Four-time Tony Award winner The Outsiders is coming to the Pantages Theatre September 30 through October 18.
Winner of Best Musical, The Outsiders is adapted from S.E. Hinton’s seminal novel and Francis Ford Coppola’s iconic film.
Hinton’s first novel, which she wrote when she was a high school student, addresses themes of violence, masculinity, and belonging, all of which Hinton witnessed first-hand with her childhood friends. In interviews, Hinton has explained that she saw a need for realistic books for teenage readers and decided to solve the problem herself. This coming-of-age story was inspired by her experiences growing up in Oklahoma and witnessing the rivalries between local gangs.
In 1967’s Tulsa, Ponyboy Curtis, his best friend Johnny Cade and their Greaser family of “outsiders” battle with their affluent rivals, the Socs. The Outsiders navigates the complexities of self-discovery as the Greasers dream about who they want to become in a world that may never accept them. Francis Ford Coppola directed a film adaptation released in 1983, and the novel remains popular today.
When asked about its enduring popularity, Hinton offered this explanation: “Even today, the concept of the in-group and the out-group remains the same… The uniforms change, and the names of the groups change, but kids really grasp how similar their situations are to Ponyboy’s.”
Since its publication, The Outsiders has remained controversial due to its themes of violence and underage substance use; yet, in 2019, the BBC named it as one of the “100 Novels that Shaped Our World.”
And 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.”
The new musical features a book by Adam Rapp with Justin Levine, music and lyrics by Jamestown Revival (Jonathan Clay and Zach Chance) and Tony Award winner Justin Levine, music supervision, orchestration, and arrangements by Justin Levine, choreography by Rick Kuperman and Jeff Kuperman, and direction by Tony Award® winner Danya Tamor. Entertainment Weekly says, “The Outsiders has the power to inspire an entire generation.”
The Pantages Theatre is located at 6233 Hollywood Blvd. For tickets to The Outsiders visit broadwayinhollywood.com.
