Review: THE OUTSIDERS at Providence Performing Arts Center

The Outsiders musical struck a seminal chord at the Providence Performing Arts Center last night, combining richly harmonic music with songs that speak to your very soul.  Believe the Hype!  This Tony Award winner sets itself apart from the pack early on and never looks back!

I'm always a little leery when the musicals traipse into the land of my youth-my coming-of-age time so to speak.  With every incredible effort from the likes of "Footloose" to the more recent "Beetlejuice" there are plenty of blahs like "Dirty Dancing" and "Flashdance".

But for 80's kids, S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders and Francis Ford Coppola's masterpiece 1983 film spoke to us like no book or movie before it as will this touching and deeply-rich nusical performance for the ages.  

Written by a 15-year-old S.E. (Susan Eloise) Hinton who abbreviated her name to not turn off male reviewers and published in 1967, The Outsiders,  set Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1967, introduces the world to Ponyboy Curtis, played by a remarkable Nolin White and the world of the greasers, teenagers like many of us who were struggling to just find where they fit into the world.  Constantly fighting the likes of the affluent "Socs", the Greasers find themselved constantly trying to prove themselves in a world that may never accept them. 

Winner of four 2024 Tony awards including Best Musical with fantastic music and lyrics from Jamestown Revival's Jonathan Clay and Zach Chance, with Justin Levine, "The Outsiders" features phenomenal performances from Tyler Jordan Wesley as Dallas whos stunning renditions of "Little Brother" and "Trouble" haunted me like few songs can; Bonale Fambrini as Ponyboy's bestie Johnny Cade with incredible turns at "Tulsa 67" and "Death's at my door" and Ponyboy's older brother Darrel, played by Travis Roy Rogers, who's heartfelt "Runs in the family" and "Throwing in the Towel" makes us all ponder family responsibilities and your place in them.

Despite set in the 1960's, The Outsiders could just as well be set in the now.  Teenagers rebelling??  Check!  Hard to find your place in this world?  Huge check!  It's a timeless story filled with incredible talent, a stunning stage set, phenomenal effects-the rain scene is just amazing.  The Outsiders may just hit all right notes and I strongly encourage all of you to bring your teens along, no matter how much of a pain they are-chances are they've felt what they will see on stage and this musical could deeply impact them as well.

The Outsiders is an incredible piece of theater I can't tell you how truly rare that is.  The sell-out audience laughed, cried, pondered a ton and felt enshrined in this rare piece of magical musical theatre that brings you back to a time that may seem simpler now but was anything but back then.  It was hard for all of us to find our way and let's face it, some we grew up with never did....