Jack Feldman knows you miss the “Patrick's Mother verse” in “Carrying the Banner.” Feldman said, “Guys, please forgive me and take comfort in knowing that it will always be there on the soundtrack, haunting me until the day I die.”