***** If you loved the film  “The Outsiders” back in the 1980’s based on the novel by S.E. Hinton, you should fall in love with the adaptation into a musical with a book by Adam Rapp and Justin Levine, now on the stage at The Cadillac Palace Theatre as part of this year’s Broadway In Chicago season. With music and lyrics by Jamestown Revival (Jonathan Clay & Zach Chance) and Justin Levine, the story  is powerful. It is a true coming of age story, and centers on Tulsa, Oklahoma in the year 1967. The story begins with Ponyboy ( a powerhouse performance by Nolan White ( at certain performances Jordan Deandre Williams) as he is our story’s narrator (  author?).

While you may think of this as a little “West Side Story” with gangs, this is more about class, in that we have the “Greasers”  and the “Socs”. The “Greasers” are just that while the “Socs” are the wealthy kids. Of course, Ponyboy is a “greaser”. He has two brothers, with the oldest Darrel ( Travis Roy Rogers) being the caretaker of them after their parents were killed in a train accident. In many ways, they are like the gangs of  ‘West Side Story” in that they hate each other and “rumble” every chance they get.

As I said earlier, this is a true “coming of age” story as we watch Ponyboy learn to understand more about people, his family, his friends and life as it is. It is teens asking “Why?”. Where are the answers to their questions. Can’t things change? Just because others are haves and some are “have-nots”, must it always remain constant? That is what “The Outsiders” examines and under the clever eye of Director Danya Taymor and the unbelievable choreography of Rick & Jeff Kuperman, the staging is powerful and quite extraordinary.

The set is quite simple with great projections and onstage we see cars, one of which converts into beds and concession shops at a Drive-In Movie Theater. ( for you youngsters, who have never had the experience, at one time there were many of these. We drove our cars in, parked next to a post that had a speaker where we placed the speaker on our window ( rolled down slightly) and on this giant screen on a wooden wall, we watched films. They do this onstage in this show, bringing back many memories for lots of audience members. They create many illusions on stage during this 2 1/2 hours ( including intermission) of storytelling.

This is a true ensemble piece as each and every cast member has a role in getting this story told. In addition to White and Rogers, we haveBonale Fambrini (Johnny Cade), Tyler Jordan Wesley ( Dallas Winston, who is sort of the leader of the “Greasers” and when the going gets tough is the toughest of them all), Corbin Drew Ross (little brother Sodapop Curtiss), Jaydon Nget (Two-Bit) and the rest of both groups: Mark Doyle, Jackson Reagin, Seth Ajani, Christian Arrendondo, Brandon Mel Borkowsky, Dante D’Antonio, Gina Gagliano, Hannah Jennens,  Giuseppe Little, Sebastian Maritnez, Abby Matsuka, Justice Moore, Mekhi Payne, John Michael Peterson, Kate Riedel, Luke Sabracos, Johnathan Tanner, and last, but certainly not least, the lovely Emma Hearn as Cherry Valance, the girl from the “Socs” who truly changes the events and lives of the two cultures. She is wonderful with a great vocal range.

While you may not leave the theater humming any of the music from this Tony Award winning musical, you will find yourself comparing it to the film and to other gang related stories you have watched or heard over the years.  The movie starred people like Tom Cruise, Emilio Estevez, Patrick Swayze, Rob Lowe, Ralph Macchio, Matt Dillon and many others. It was , for some of them, the very start of their careers.

I truly feel what I saw tonight is far superior to the film and should be on your “Must See” list ( if you can, but it is a short run, so hurry) “The Outsiders” will continue thru – Feb 22nd with performances as follows: