THE OUTSIDERS Opening Night Critics’ Reviews

In Tulsa, Oklahoma, 1967, Ponyboy Curtis, his best friend Johnny Cade and their Greaser family of “outsiders” battle with their affluent rivals, the Socs. This thrilling new Broadway musical navigates the complexities of self-discovery as the Greasers dream about who they want to become in a world that may never accept them. With a dynamic original score, THE OUTSIDERS is a story of friendship, family, belonging… and the realization that there is still “lots of good in the world.”

Adapted from S.E. Hinton’s seminal book and Francis Ford Coppola’s iconic film, THE OUTSIDERS features a book by Adam Rapp with Justin Levine, music and lyrics by Jamestown Revival (Jonathan Clay & Zach Chance) and Justin Levine, music supervision, orchestration & arrangements by Justin Levine, choreography by Rick Kuperman & Jeff Kuperman and directed by Danya Taymor.

Previews began on March 16 at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre and the production officially opens on April 11.

The responses on this board have me quite optimistic this might pull into the Best Musical favorite slot, so I'm very curious to see how this turns out.

Why is the sound mixing on the highlights video so muffled? It does it a huge disservice to how incredible those songs sound.

After just seeing the show yesterday, I'd expect mixed to positive (leaning positive) notices. It's one of the freshest shows in a middling season, and there's plenty of opportunities for Tony nominations. While the sum of its parts are greater than it's whole, it's still an engaging and entertaining show with some breakout performances. And the hunk factor doesn't hurt either.

Mixed. It is good enough.....hoping it finds its audience with teens who read the book. 

 

MemorableUserName said: "Three stars/recommended from TimeOut

https://www.timeout.com/newyork/theater/the-outsiders

"

Well this writer sure invested a lot in his review.

I doubt the review embargo has lifted yet, and that's probably just a placeholder page that shouldn't have gone live. A Google search returns Theatermania's review, as well, with the headline "The Outsiders Becomes a Soggy Broadway Musical," but that page isn't live, either.

Updated On: 4/11/24 at 08:06 PM

TaffyDavenport said: "I doubt the review embargo has lifted yet, and that's probably just a placeholder page that shouldn't have gone live. A Google search returns Theatermania's review, as well, with the headline "The Outsiders Becomes a Soggy Broadway Musical," but that page isn't live, either."

A little borrowing from the headline of Jesse's NYT review for The Notebook.

BETTY22 said: "What is go on with Time Out review....it's a headline and a paragraph......"

Review embargo not lifted yet. Will be soon. 

NY Stage Review:

Four stars from Torre

THE OUTSIDERS: THE POPULAR NOVEL AND FILM IS NOW A KILLER MUSICAL

By Roma Torre

★★★★☆ The S. E. Hinton classic gets the Broadway treatment courtesy of a gang of talented young guns led by director Danya Taymor.

https://nystagereview.com/2024/04/11/the-outsiders-the-popular-novel-and-film-is-now-a-killer-musical/

 

Three stars from Scheck

THE OUTSIDERS: LET’S GET READY TO RUMBLE!

By Frank Scheck

★★★☆☆ The classic YA novel, previously made into a hit 1983 film, has been unconvincingly adapted as a Broadway musical.

https://nystagereview.com/2024/04/11/the-outsiders-lets-get-ready-to-rumble/

B from Entertainment Weekly

The Outsiders review: S.E. Hinton's beloved novel transforms into glittering Broadway musical

Brody Grant and Sky Lakota-Lynch star as Ponyboy Curtis and Johnny Cade, two Greaser kids who find themselves flung headfirst down a dangerous path. 

https://ew.com/the-outsiders-review-broadway-musical-8629965

Holdren in Vulture is positive.

https://www.vulture.com/article/theater-review-the-outsiders-broadway-musical.html

" in its new musical form — with a score and lyrics by the folk duo Zach Chance and Jonathan Clay, known as Jamestown Revival, along with Justin Levine — The Outsiders is taking a real swing at being the strongest entry in this season’s wave of singer-songwriter outings on Broadway. We’re living in a post–Sara Bareilles age: Ingrid Michaelson, PigPen Theatre Co., Shaina Taub, and Anaïs Mitchell are all currently waving at one other from around Times Square. But whether or not the same people who make catchy pop records can also craft a solid score is another question. Chance, Clay, and Levine can, and if The Outsiders sometimes traffics, perhaps unavoidably, in cliché, it makes up for it with the tenderness and muscle of not just its songs but its staging and performances."

MemorableUserName said: "Green in NYT is mixed.

Review: In ‘The Outsiders,’ a New Song for the Young Misfits

The classic coming-of-age novel has become a compelling, if imperfect, musical about have-not teenagers in a have-it-all world.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/11/theater/review-outsiders-musical.html

"It’s a strange paradox of Broadway that its bigness, when used humbly, can honor quite delicate ideas. Whether it can sustain them is another story. In “The Outsiders,” they are not sustained; the structural problems mean its achievements don’t stick. But they’re still achievements, and a show need not be for the ages to be for the moment. In that sense it’s fair, citing Frost, to call it golden — nature’s “hardest hue to hold.”""

The structural problems were my biggest nit as well but I still enjoyed the show overall.