My next Broadway show of the weekend is “The outsiders”. Which is a show I have been keen to see since before it’s Tony wins last year and finally I was able to secure a ticket. The show is a new musical which opened in April 2024 on Broadway and went on to receive 12 Tony nominations and win four including best musical in 2024. This production is directed by Dana Taymor with a book by Adam Rapp and music and lyrics by Jonathan Clay and Zach Chance. The show had a start time of 7pm on the Friday I watched it with a scheduled running of two hours and thirty minutes.
The show is based on the original book first written by S.E Hinton in 1967 and was adapted into the 1983 film of the same name. As normal I had not read the original book or seen the 1983 film and as a result was entering the theatre to take my very cramped seat for this highly anticipated show was once again in the centre of the mezzanine in row B seat 105 with no prior knowledge of the story.
Before curtain up I overheard in the row behind me the predictive summary of “ So it’s a less family friendly version of grease”. After seeing the show I can confirm that he was not wrong. However for those like me who do not know the story here is a bit more entailed but still very brief synopsis of the story.
We are introduced to 1960s Tulsa where we quickly delve into the life of the main character Ponyboy Curtis (Brody Grant) and his oldest brother Darrel Curtis (Brent Comer) who is taking on the responsibilities of running the family and the other brother Sodapop Curtis (Dan Berry). We then meet the others members of the greases gang who are Jonny Cade (Sky Lakota-Lynch), Steve (Renni Anthony Magee) and Two-bit (Daryl Tofa) along with the one everyone looks up to Dallas Winston (Alex Joseph Grayson). The other reveal gang is the Cadillac driving socs who is lead by Bob (Kevin William Paul) and has members which include Paul (Davis Wayne), Cherry Valance (Emma Pittman), Marcia (SarahGrace Mariani), Ace (Anna Bermudez) and Beverly (Melody Rose). Tensions build between the gangs mainly over Cherry which leads into a fatal run in which results in Ponyboy and his best friend Jonny Cade having to skip town. The second act charts charts lots of different events including a church fire, unexpected deaths and a sucide all crescendoing in a huge fight for dominance of the park.
The whole set of this production was totally static. With only one major moving part which was a full size Cadillac which came and went throughout the show each time gradually creeping towards the centre of the stage. The stage floor was covered with gravel which was used at many points throughout the show and added to that “raw” feel that the show was running from. The rest of the set although static provided a literal climbing frame for all the actors. As a result it it made the stage feel a lot bigger than it actual was.
Along with the climbing frame aspect of the set which aided with the scene splitting for the production. The lighting design really aided this and without it the scenes would not be framed and as effective due to the static set. The lighting design was not only used to scene set but also to aid with the many fight scenes. Along with lighting sound effects were used perfectly to really make the audience literally feel each blow of the many fight scenes.
Due to the static the use of props proved event more critical and were used so effectively. I did not realise how a simple set of tyres and blanks of wood can be converted into so many things from cinema seating to a hospital bed and more. This along with the lighting design really gave such authentic scene design without the need for any major set pieces.
Some of the staging highlights come in the second act with the usage of real life fire engulfing the abandoned church. This real life fire design with the staging is some of the most unique musical Thrace experiences I have had. This added with the real rain scenes, which equally some of the best theatre experiences I have had. It was able to somehow equal the national theatre on theatre experiences. The use of torches throughout the production were used so effectively and were seamlessly used with the lighting spotlights. The panning of torches throughout the stage and the auditorium really made the audience feel part of the production.
Even though this production did have some of the top theatrical experiences have had and decently the best on Broadway. The show was made by the music and lyrics which is some of the best score and lyrics I have heard in a modern musical. It had a similar vibe to a Bronx tale. The music and lyrics where so good that for me it not only out shone the book but almost made the book seem inferrer. So much so that in my opinion the show would have been even better if it was sung through as the book at times somewhat distracted from the story and show as a whole. The lyrics were so good that at times they duplicated the spoken parts of the script. As a result it does mean that you will miss none of the story if you listen to the cast recording. Which is available on all major streaming platforms. I can not wait to listen and re-listen to the full cast recording again and again. As the songs of this musical theatre production are some of the best I have heard/seen in a new modern musical. Although for me there was no stand out title song which you normal find in a musical theatre production. It almost highlights how good the whole score was for me to not have a stand out individual song.
As mentioned before the whole cast was brilliant but for me there were a couple of stand outs.
The first being the main character Ponyboy who is portrayed by Brody Grant. His authentic accent really sets the sene from the opening narration song of Tulsa 67. The offical music version of this song can be found here.
He was able to maintain such. Unique and authentic accent through both the spoken word and all songs. All without sacrificing any of the musical theatre quality. Providing such emotion through all aspects of the show, a really top talent.
The second stand out for me was Brent Comer in the role of the older brother Darrel Curtis. He had such a difficult character to play as he had to be both the parent figure for the whole family as well holding the recreation of the greases on his shoulders. Brent was able to portray both aspects brilliant. While also performing some amazing vocal and musical theatre talent thought out the show.
Te last stand out for me has to be Emma Pittman in the role of Cherry. The character is the route cause of so many of the issues in the story and Emma was able to do this perfectly. While also performing amazing vocals on many of the numbers she was in.
The overall direction of the production was brilliant and it did contain some of the if not the best musical theatre fight dance choreography I have seen. There were many fight scenes however the best has to be during the second act during a full literal rain storm with amazing lighting and sound effects. I would normally reference the ensamble and how well they performed in not only the choreographed fight scenes but in general with the prop manipulation. However in this production I feel calling the supporting cast the ensemble would be disrespectful as each member had a character name. Most of the have been mentioned in the synopsis section of the review but not all of them.
I can fully understand why it received so many Tony nominations and wins last year it totally deserved all that it received if not deserving even more. Unfortunately I can not see this production heading across the pond to the west end. Even though it is now embarking on a US tour. I feel that some of the book was and would be lost on a British audience. As a result unable to replicate the success that it has had on Broadway on the West End.
Overall I give this production 4.5 out of 5 stars. It has amazing music and lyrics with great performances by Brody Grant and Brent Comer. With a static climbing frame esc set and amazing lighting and prop design creates a deserving Tony award wining production.
Further details on this show can be found on their website.
A SPURDLE reviews 