The Best New Musical is...

Spoiler Alert- This post includes some spoilers for the musical The Outsiders, and therefore the book and movie of the same name.

Hello Everyone, 

This past weekend, during a trip to New York City, I was lucky enough to see The Outsiders in the front row! To say I enjoyed it is an understatement. To start off, I got tickets by standing in line outside the box office. On exciting thing about this show is their rush and lottery programs! If you are 30 years old or younger, you can wait in the rush lines and buy tickets for $30. This is what I did, and got first row tickets!  Now, I have read the book once last year, as well as seen the movie. I loved both. The story is extremely heartwarming, as well as extremely devastating. A combination every great musical has. While sitting in my seat, the first thing I noticed was the usher walking us to our seats. As we sat down, he very casually mentioned to keep the area in front of us clear, as well as told us that during some of the scenes, the rubber "gravel" might hit us. That was an understatement! About every dance number, gravel would come flying, and I loved every second of it. 

Just before the show started, a young actor can onto the stage, and sat on a large rubber tire sitting on the stage. He pulled out a spiral notebook at sat quietly on the stage for at least ten minutes. I was staring up at the stage in wonder. Was this part of the show? The lights were still on, and everyone still talking, so I kept reading the playbill and waiting. Turns out, that was Ponyboy (Brody Grant).  

As soon as the show started, with one of my favorite opening lines ever "When I stepped out into the bright sunlight from the darkness of the movie house, I had two things on my mind: Paul Newman and a ride home". Then Ponyboy stepped off the stage, and into the seat directly across from me. He stared up at the stage, and the Paul Newman that was projected onto the screen. The opening song started playing as he looked side to side, singing to the man sitting in the seat on the other side, then turning directly to my seat. To say I nearly lost it is an understatement. If I was not entirely frozen from shock, I think I would have screamed! This only lasted a moment before Ponyboy was back on stage, and the show continued. 

The rest of the first act was incredible, keeping very close to the plot of the book. The songs were surprisingly wonderful. I was starstruck. Because of my seat, most of the right side of the stage was blocked by the tire mentioned above. However, during most important scene of the show, the fountain scene, I was literally getting splashed.  It was incredible. I will talk about the differences between the show and the book that I noticed in another post. 

During intermission, I went down to the merch stand, and was having such a great time, I wanted to buy everything! We settled on the bracelet that says "Stay Gold", the logo t-shirt, the pin set, and the magnet. Usually we get the poster, but it was not available yet. I also bought an extra magnet for my seventh grade teacher, who not only expressed her love for the book many times, but taught me to appreciate the story. We also went to the bar and bought a soda, just to get the cup. We decided to buy our merch during intermission so we could get outside right away. 

As the next act started, I fell in love with the show. The music was incredible, the set was incredible. As with many reviews, the rumble was a highlight. It started off with no music, and no dancing. Just fighting. It was insane. Another highlight was Dally's song before his death. It is available of YouTube if you are interested. I believe it is one of the most impactful songs on Broadway right now. Darry was also a highlight. The actor (Brent Comer) had an incredible voice and moving songs. I truly could have believed that he was the real Darry. The rain during the rumble was also great. Overall I loved the show. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. 

But here is where it gets interesting. I had noticed many of the actors are Broadway debuts, so I was hoping to get a signature on my playbill. I rushed outside as fast as possible, and was one of the first people to get by the barrier. As people filed in around me, I stood my ground. I held my playbill tight and waited till people came out. The first to come out was Emma Pittman, who played Cherry. She was the first to sign, then another came out. And another. Soon I lost track of who was who. I got some of the major supporting actors, like Sky Lakota-Lynch, who played Johnny and Joshua Boone who played Dally. In just about twenty minutes I had every character but Ponyboy! I was completely content. If you know anything about getting signed playbills, you know the main actors never come out. I had been through similar situations before in Kimberly Akimbo and Little Shop of Horrors. I can tell my Little Shop story a different day. But just as I was about to walk away, Ponyboy WALKED OUT! I am not joking! The star of the show came out the sign playbills. As he came around, he took photos and signed playbills. 

When he got to me, I could barely breathe. I was frozen. All I could say was "Thank you", until he noticed my shirt, which was Taylor Swift merch with her singing in the Speak Now dress. He looked me in the eye, and said "Do you like Taylor Swift". I almost cried as I answered "Yes". He then cheered loudly, and moved on. I think I almost died! I couldn't believe it. Every cast member was so nice, especially Brody. I was so impressed! 

As I started to walk away with my parents, we noticed that Brent Comer (Darry) was walking just behind us. If I was alone, I would have done nothing, but my Dad stopped, looked over at him and mentioned how much we loved the show. He then stopped and had a quick conversation. We told him how much we loved his song, then joked about how they kept kicking the gravel at us. Then he said something so small, but something I will never forget. He said "I try to tell the others, kick with aim. I always feel bad for that front row". I nearly died! Then he crossed the street and kept walking. Like a normal person. I never really thought of these Broadway actors like that before. It was clear that this cast will be remembered for years to come. This show will live forever in my memory. I loved every second of the show itself, but the interactions with the cast made it the best one I have seen. 

The next day, as I sat in my Geometry class, I could not stop thinking about it. The show gave me what is best described as a high. As I looked down at my Stay Gold bracelet, all I could think was how much fun I had. I wanted to scream all day. I wanted to stand inform of my class and tell them this entire story. Instead, I showed off my playbill to anyone who would look, especially the large B.G. in silver sharpie. 

If you have the chance to see The Outsiders, take it. This will be the next Tony award winner, trust me. 

If you enjoyed this review, please comment and let me know! I am just a teenage girl with a love of all things Broadway, Choir, and Taylor Swift. I will try writing every once in a while with articles like this. I was thinking of writing about trends I have noticed in Broadway lately. Would that be interesting? 

Anyway, Stay gold, 

Makayla