The Outsiders Partners With No Book Bans

Press release

Tony Award® Award-Winning Best Musical
The Outsiders
Partners With
No Book Bans
In Recognition of Banned Books Week
September 22-28

New York, NY– The Tony Award®-winning Best Musical The Outsiders is partnering with the coalition No Book Bans (www.nobookbans.com) in recognition of Banned Books Week, September 22-28, to shine a light on the Books Save Lives Act.

During the week, The Outsiders will sponsor a book drive and encourage audience members to contact their Congressional representatives regarding the Books Save Lives Act, unveiled by Massachusetts Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley in 2023. Finally, the week will culminate in a post-performance talk back following the evening performance on Saturday, September 28, moderated by the show's Tony Award-winning director Danya Taymor, featuring Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, Nick Higgins (Chief Librarian at Brooklyn Public Library), Dan Novack (Vice President and Associate General Counsel at Penguin Random House) and others.

Since its publication in 1967, S. E. Hinton’s The Outsiders has been on the American Library Association’s Top 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books list time and time again. The Outsiders would not exist on Broadway without Hinton’s original text. The production is sponsoring a public book drive to accept donations of new or gently used books throughout Banned Books Week at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre and at the Drama Book Shop. Tickets to the production are not necessary to donate to the book drive.

First organized in 2022, No Book Bans is a coalition of theatre artists, theatres for young people, and other organizations opposing efforts to ban books and works of theatre from young people.

Introduced by Massachusetts Congresswoman Books Save Lives Act was created to help ensure an inclusive learning environment and counteract the harm of book bans across the country.

Banned Books Week was launched in 1982 in response to a sudden surge in the number of challenges to books in libraries, bookstores, and schools. The annual event highlights the value of free and open access to information and brings together the entire book community — librarians, educators, authors, publishers, booksellers, and readers of all types — in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas. The theme of this year’s event is Freed Between the Lines. By focusing on efforts across the country to remove or restrict access to books, Banned Books Week draws national attention to the harms of censorship.

Books Unbanned responds to an increasingly coordinated and effective effort to remove books tackling a wide range of topics from library shelves in schools and public libraries nationwide. Founded by Brooklyn Public Library in 2022, partnering libraries provide free digital library cards to teens across the country to enhance access to frequently banned materials and support the freedom to read.

Tickets for The Outsiders are available to purchase at Telecharge.com, by calling Telecharge at 212-239-6200 and in person at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre box office (242 W 45th St, New York, NY 10036). For more information, visit www.OutsidersMusical.com.

The Outsiders features a book by Tony Award nominee Adam Rapp with Tony Award winner Justin Levine, music and lyrics by Tony Award nominees Jamestown Revival (Jonathan Clay & Zach Chance) and Justin Levine, music supervision, orchestration & arrangements by Justin Levine, choreography by Tony Award nominees Rick Kuperman & Jeff Kuperman and is directed by Tony Award winner Danya Taymor.

The Outsiders opened on Broadway last month to rave reviews and is now playing at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre (242 West 45th Street). The New York Post proclaims The Outsiders as “THE BEST NEW MUSICAL OF THE SEASON." “STUNNING THINGS ARE HAPPENING ON THE STAGE OF THE JACOBS THEATER. Refreshing. Gritty. Endlessly effective. The Outsiders has been made with so much love and sincerity. It is fair to call it golden," says The New York Times. Entertainment Weekly says, “The Outsiders has a heart of gold and THE POWER TO INSPIRE AN ENTIRE GENERATION.” “AN EXHILARATING WORLD OF MOVEMENT WITH HIGH-OCTANE CHOREOGRAPHY,” states New York Magazine. Time Out New York calls it “RAW AND MORE PULSE-POUNDING than anything else on Broadway right now."

