The Outsiders, the Broadway show based on S.E. Hinton’s young adult novel, took home the Tony Award for best musical at a ceremony Sunday night at Lincoln Center in New York.
Hinton’s novel, originally published in 1967, tells the story of two Tulsa, Oklahoma, youth gangs at war with each other. It was previously adapted as a 1983 film by Francis Ford Coppola and as a 1990 television series executive produced by Coppola.
The stage musical adaptation opened in April to mostly positive reviews. The book was written by Adam Rapp and Justin Levine, with music and lyrics by folk-rock duo Jamestown Revival. Starring in the musical are Brody Grant, Sky Lakota-Lynch, and Jason Schmidt.
Producer Matthew Rego accepted the award for the musical. “Creating The Outsiders required an extraordinary collective of unparalleled artists, coming together to tell this story in service of a singular vision.” He also singled out Hinton, who was in the audience, saying, “Susie, I’m here to tell you that your story and its eternal message of love and family and staying gold has forever changed all of our lives. We love you.”
The Outsiders won three other Tony Awards: best direction of a musical (Danya Taymor); best lighting design of a musical (Brian MacDevitt and Hana S. Kim); and best sound design of a musical (Cody Spencer).
The other literary adaptation to win a Tony was The Great Gatsby, based on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, which won for best costume design of a musical (Linda Cho).
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
