B'way Update: Outsiders Musical, Vineyard Season

Cast members of The Outsiders
at La Jolla Playhouse
Credit: Rich Soublet II

A new musical based on The Outsiders,  S.E. Hinton's young-adult novel about rival teen gangs in 1967 Oklahoma, will be opening on Broadway this spring after a world premiere production at the La Jolla Playhouse in Feb.-March of this year. Oscar winner Angelina Jolie will be among the lead producers. Previews begin March 16 at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theater prior to an April 11 opening. Danya Taymor (Pass Over) directs. 

The Outsiders is regarded as a classic in young-adult literature and has been named by BBC News as one of the 100 most influential novels and was voted one of 100 Best Loved Novels in PBS' Great American Read. Francis Ford Coppola directed the 1983 film version which made stars out of Matt Dillon, Patrick Swayze, Emilio Estevez, Tom Cruise, C. Thomas Howell, Ralph Macchio, and Diane Lane. There was also a short-lived TV series in 1990.

The musical features a book by Adam Rapp (The Sound Inside) with Justin Levine, and a score by Jamestown Revival (Jonathan Clay and Zach Chance) and Levine. 

Vineyard Season: Meanwhile, Off-Broadway, the Vineyard Theater has announced two productions for i

Dianne Wiest will star in
Scene Partners
for Vineyard Theater.

ts 2023-24 season. Oscar, Golden Globe and Emmy winner Dianne Wiest will headline Scene Partners by John J. Caswell, Jr. (Wet Brain), previews Oct. 26 and opens Nov. 12. Tony winner Rachel Chavin (Hadestown) directs. Wiest will star as Meryl, a 75-year-old woman who leaves her home in Milwaukee to pursue her dream of a film acting career in Los Angeles. 

Russian Troll Farm: A Workplace Comedy by Sarah Gashner deals with the employees of a real-life Russian misinformation organization during the lead-up to the 2016 US presidential election. A New York Times Critics pick for its online version, the play will be directed by Tony winner Darko Tresnjak (A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder). Previews begin Jan. 25, 2024 with an opening set for Feb. 8. 

Vineyard Theater is one of many companies that is scaling back the number of announced productions for its upcoming season. Numerous Off-Broadway and regional companies are experiencing financial setbacks, personnel cuts and lay-offs as they continue to struggle to regain audiences lost during the COVID pandemic.

 

Summer 2023
Aug. 27--The Tempest (Delacorte/Shakespeare in the Park)

Fall 2023

Sept. 12--Infinite Life (Atlantic Theater Company/Linda Gross)

Sept. 12--Dig (Primary Stages/59E59)

Sept. 14--Death, Let Me Do My Show (Lortel)

Sept. 15--Prometheus Firebringer (begins previews; opening TBA) (TFANA/Polonsky Shakespeare Center)

Sept. 17--Swing State (Audible/Minetta Lane)

Sept. 18--Job (Soho Playhouse)

Sept. 19--Merrily We Roll Along (begins previews; opening TBA) (Hudson)

Sept. 27--Purlie Victorious (Music Box)

Sept. 28--Melissa Etheridge: My Window (Circle in the Square)

Oct. 3--Jaja's African Hair Braiding (MTC/Friedman)

Oct. 4--The Refuge Plays (Roundabout/NYTW/Laura Pels)

Oct. 4--DruidO'Casey (Public/NYU Skirball Center)

Oct. 6--Stereophonic (begins previews; opening TBA) (Playwrights Horizons)

Oct. 12--Gutenberg! The Musical (James Earl Jones)

Oct. 22--Here We Are (The Shed Griffin Theater)

Oct. 29--Translations (Irish Repertory Theater)

Oct. 30--I Can Get It for You Wholesale (CSC)

Nov. 1--Poor Yella Rednecks (MTC/City Center Stage I)

Nov. 2--I Need That (Roundabout/AA)

Nov. 2--Sabbath's Theater (New Group/Signature Theater)

Nov. 4--Waiting for Godot (begins previews; opening TBA) (TFANA/Polonsky Center)

Nov. 12--Scene Partners (Vineyard Theater)

Nov. 13--Harmony (Barrymore)

Nov. 13--Danny and the Deep Blue Sea (Lortel)

Nov. 16--Monty Python's Spamalot (St. James)

Nov. 19--Hell's Kitchen (Public)

Nov. 20--The Gardens of Anuncia (LCT/Mitzi Newhouse)

Nov. 24--Lone Star (Ruth Stage/Theater Row)

Nov. 30--Spain (Second Stage/Terry Kiser)

Nov.--Sad Boys in Harpy Land; Amusements; School Pictures (solo shows performed in repertory at Playwrights Horizons)

Winter 2023-24

Dec. 5--Manhatta (Public)

Dec. 10--How To Dance in Ohio (Belasco)

Dec. 12--Buena Vista Social Club (Atlantic Theater Company/Linda Gross)

Dec. 18--Appropriate (Second Stage/Hayes)

Jan. 9--Prayer for the French Republic (MTC/Friedman)

Jan. 17--Public Obscenities (previews begin; opening TBA) (TFANA/Polonsky Center)

Jan. 21--Aristocrats (IRT)

Feb. 8--Russian Troll Farm: A Workplace Comedy (Vineyard Theater)

Feb. 21--Teeth (previews begin; opening TBA) (Playwrights Horizons)

Feb. 26--Pericles (previews begin; opening TBA) (CSC)

Feb.--Doubt: A Parable (Roundabout/AA)

Feb.--The Ally (Public)

TBA--Brooklyn Laundry (MTC/City Center Stage I)

TBA--An Enemy of the People

TBA--I Love You So Much I Could Die (NYTW)

Spring 2024

March 14--The Notebook (Schoenfeld)

March 24--Philadelphia, Here I Come (IRT)

March--Sally and Tom (Public)

April 5--Macbeth (an undoing) (previews begin; opening TBA) (TFANA/Polonsky Center)

April 11--The Outsiders (Jacobs)

April 12--Staff Meal (previews begin; opening TBA) (Playwrights Horizons)

April--Jordans (Public)

May 2--Wine in the Wilderness (previews begin; opening TBA) (CSC)

June--Cats (Perelman Performing Arts Center)

TBA--Cabaret (August Wilson)

TBA--Here There Are Blueberries (NYTW)

TBA--Home (Roundabout/AA)

TBA--Jonah (Roundabout/Laura Pels)

TBA--Paula Vogel Play (Second Stage/Hayes)

TBA--The Wiz

Fall 2024

King Lear (Kenneth Branagh Theater Company/The Shed)

2024-25

Smash

Spring 2025

Show Boat (Target Margin/NYU Skirball)

Future--Ain't Supposed to Die a Natural Death; Beaches the Musical; Black Orpheus; BOOP! The Betty Boop Musical; Come Fall in Love--The DDLJ Musical; The Devil Wears Prada; Ella: An American Miracle; Everybody's Talking About Jamie; Frida, the Musical; Game of Thrones; The Great Gatsby; The Griswolds' Broadway Vacation; High Noon; Imitation of Life; Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat; The Karate Kid; La La Land; Lempicka; Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil; The Mousetrap; Nancy Drew and the Mystery at Spotlight Manor; Our Town; Pal Joey; The Nanny; The Normal Heart/The Destiny of Me; The Secret Garden; Sing Street; Soul Train; Water for Elephants; What a Wonderful World; The Who's Tommy; Working Girl.