In Tulsa, Oklahoma, 1967, Ponyboy Curtis, his best friend Johnny Cade and their Greaser family of “outsiders” battle with their affluent rivals, the Socs. This thrilling new Broadway musical navigates the complexities of self-discovery as the Greasers dream about who they want to become in a world that may never accept them. With a dynamic original score, The Outsiders is a story of friendship, family, belonging... and the realization that there is still “lots of good in the world.”

The Outsiders cast is led by Brody Grant as Ponyboy Curtis, Sky Lakota-Lynch as Johnny Cade, Joshua Boone as Dallas Winston, Brent Comer as Darrel Curtis, Jason Schmidt as Sodapop Curtis, Emma Pittman as Cherry Valance, Daryl Tofa as Two-Bit, Kevin William Paul as Bob and Dan Berry as Paul. The company also includes Jordan Chin, Milena J. Comeau, Barton Cowperthwaite, Kevin Csolak, Tilly Evans-Krueger, Henry Julián Gendron, RJ Higton, Wonza Johnson, Sean Harrison Jones, Maggie Kuntz, Renni Anthony Magee, SarahGrace Mariani, Melody Rose, Josh Strobl, Victor Carrillo Tracey, Trevor Wayne.

The Outsiders features Scenography by Tony Award nominees AMP featuring Tatiana Kahvegian, Costume Design by Sarafina Bush, Lighting Design by Tony Award winner Brian MacDevitt, Sound Design by Tony Award winner Cody Spencer, Projection Design by Tony Award winner Hana S. Kim, Special Effects Design by Jeremy Chernick & Lillis Meeh, Hair & Wig Design by Alberto “Albee” Alvarado, Makeup Design by Tishonna Ferguson, Sound Effects Specialist Taylor Bense, Creative Consultant Jack Viertel. Music Direction & Additional Orchestrations by Tony Award nominee Matt Hinkley. Casting is by Tara Rubin Casting/Xavier Rubiano, CSA.

The Outsiders on Broadway is produced by The Araca Group, American Zoetrope, Olympus Theatricals, Sue Gilad & Larry Rogowsky and Angelina Jolie. The general manager is 321 Theatrical Management.

Co-producers on Broadway include Betsy Dollinger, Jonathan & Michelle Clay, Cristina Marie Vivenzio, The Shubert Organization, LaChanze & Marylee Fairbanks, Debra Martin Chase, Sony Music Masterworks, Jamestown Revival Theater, Jennifer & Jonathan Allan Soros, Tanninger Entertainment, Tamlyn Brooke Shusterman, Geffen Playhouse/Howard Tenenbaum/Linda B. Rubin, Kevin Ryan, Mistry Theatrical Ventures, Galt & Irvin Productions, Tulsa Clarks, Paul & Margaret Liljenquist, Bob & Claire Patterson, Voltron Global Media, James L. Nederlander, Warner Bros. Theatre Ventures, The John Gore Organization, Independent Presenters Network, Stephen Lindsay & Brett Sirota, Jeffrey Finn, Playhouse Square, Sue Marks, Indelible InK, Lionheart Productions, The Broadway Investor’s Club, Starhawk Productions, Distant Rumble, Green Leaf Partnership, Michael & Elizabeth Venuti, Leslie Kavanaugh, Deborah & Dave Smith, Belle Productions, Chas & Jen Grossman, Miranda & Sahra Esmonde-White, Rungnapa & Jim Teague, Michael & Molly Schroeder, Casey & Chelsea Baugh, Jim & Emily Flautt, Jon L. Morris, Becky Winkler, William Moran Hickey Jr. & William Moran Hickey III, Oddly Specific Productions, Melissa Chamberlain & Michael McCartney, Rachel Weinstein, Wavelength Productions, Rob O’Neill & Shane Snow, Eric Stine, Cornice Productions and La Jolla Playhouse.

The world premiere of The Outsiders was produced by La Jolla Playhouse, Christopher Ashley, Artistic Director and Debby Buchholz, Managing Director, in March 2023.