My life was forever altered when I had to read The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton in the seventh grade, as I assume it happened to every young girl who read the book and watched the movie. I will never forget the Christmas of seventh grade, when I asked for everything The Outsiders related, and that’s what I received. I remember getting the 50th Anniversary edition of the book, a shirt with the cast from the movie on it, and all of S.E. Hinton’s books, so I could read some of her other works. I even had a fan account for the movie on Instagram with some of my friends; that’s how serious my obsession was. I thought that obsession had died within me – that was until it was announced that they were making a musical adaptation of the story, and as it turns out, that obsession never died, it just needed to be awakened again.
The Outsiders: A New Musical opened at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre here in New York on April 11, 2024 (one day before my birthday; can we talk about what a coincidence this is?), but I didn’t get the chance to see the show for the first time until I returned to school in September. I spent my whole summer building up my excitement by listening to the cast album and watching Emma Pittman’s (who plays Cherry Valance in the show) “Call Me Emma” vlogs on her YouTube channel. My friend and I made a plan over the summer that we would get in the rush line (for those who are not familiar, it is a system that some Broadway shows do where they hold discounted tickets at the box office until the day of that you can purchase when the box office opens) once a week and see the show together. I am extremely grateful to have been able to see this show as many times as I have and want to give you, the reader, a glimpse into what it looks like to travel back in time to Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Starting off with the show as a whole, there is no doubt why it won Best Musical at the 2024 Tony Awards. The production and lighting was truly something I’ve never seen before. The part of the show that I was most impressed by was the rumble. If you have read the book or seen the movie, you know that one of the pivotal parts of the story is the “rumble,” which is a fight against the Greasers and Socs, towards the end of the story. I had seen the rumble before I had seen the show, when I watched their Tony’s performance, but seeing it in person was a totally different experience. Even after all the times I’ve seen the show, it always feels like I’m watching the rumble for the first time again, because I’m always looking at someone different.
Besides the rumble, another one of my favorite parts of the show is the soundtrack. As I mentioned earlier, I listened to the cast album all summer long since I couldn’t see the show. Even though I already knew all the songs, hearing them live was such a different experience. There’s one song in particular called “Little Brother” that is one of Dallas Winston’s songs in the show that was done so differently than it is on the cast album. I’ve had the privilege of seeing both Joshua Boone’s, who plays Dallas, and one of his understudies, Daryl Tofa’s performances of “Little Brother,” and both are so different from the cast recording, as well as different from each other’s performances. It’s because of that, that “Little Brother” instantly became one of my favorite songs after seeing the show. However, my all-time favorite song from the show is “Stay Gold.” The song is written from the perspective of Johnny, writing a letter to Ponyboy where he’s reminding him to “stay gold;” to stay good and true to himself no matter the situation given to him. I got one of my favorite lyrics in the song, “finding beauty in the fold,” tattooed the other day, and was able to show Sky Lakota-Lynch, who plays Johnny Cade, my tattoo, which made it even more special.
The story of The Outsiders has been a part of my life since the seventh grade, and now, with the musical as well, it will continue to be a part of my life forever. I can’t express how much I love this show and the cast; everyone deserves to see it at least once. I am grateful for the amount of times that I have seen it, and look forward to many more trips to Tulsa.