Review: A hypnotic new musical adaptation of ‘The Outsiders’ stays gold

It’s a testament to the enduring power of “The Outsiders,” S.E. Ponyboy Curtis, the 14-year-old protagonist and narrator who’s being raised by his two older brothers after the death of their parents in a car accident, is still the center of the story. The Greasers gang in La Jolla Playhouse’s world-premiere musical “The Outsiders.” Johnny, who lovingly follows Ponyboy around town, is traumatized both by his violent upbringing in an alcoholic household and by the recent beating he took by the Socs that left his face scarred and his sense of safety shattered. Ponyboy is haunted by Robert Frost’s poem “Nothing Gold Can Stay.” Johnny urges him to “stay gold,” his words giving rise to one of the production’s key second act songs. The musical, even at this somewhat wobbly preliminary stage, holds on to the gold of Hinton’s novel, transmuting it imperfectly yet courageously into hypnotic theater.