David & Hannah Mirvish and The Araca Group & Associates/The Outsiders, book by Adam Rapp and Justin Levine, music and lyrics by Jamestown Revival (Jonathan Clay & Zach Chance) and Justin Levine, (based on the novel by S.E. Hinton and Francis Ford Coppola’s motion picture), choreographed by Rick & Jeff Kuperman, music direction by Justin Levine, directed by Danya Taymor, Princess of Wales Theatre, closes Jul. 26. Tickets here.
Stay Gold: The Outsiders proves that movement can tell a story as eloquently as words.
The Novel and the Film
There was understandable curiosity when S.E. Hinton’s beloved 1967 coming-of-age novel The Outsiders was announced as a Broadway musical.
The book has been a staple of high school reading lists for generations, while Francis Ford Coppola’s 1983 film introduced an extraordinary roster of young actors who would become Hollywood stars.
At its heart, The Outsiders remains a story about belonging.
The labels of Greaser and Soc may divide these young people socially, but the story continually reminds us that every one of them is searching for acceptance, identity and hope. Those themes remain as relevant today as they were when Hinton first published her novel in 1967.
Could such a raw, intimate story about class, violence and brotherhood survive the leap to musical theatre?
The Musical
The answer arrived first at California’s La Jolla Playhouse in 2023 before transferring to Broadway, where it opened in April 2024.
The show became an instant hit and is still playing in New York.
The production received 12 Tony Award nominations and captured four, including Best Musical and Best Direction of a Musical for Danya Taymor.
Those accolades are richly deserved. This is not simply another adaptation of a familiar property. It finds an entirely theatrical movement-based language for telling a story that has resonated for almost sixty years.
The Choreography
So much had been written about the way movement shaped the production that it became one of the chief reasons I wanted to experience the show for myself. It did not disappoint.
Rather than functioning as decorative dance breaks, the choreography by Rick and Jeff Kuperman becomes another storytelling voice. Movement defines the rival worlds of the working class Greasers and the affluent Socs.
Fights become choreographed explosions of pent-up anger, while quieter passages reveal friendships, loyalties and vulnerabilities that dialogue alone could never express. Time and again, physical movement carries the emotional weight of the narrative.
The Kuperman brothers have created one of the finest examples in recent musical theatre of choreography serving drama rather than interrupting it.
While The Outsiders was nominated for a Tony for choreography, it didn’t win which is one of the award’s most shocking snubs.
The Directing
Equally impressive is Danya Taymor’s staging, which keeps the action flowing with remarkable cinematic fluidity while never losing the intimacy of Ponyboy Curtis’ journey.
Although Ponyboy is written as a 14-year-old, the audience quickly accepts the theatrical convention of an older actor. Within minutes, age becomes secondary to emotional truth, and credit goes to Taymor for not pandering to age.
The Actors
I saw understudy Christian Arredondo in the central role of Ponyboy, and that fact deserves mention because there was not the slightest sense of compromise.
He delivered a performance of impressive sincerity, capturing Ponyboy’s intelligence, sensitivity and longing to find a place beyond the violence surrounding him. It is one of those performances that reminds audiences just how deep Broadway’s bench of talent truly is.
Arredondo blended seamlessly in with the other important cast members.
Travis Roy Rogers as Ponyboy’s long-suffering oldest brother Darrel, and Corbin Drew Ross as his comic relief middle brother Sodapop brought to life this family struggling to survive without their parents, who were killed in a train accident.
Bonale Fambrini was suitably touching as Ponyboy’s frail friend Johnny Cade, Jaydon Nget got laughs a the Greaser prankster Two-bit, while Tyler Jordan Wesley shone as the alpha male Greaser Dallas Winston.
On the Soc side of things, Mark Doyle was pure evil as Corvette-driving lead bully Bob, backed up by Jackson Reagin as his equally mean second Paul.
Emma Hearn showed a lovely touch of warmth and humanity as Cherry Valance, the Soc girl who befriends Ponyboy, with Katie Riedel as her more reluctant if loyal friend Marcia.
Musicals often rely upon one or two standout stars, but The Outsiders ultimately succeeds because of the remarkable cohesion of its young ensemble as a whole, one whose collective energy creates an entirely believable world of brotherhood, rivalry and survival.
The Music
The score also came as a pleasant surprise.
Not knowing quite what musical language to expect, I found myself drawn into a sound world that comfortably blends folk, country and rock influences. The songs emerge naturally from the story rather than announcing themselves as showstoppers.
They feel rooted in the American landscape and in the lives of these Oklahoma teenagers, giving the musical an authentic emotional texture without sacrificing theatrical sweep.
The Production
Visually, The Outsiders demonstrates how imagination can triumph over elaborate realism.
The scenic design by AMP featuring Tatiana Kahvegian avoids literal representation, relying instead on a handful of simple elements that continually transform before our eyes.
An old car stands for the Greaser neighbourhood and for the Curtis home. Wooden planks become seating at the drive-in. A tire evokes the neighbourhood fountain. The backdrop is a wooden frame with a gallery walkway.
These deceptively simple theatrical metaphors invite audiences to complete the picture with their own imagination, proving once again that theatre often works best when it suggests rather than reproduces reality.
Brian MacDevitt (lighting) and Hana S. Kim (projections) were jointly awarded a Tony Award for lighting which is outstanding.
It constantly shifts the emotional atmosphere, from moments of youthful camaraderie to scenes of mounting danger, while lending particular intensity to the production’s unforgettable confrontations. The special effect of the burning church is absolutely stunning.
Combined with the choreography, the lighting creates some of the evening’s most arresting stage pictures.
Final Thoughts
Sometimes a musical succeeds because of a great score. Sometimes because of memorable performances. Occasionally because of dazzling spectacle.
The Outsiders succeeds because every theatrical element works together in service of the story. It honours a cherished American classic while proving that even the most familiar tale can feel fresh when placed in the hands of imaginative theatre artists.
Stay gold, indeed.
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