Through May 17
Teen gang rivalries rule the action in The Outsiders. In the West Side Story, Saturday Night Fever or (the even older) Romeo and Juliet set-up, the story follows a familiar pattern: Teens gotta fight. Teens all lose.
This time the story is set in Tulsa, Oklahoma in the 1960s.
Now at Playhouse Square’s Connor Palace, the compelling cast makes the show move (literally and figuratively) as they gracefully maneuver the ups and downs of growing up. (According to the script the characters they play are 14-16 years old. The more than two dozen cast members that fill the stage are not, but they almost make one believe they are.)
The gangs are based not so much on ethnicity (though there is that) as on social class. The Greasers (remember the slicked-back hair fad? OK, well, I do) are working class, living on the economic margins of their society, while the Socs (stands for Society maybe?) are affluent, the guys with the sports letter jackets and (here at least) a bad attitude.
When the Socs attack Greaser Ponyboy Curtis (a likeable Nolan White), his best friend Johnny Cade (a loyal Bolan Fambrini) stabs the bad guy. So, as in R & J, it’s necessary to flee town.
An older teen who has seen tough times, Dallas Winston (graceful and nimble Tyler Jordan Wesley), comes to their aid, but of course not all of them get out of the story alive.
Still, there’s hope. When the cute Soc Cherry Valance (Emma Hearn) and Ponyboy discover they both love talking about books (Charles Dickens) and poetry (Robert Frost), we see that once Ponyboy grows up, he might achieve success—if he survives Tulsa, that is.
Directed by Danya Taymor, with book by Adam Rapp with Justin Levine, music and lyrics by Jonathan Clay, Zach Chance and Levine, The Outsiders won the Tony Award for Best Musical in 2024. Tony nominees Rick Kuperman and Jeff Kuperman choreographed the show.
And the choreography proved key to The Outsiders’ message and (honestly) our ability to connect with yet another retelling of how impulsive and destructive young people can be. Obviously, the more than two dozen actors were not that young, but they excelled in projecting a youthful vibe.
The special effects include an eye-catching, believable curtain of rain stage front. It was hard to tell if it was real or not, thanks to Tatiana Kahvegian’s scenography.
Other credits should go to Sarafina Bush (costumes), Brian MacDevitt (lighting), Cody Spencer (sound), Hana S. Kim (projections). A small offstage band conducted from the keyboard by Remy Kurs kept the pop music flowing.
Bottom Line: It’s a winning music- and dance-centric show, as musicals should be, with a stage full of young talent. Never mind the old “teens-are-out-of-control” storyline. Nothing new under the sun anyway, right? Recommended as the best musical so far, of this season’s KeyBank Broadway Series.