By Isabelle Olson

Furniture sits on the stage under faint light, with anticipation.

The crowd is chattering and the rows are filled with alumni, parents, and students. Finally taking my seat after talking to people I haven’t seen in awhile, I suddenly realize the importance of this story and hope that the actors bring it to life. And that they did.

The Outsiders was written in 1967 by S.E. Hinton, who was only 17 years old at the time. However, kids have been reading The Outsiders ever since it came out and its strong emotional presence is forever in the hearts of the ones who’ve experienced it.

This production was directed by the one and only Autumn Ehrhardt, who is the drama teacher here at Wheat Ridge High School. She did a marvelous job directing the show, one of the strongest that has been performed at Wheat Ridge throughout my time here.

The characters were alive and the actors made sure of that. Ponyboy Curtis, the main role in this production, is a Greaser and was played by the one and only Ian Miller, a sophomore who gave a wonderful performance. The way he portrayed emotions in his voice and his facial expressions allowed him to step into the shoes of Ponyboy. His brother, Sodapop Curtis, was played by freshman Rory Seidel, who really gave the dreaminess to Soda, in every sense of the word.

Cherry Valance, one of the most important characters, was played senior Sadie Strunk, a senior, who did incredibly with her lines and the way she interacted with Ponyboy and other characters, which really helped portray Cherry in a rather realistic manner. Strunk’s red hair helped too.

Another character was Johnny, who is the character that made me cry and brought out the reality of this time period. He was played by sophomore Isaac Hoskins, who did a stunningly beautiful job becoming the boy who breaks the heart of all the audience. The emotion that flooded out of Johnny made the show strong and gave the audience an attachment to the story. The gasps when he stabbed the soc Bob as he was drowning Ponyboy were true, and you could feel the anxiety in the crowd.

The set of the show was well put together, simple and true to the story. In the living room of the Curtis brothers there was real TV, and a beautifully painted blue Mustang popped out from backstage with a great car sound effect.  All the sound effects used were realistic. As reader and lover of this story, I appreciated the detail that came through, such as Two-Bit’s Mickey Mouse shirt. The fighting was something that I was worried about, because stage fighting is not easy, but the stage fighting was realistic and not too hectic.

The makeup for this show was awesome and wasn’t something that stood out to draw away from the show. The mics were well hidden, and there was very minimal breaks in the sound.

All in all, this was a touching show that was true to the time period, and the story, from start to finish. I would like the congratulate Ehrhardt, all the actors, crew, and makeup artists for a great performance. And anyone who did not get a chance to experience the show missed out.