In 1967, a 16-year-old from Tulsa, OK., quietly shifted the landscape of American literature. Susan Eloise Hinton, known more publicly as S.E. Hinton wrote The Outsiders from her bedroom while still in high-school. What began as a response to the fractures she observed among her peers—the invisible line between those with privilege and those without—became a novel that would ripple across generations, offering a mirror for people who felt overlooked, misunderstood, or out of place.
Almost sixty years later, that story still speaks. Its latest iteration, a Broadway musical now also underway on its first North American tour, proves the endurance of Hinton’s vision: narratives rooted in resilience not only survive, but thrive, because they give voice to those who most need to be heard.
When asked what sparked The Outsiders, Hinton is matter-of-fact: “I was inspired by my high school. I just got tired of all the social classes fighting each other.” What began as a short story after a friend was attacked grew into something larger than even she imagined.
Hinton never expected the book to resonate decades later, but as she recalls, “It never went out of print. They kept selling better every year.” That steady hum of connection—from readers in 1967 to audiences discovering Ponyboy Curtis on Broadway and film—reveals something timeless about the divisions she captured. “If you have ten kids in a school, they will divide up into the in group and the out group,” she explained. “That does not change. [But also] not every Greaser is a hero, and not every Soc is a villain. That’s true in life too.”
The Greasers and the Socs may belong to Tulsa in the 1960s, but the dynamics of us versus them, wealth versus struggle, and power versus vulnerability are in fact universal. That universality is precisely why the novel has endured: while the labels shift with each generation, the humanity of the characters remains, growing alongside the readers, and even with Hinton herself.
Though written by a teenager, The Outsiders has matured alongside its readers. For Hinton, Ponyboy has always felt the most personal. “None of my characters’ lives have been like mine,” she reflected. “But Ponyboy has always felt closest.” His curiosity, love of books, and imagination mirrored her own. “I like to read. I like to imagine. He’s very much like me.” Yet Johnny also lingers in her mind, not because he reflects her directly, but because he embodies so many young people she has encountered since the novel’s publication. “Johnny reminds me of so many kids I’ve met since the book was published,” she said, underscoring how the characters continue to connect with real lives beyond the page.
And the impact of these characters and the text has been profound. For nearly six decades, Hinton has received letters from readers who repeat the same confession: I never finished a book before yours. For many, The Outsiders is not simply a novel—it is the gateway into literature itself, the first story that made them feel seen, the first book they couldn’t put down. That matters deeply to Hinton. “This book has been such an important part of my life,” she reflected. “Glad to turn anybody on to reading.” In this way, the book doesn’t just tell a story of outsiders; it pulls new readers inside the world of words and imagination.
The longevity of The Outsiders has fueled a legacy of adaptations, each one reshaping the story for a new generation. Francis Ford Coppola’s 1983 film cemented its place in pop culture, while school and regional stage productions have kept its themes alive in classrooms and communities across the country. But it is the Broadway musical—winner of four Tony Awards in 2024, including Best Musical—that has brought the tale full circle, marrying Hinton’s raw honesty with the visceral power of live performance. The production has been praised for capturing both the grit and the tenderness of her original text, something Hinton herself deeply appreciates. “I love the musical,” she said warmly.
For Hinton, the most striking moment on stage was the rumble, a scene she described with cinematic detail in the novel but which takes on new urgency through the musical’s gritty fight choreography and modern score. “I thought the rumble was great,” she admitted. “It just brought every piece of [my book’s] description to life.”
That translation from page to stage does more than add spectacle—it reshapes how we experience the characters themselves. Ponyboy’s interior world, once confined to narration, becomes a living, breathing presence when voiced through music. His songs sharpen his identity as both a dreamer and an outsider, underscoring his yearning for beauty amid chaos. As Hinton noted, “It was really good because it showed how much he identified with the book,” referring to the poignant staging of Ponyboy clinging to Great Expectations.
“The musical stayed very close to the book and true to the characters,” she said. “Naturally, I am pleased about this. I believe the music provides insight to the characters. I like that some people will experience the story for the first time as a musical, and then they read the book or see the movie.”
Music, after all, bypasses logic and speaks directly to the heart. Where the novel’s power rests in its intimate monologue, the musical externalizes that struggle, allowing audiences not just to observe, but to feel the characters’ rawest emotions. In doing so, it reaffirms what has always made The Outsiders endure: its ability to remind us that resilience is often born in the spaces between pain and hope.
Beyond its artistry, The Outsiders has always been a story about survival and about the ways young people find hope even when institutions fail them. Hinton herself reflected on what advice she might give to anyone who feels like an outsider today. “Most people feel like outsiders, even in their own group,” she said. “That’s very common.”
Her message, though understated, carries weight: being on the margins is not an anomaly—it’s the human condition. And resilience comes not from erasing that identity, but from embracing it.
Hinton’s own story proves the point. “I was just an ordinary kid in Tulsa, Oklahoma,” she reminded me. “If I can write a book and get it published, so can you.” That insistence that creativity is possible for anyone, regardless of background, has empowered countless young readers to see themselves not only in her characters, but in her journey.
As The Outsiders moves into its next life on stages beyond Broadway and across North America, it does more than revive a beloved classic. It reminds us of the enduring power of storytelling to make space for those who rarely see themselves reflected. It shows us that divisions—between Greasers and Socs, insiders and outsiders—may be inevitable, but empathy can bridge the gap.
And for audiences stepping into the theater, it offers both nostalgia and discovery. Some will arrive with decades of love for Ponyboy and Johnny; others will meet them for the first time under bright stage lights. But all will leave reminded of what Hinton has always hoped for: that the story sparks connection, joy, and a deeper understanding of what it means to STAY GOLD. Catch The Outsiders on stage at Straz Center Dec. 27 – Jan. 4.
