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‘The Outsiders’ Review: Broadway Musical Packs Heart and Soul but Little Punch
The production only intermittently rises to the challenge of transforming such familiar material into theater that feels both original and necessary.
A new musical version of “The Outsiders,” now playing at the Jacobs Theater on Broadway, leverages the appeal of these previous iterations: the insatiable longing of youth, the triumph of integrity over adversity and, yes, a cast that smolders in vintage muscle tees (costumes courtesy of Sarafina Bush). Fraternity is the focus of the script, written by Adam Rapp with Justin Levine, which goes lighter than Coppola on retro slang in favor of naturalism and emotional development among the three orphaned brothers: the narrator Ponyboy (Brody Grant), the brawny and romantic Sodapop (Jason Schmidt) and the eldest turned father figure Darrel (Brent Comer). After an opening number that accomplishes lots of heavy lifting — establishing time and place (“Tulsa 1967”) and primary conflict (between disadvantaged “greasers” and monied “socs,” or socialites) — a wistful sense of resignation (“that’s probably how it’s always gonna go”) becomes the dominant theme.
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