Broadway’s The Outsiders musical recoups $22 million capitalization

The Broadway musical The Outsiders has recouped its $22 million capitalization and become profitable, one of the show’s lead producers, Matthew Rego, said. The production opened in April 2024 at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theater and won the Tony Award for best new musical two months later.

As of Jan. 18 the show had played 763 performances, been seen by 781,000 people and sold $121 million worth of tickets. The milestone is rare for new musicals: only three other new shows that opened in the last six years—Six, MJ and & Juliet—have become profitable, and another, Just in Time, is likely to be next.

Producers noted that revenue is not the same thing as profit, because it costs money to run a show and to pay off pre-Broadway development costs. Adapted from S.E. Hinton’s 1967 novel and built around a roots-rock score by Jamestown Revival, the production removed adult characters to focus on adolescents and integrated dancing and fighting; director Danya Taymor and choreographers Rick and Jeff Kuperman helped shape that approach.

The show has attracted school groups and young fans, and the publicists said songs from the cast album have been streamed over 85 million times across all platforms. Recoupment means the show can begin sharing profits with producers, investors and artists; actors who participated in certain developmental workshops are contractually entitled to profit-sharing, and some members of the creative team will benefit.