“The Outsiders” was so good I saw it twice

By: Kaitlyn Belile, Assistant Features Editor 

As a musical theatre connoisseur, I decided everyone needs to know my thoughts on “The Outsiders” at Shea’s. I saw the show, which is a musical version of the book “The Outsiders” by S.E. Hinton, on Sept. 21 and loved it so much I bought tickets for the final show two days later. 

The book is about 14-year-old Ponyboy Curtis, who lost both of his parents in a car accident, so he is now under the supervision of his two older brothers, Sodapop and Darrel. The Greasers, which are essentially the working class, consist of the Curtis brothers, Johnny Cade, Two-Bit Mathews, Dallas Winston and Steve Randal in the book. In the musical, they added another Greaser, Ace, who is the only female Greaser. The Greasers are consistently fighting with the Socs – who are from the wealthy side of town – over keeping their sides of town separate. In the book, the Socs include Cherry Valance, Bob, Randy, Marcia, Paul and David. The musical is different from that because there is no David in the musical, but they add Chet, Trip, Beverly and Brill. 

I knew the show already music-wise, but had yet to see it on a stage and it absolutely lived up to my expectations. If I was allowed to, I could write an in-depth description of every single song. Most people know that live music is better than a recording, but sometimes that is not the case with musicals. A fact I am reluctant to tell is that “The Outsiders” Broadway cast was the second artist on my Apple Music Replay. My first, second, fourth, seventh, 10th and 12th songs on my replay were also from “The Outsiders.” Due to that fact, there were very few songs that I thought would sound better live in this show, but I ended up being pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the live versions of this music. 

There is a sequence of three songs that are some of my favorite songs, but also a heartbreaking trio of songs back-to-back. The first of the three songs is “Death’s at My Door,” which is a duet between Ponyboy and Johnny, where Ponyboy talks about how much death he has experienced in his life so far and how he feels as though death follows him. The next song, “Throwing in the Towel,” is a song that highlights the pain that Ponyboy’s brothers – Sodapop and Darrel – feel while Ponyboy is gone. Darrel tells Soda how he feels like he failed Ponyboy and Soda. The last song in that trio, “Soda’s Letter,” is exactly what it sounds like – a letter from Soda to Ponyboy while he and Johnny are still in hiding. 

The coolest part of the show, in my opinion, was the rumble. The way this show uses stage effects is genuinely one of the coolest things I have ever seen. In the rumble scene specifically, they use rain, blood, rocks and sounds to transport you into a fight scene. The scene shows the Greasers and Socs fighting over who gets to have control over Pershing Park. There is also a part of the scene where they all do an in-sync fight scene, and I overheard people throughout the theatre talking about how cool they thought it was. 

The show also uses incredible effects such as flashlights and smoke. The first scene where flashlights are used is the opening of the second act when Bob is found dead. The police officer in all productions is the same actor who plays Bob in the rest of the show, which adds an interesting – and somewhat ironic – layer to his performance. The officer shines a flashlight at all of the characters on the stage, and then turns and shines it toward the audience like an interrogation. Smoke was used in a scene with Ponyboy and Johnny in the church. The smoke slowly begins to cover the stage and rises while flames blaze at the top of the church’s structure. Between the smoke machine and the lights, the entire stage felt like it truly was on fire. 

The Outsiders is such an amazing show and I am so grateful for the fact that I got to see the show twice while it was here. 

Stay Gold, Ponyboy.