Broadway has been roaring with new and timeless musicals. From a musical adaptation of the cult classic movie Death Becomes Her to the phenomenal revival of Gypsy starring Audra McDonald, tourists and theatre goers alike have been buzzing with excitement. Recently, the YLHS Mustang Theatre Company took a trip to New York over spring break, and was given the opportunity to watch four Broadway musicals! Two of these shows were The Outsiders and The Great Gatsby. Having read the books during school, most of us were really intrigued to see how well it was adapted. Even though it was my second time seeing both of these musicals, I happened to make connections with the books that I didn’t catch before.

Adapting a book into a musical is hard. Not only do you have to tell the story in a musical format, but you also have to try to make it enjoyable for all kinds of viewers. There is not just the pressure of the fan base surrounding the books but also critically acclaimed movies. The novel The Outsiders, written by S.E Hinton, is a coming of age tale of the rivalry between the West side and the East side of Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1967.  We follow the narrator, Ponyboy Curtis, in a first person perspective. The musical does a nice job of portraying this view with subtle fourth wall breaks throughout the story. “The Ponyboy we saw, Trevor Wayne, was phenomenal and loved hearing and seeing the changes he made from Brody Grant (The OBC Ponyboy),” Raven Hale (12) gushes. She had been a huge fan of the cast album, so seeing it live was so fulfilling to her. 

The Great Gatsby published by F. Scott Fitzgerald is also written in first person through the eyes of Nick Carraway.  However, the musical takes a creative lead – giving the audience a closer look into Gatsby and Daisy’s love affair. “Sarah Hyland and Ryan McCartan were astoundingly brilliant and easily made this show one of my all-time favorite musicals I’ve ever seen,” Brielle Scarborough (9) exclaims. Another noticeable change from The Great Gatsby was the romance between Nick and Jordan. “Watching Sarah Hyland and Ryan McCartan (Daisy and Gatsby) on stage was great but Nick was the true star of the show. I loved Michael Maliakel star as Nick. In the book, his relationship with Jordan isn’t as existent and as front as the musical made it seem,” Raven adds.  

Something that The Great Gatsby musical encapsulates perfectly are the big dramatic parties Gatsby throws. Brielle says, “It was so professional and every little detail was so specific and special in a way that showed me how each character truly felt in that moment.” The song where the audience is transported into the party is called “New Money” and adds the Broadway flare with extravagant costumes and even some sparks light up the stage. “Samatha Pauly was amazing as Jordan. I loved the choreography and technical aspects of New Money,” Raven beams. Even though we get a taste of these elaborate parties in the book, it’s not what the entire story is about. Nick should’ve had a more prominent role in the musical, as he is an unreliable narrator. “I liked The Outsiders musical more than the book, but the Gatsby book more than the musical,” Raven finishes. Meanwhile, Brielle finishes by saying that The Great Gatsby is “easily one of her new favorite shows.”  However, after seeing this show twice I think its differences are a huge takeaway from the overall performance. The Great Gatsby book is truly a timeless piece of literature, and my favorite book I read in school.  In my opinion, the musical didn’t live up to my expectations as much as I hoped it would.

The Outsiders does the opposite as it keeps the gritty, hood, and run down feel the book suggests. “The Outsiders will always be my favorite musical,” Sabrina Scarborough (11) voices, “The way it was written made sure to include as much as they could from the original book.” Of course, even this musical had a few changes like with Cherry and Ponyboy’s dynamic. It seemed a little more on the romantic side with the song “I Could Talk To You All Night” and with their chemistry.  Another huge change was Dallas Winston’s death.  He sings the heart breaking song, “Little Brother.” Without spoiling too much, and using graphic details, when the song ended it had the audience all in tears and in shock, which in my opinion was better than the book.

“Each song took all the original material and put it into a catchy and plot driven way,” Sabrina continues, “I think every single song deserves to be in the show and if a single one was removed the story wouldn’t be fully told. Each song is so important to the plot and each character’s individual story in the show.” The folk rock music style is vastly different from the pop musical theatre ballads The Great Gatsby presents. “It almost doesn’t even feel like you’re watching musical theatre. That’s how good the music is,” Sabrina closes.

It’s hard to believe that the written works are 58 years old (The Outsiders) and 100 years old (The Great Gatsby) as of 2025. It’s truly beautiful to see their stories still getting recognition today, in the form of song and dance. No matter what, even though both scripts divert from their original source material in some way, the heart and soul is still present. Though, truthfully, neither can outdo their books.