At Broadway’s Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, backstage is hang-out central for the company of The Outsiders. Dressing room doors are rarely closed; chilling out and goofing around are business as usual, while the behind-the-scenes dynamic of the mostly 20-something cast is as intense off-stage as it is on.

But then this group of actors is unique. They inhabit the transformative musical that took home this year’s Best Musical Tony Award.

Sky Lakota-Lynch (Johnny Cade) and Brody Grant (Ponyboy Curtis). Photo by Matthew Murphy.

The characters, indelibly etched in the hit musical, were born from 16-year-old S.E. Hinton’s 1967 groundbreaking coming-of-age novel. Hinton portrayed belonging and friendship as key to survival, and having each other’s back a non-negotiable contract. This unspoken bond is true for both sides of the conflict: the protagonist working class Greasers, and their sadistic nemeses, the middle-upper class Socs, short for Socials.

Johnny and Dallas Blade. Photo by Matthew Murphy.

A mash-up of assorted members of the Tulsa, Oklahoma gang Hinton hung with in high school, The Outsiders has inspired millions of young readers who see themselves in the story’s misfit heroes: Ponyboy Curtis (Brody Grant), the 14-year-old narrator, living with his brothers Darrel/Darry (Brent Comer) and Sodapop (Jason Schmidt) after the death of their parents; the hardened protector of the gang, Dallas/Dally Winston (Joshua Boone); smart-mouth Two-Bit (Daryl Tofa); and Johnny Cade, Ponyboy’s best friend and the most broken of the Greasers, touchingly played by Sky Lakota-Lynch.

The Outsiders. Photo by Matthew Murphy.

Lakota-Lynch grew up in Philadelphia as a real-life outsider thanks to a double-edged heritage: his mother is Ethiopian and his father a Haliwa-Saponi Native American. In addition, there were issues of dyslexia and ADHD to deal with, making reading difficult. He was introduced to “The Outsiders” by a teacher in ninth grade, who ran the 1983 Francis Ford Coppola film once and refused a second showing until they tackled the novel. “It was the first book I ever read to completion,” says the actor, who fell in love with it immediately. “We all did…it was our saving grace.”

Nevertheless, his first years of high school were marked by bullying and the nagging feeling he didn’t fit in—until theatre found him. “When I got involved in acting and doing school shows, suddenly there were people around me believing in me. It was the first time I felt that. So, yeah, it was a long journey to get my confidence.”

Settling on a theatre elective, Lakota-Lynch was accepted at NYC’s The American Musical and Dramatic Academy. “The first thing I had to learn was New York, and while it’s a great teacher, it’s also the Wild West.” But once he got his Manhattan sea legs, and paid his dues (three years of odd jobs and unfulfilling auditions), he emerged as a working actor, making his Broadway debut as Jared Kleinman in Dear Evan Hansen.

Fast forward to The Outsiders.

The Rumble. Photo by Matthew Murphy.

SKY UNLIMITED

The show found its way to La Jolla Playhouse in California in 2023, where it previewed to rave reviews before heading to Broadway. Lakota-Lynch was onboard throughout. “I’ve been living with Johnny for so long the role’s become like a second skin. Offstage I clown around, play with wigs and stuff, but once I’m onstage it’s like taking off a mask and letting Sky come out,” he says, calling his character “a listener.”

“He doesn’t have many lines, only about 30 in the whole show, and some of them are just a single word,” he continues. “A lot of the time what he’s not saying is what’s important”. Given Johnny’s heartbreaking throughline of domestic abuse, and the fact that he is silently present, listening, through much of the show, it’s no wonder Lakota-Lynch finds the physicality that takes place liberating—particularly during the show’s climax, an unhinged face-off between the Socs and Greasers as they come together in a savage baptism of blood, mud, and rain.

But when asked what’s his favorite moment, it’s “Stay Gold,” a number that’s part country ballad, part hymn. “I love that the song reminds me of my grandmother…and I think of her when I sing it.”

According to this proud Native American, this gentle moment of reflection that has theatregoers reaching for tissues reminds him that his character is beloved. “This is the first time I’ve gotten to play a hero—and it’s in a show that relates to everyone…no matter what your language or background,” he says, adding, “The Outsiders transcends everything, and it all goes back to when this 16-year-old girl caught lightning in a bottle.”

Photo by Matthew Murphy.

THE CREATIVE TEAM BEHIND THE OUTSIDERS

• Book by Adam Rapp with Justine Levine
• Music and lyrics by Jamestown Revival (Jonathan Clay & Zach Chance) and Justin Levine, who also provided music supervision, arrangements & orchestrations
• Choreography by brothers Rick & Jeff Kuperman.

As for Danya Taymor, one of Sky’s closest friends, she won a Best Director of Musical Tony Award for her insightful and generous work on The Outsiders.

And finally, the show’s most visible, viable, and hands-on producers is Oscar-winner Angelina Jolie. Notes Sky: “A lot of these celeb producers come and go but Angelina embraced us. She had us over to her place…she’s like a mother…a good mom. And she makes the industry less scary, like when she tells us ‘It’s all just noise and we just have to make our art.' ”

The Outsiders is playing at Broadway’s Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, 242 W. 45th St., 212-239-6200, outsidersmusical.com.