How it’s New York: Though set in Tulsa, the aspect of being in different cliques is universal and relevant to NY.
How it’s Irish: Like the NY comment, Irish people will relate to the cliquishness, I think.
Is there anyone who does not know the basic plot of THE OUTSIDERS by now? The book, written by a then-teenage S.E. Hinton, follows the story of Ponyboy Curtis (Brody Grant) and his brothers and friends in 1967 Tulsa. Parents are dead, Ponyboy is a “Greaser,” and the “Socs’- short for “socialite”- routinely give these wrong-side-of-the-tracks kids a hard time.
The 1983 movie by Francis Ford Coppola included young Matt Dillon, Tom Cruise, Diane Lane, Patrick Swayze and Rob Lowe, among others, and was very popular (though none in my opinion really looked teenage). The Robert Frost quote “Nothing Gold Can Stay” gets repeated a lot.
Should you go? Yes, if you love the book. No, if you care about smart lyrics and historical accuracy. But yes, for choreography and melody.
For some reason, I have never found this book persuasive– it’s always felt fake to me and the musical the same. But I am an outlier; people who were alive then say otherwise and there is no denying that for many a middle school boy this is a favorite book of all time.
The good: Some gorgeous stage pictures, thanks to director Danya Taymor, and sometimes exhilarating choreography by Rick Kuperman and Jeff Kuperman.
The book by Adam Rapp and Justin Levine is disappointingly on-the-nose.
Music and lyrics are credited to “Jamestown Revival (Jonathan Clay & Zach Chance) and Justin Levine.” I cannot tell who did what, but the lyrics are so bad I literally cringed. You have kids singing “This is Tulsa, 1967.” Seriously? WEST SIDE STORY this is not.
On another note, since it IS Tulsa, 1967, the decision to make the juvenile delinquent Johnny Cade (Sky Lakota-Lynch)Â a black character- NOT a black actor, since he has a black girlfriend– is bizarre. When this character flirts with socialite Cherry Valance (Emma Pittman), people are mad that he’s a greaser- not that he’s Black.
This is wildly ahistorical, and it’s a problem. It reminds me of the Black would-be mayor in a 1950-something small town in BACK TO THE FUTURE: it’s actually quite insulting to Black audiences.
Overall: I did not enjoy this, but can still give a qualified recommendation. Scenery by AMP featuring Tatiana Kahvegian and special effects by Jeremy Chernick and Lillis Meeh were impressive.
Your teenage boy will love it.
