Show guide
The Outsiders
The Outsiders brings S. E. Hinton's classic novel of rival teenage gangs in 1960s Tulsa to the Broadway stage as a rock infused musical.
- Broadway premiere
- 2024
- Music by
- Clay & Chance
- Genre
- Rock/Pop
- Setting
- 1960s
The Outsiders: quick answers
What is The Outsiders about?
- The Outsiders follows 14-year-old Ponyboy Curtis and his Greaser friends in their war with the rich Socs, until a killing sends Ponyboy and Johnny Cade on the run and forces everyone to ask what the fighting is for.
When did The Outsiders open on Broadway?
- The Outsiders opened on Broadway on April 11, 2024, at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, after premiering at La Jolla Playhouse in 2023. It won the 2024 Tony Award for Best Musical and is still running.
What kind of musical is The Outsiders?
- The Outsiders is a dramatic book musical with an original score by Jamestown Revival (Jonathan Clay and Zach Chance) with Justin Levine, and a book by Adam Rapp and Levine. It adapts S. E. Hinton's novel.
Where and when is The Outsiders set?
- The Outsiders is set in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1967.
Is there a The Outsiders movie?
- There is no film of the musical, but Hinton's novel was filmed by Francis Ford Coppola in 1983 with C. Thomas Howell, Ralph Macchio, Matt Dillon, Patrick Swayze, Rob Lowe, and Tom Cruise.
The story of The Outsiders
Set in Tulsa, Oklahoma in the 1960s, The Outsiders follows Ponyboy Curtis, a working class Greaser who narrates the story of his ongoing conflict with the wealthier Socs, a rival group of teenagers from the other side of town. After a violent confrontation, Ponyboy and his close friend Johnny Cade go on the run, forcing both boys to confront questions of loyalty, class, and what it means to grow up too fast.
Ponyboy's older brother Sodapop and the volatile Dallas Winston round out the Greasers, while Cherry Valance, a Soc girl who befriends Ponyboy, offers a rare bridge between the two worlds. The show stays close to Hinton's novel, keeping its themes of class divide, found family, and the cost of violence between boys who are, as the title suggests, more alike than they know.
The music and the makers
The songs were written by Jonathan Clay and Zach Chance, the duo known as Jamestown Revival, along with Justin Levine, who also co-wrote the book with Adam Rapp. Their score favors a rootsy, guitar driven rock and Americana sound over a traditional Broadway idiom, matching the show's working class Oklahoma setting.
That rock and folk foundation gives The Outsiders a raw, unpolished energy, reinforced by staging that includes a widely discussed rain soaked rumble sequence performed with minimal dialogue, letting movement and music carry the show's most brutal turning point.
The Outsiders on Broadway
The Outsiders opened on Broadway in April 2024 at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, starring Brody Grant as Ponyboy and Sky Lakota-Lynch as Johnny. The production won the Tony Award for Best Musical in 2024, cementing the show's arrival after years of development including a pre-Broadway run in La Jolla, California.
Its win was notable for bringing a beloved, frequently taught American novel to Broadway in a form that leaned into physical storytelling and ensemble movement as much as song, helping introduce Hinton's story to a new generation of theatregoers.
The Outsiders: frequently asked questions
When did The Outsiders open on Broadway?
The Outsiders opened on Broadway in April 2024 at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre.
Who composed The Outsiders?
Jonathan Clay and Zach Chance of Jamestown Revival wrote the score with Justin Levine, who also co-wrote the book with Adam Rapp.
What is The Outsiders about?
It is based on S. E. Hinton's novel about rival teenage gangs, the Greasers and the Socs, in 1960s Tulsa, Oklahoma.
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