'Outsiders,' 'Ms. Holmes and Ms. Watson' push downs and ups of theater emotions

Two new shows continuing on Playhouse Square this week may be close in physical proximity but couldn't be more diverse in style, scope and emotion. "The Outsiders" As "West Side Story" taught Broadway audiences almost 70 years ago, not everything with songs evokes sheer laughter and joy. Today's Tony Award-winning Broadway hit, "The Outsiders," takes another longing look at unfortunate teens struggling to escape a world of tragedy, even if that entire world is enveloped in 1967 Tulsa, Oklahoma. Adapted from the compelling tragic novel by a 15-year-old Susan Eloise Hinton (S. E. Hinton), turned into a milestone career-launching 1983 film by Francis Ford Coppola, the 2024 Broadway version of "The Outsiders" manages to capture the adolescent innocence amid the unrelenting tragedy of another young teen discovering the power of the written word. He's nicknamed Ponyboy Curtis, affectionately portrayed and powerfully sung by Nolan White. He opens the show sitting innocently at the corner of the stage penning the first few words of what may be an autobiographical masterpiece -- "When I stepped out into the bright sunlight from the darkness of the movie house, I had only two things on my mind: Paul Newman and a ride home." This is just before the show breaks into the opening number "Tulsa '67," which transforms into the first of many interpretive, emotionally focussed production numbers. From there, the trajectory of the musical -- with a thrifty but powerful book/script by Justin Levine (who also co-wrote the soulfully rich pop-country-flavored score along with Jonathan Clay and Zach Chance) -- goes from dour to lugubrious. Ponyboy joins his cronies, who call themselves the "Greasers" (still a thing in 1967 Oklahoma, a decade after the timeline of much more jovial "Grease"), and they engage in seemingly eternal battles with the upper-middle class "Socs" (short for "Socials"), who nevertheless share the same high school. The tragic tone remains unrelenting as Ponyboy runs off with his pal Johnny Cade, heartfully mastered by Bonale Fambrini, after Cade stabs one of the more villainous Socs in a street brawl. A few bits of relief from the unrelenting tragedy emerges from a brief semi-romantic encounter with the popular Soc girlfriend (fetchingly played by Emma Hearn), and songs that reference Charles Dickens' "Great Expectations" and poet Robert Frost, best realized in the ironic song "Stay Gold," inspired by the poem "Nothing Gold Can Stay." Even what should be a traditional uplifting ending is stylistically clouded with a question mark of transcending happiness. That should beckon a question mark from the audience as to whether the hefty admission and slight musical joy is worth it. Did Cleveland producers for the production -- Mathew and Michael Rego and Hank Unger -- really consider audiences for the national tour in mind? Apparently they did. "The Outsiders" is indeed worth it, thanks to the immeasurable talents of director Danya Taymor (niece to "Lion King" director and Oberlin grad Julie Taymor), plus the continuously narrative choreography of Rick and Jeff Kuperman and a show-stopping scenic design by Tatiana Kahvegian, culminating in a thunderstorm fight scene and an abandoned church set ablaze, brilliantly conceived by special effects designers Jeremy Chernick and Lillis Meeh. The audience -- which opening night included many school kids devoted to the book -- may not stroll blithely out of the Connor Palace Theater humming hit tunes, but they should exit feeling satisfyingly somber and emotionally fulfilled. "Ms. Holmes & Ms. Watson -- Apt. 2B" At the nearby Hanna Theater, audiences can go from lugubrious to ludicrous in Great Lakes Theater's gender-bending updated take on the master sleuth Sherlock Holmes and his sidekick Dr. Watson. Even the subtitle of "Ms. Holmes & and Ms. Watson -- Apt. 2B" admits, "Cheerfully Desecrating the Stories of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle." To be sure. In this loose send-up by Kate Hamill -- responsible for taking equal dramatic liberties with her adaptation of Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice" two years ago at Cleveland Play House -- Sherlock Holmes becomes Shirley Holmes, who goes by Sherlock anyway. Watson, rather gruffly played by Yadira Correa, seems to be having an early midlife crisis who denies ever being a doctor (one of all too many plot diversions). But Hamill pushes more than the gender envelope; Holmes' endearing eccentricities have been magnified into something along the lines of personality disorders, and she drags Watson down with her. There's no confusing this comedy with the more sober 2016 play "Miss Holmes," by Christopher M. Walsh, set decidedly in 19th-century London (performed in 2021 at the Ohio Shakespeare Festival). For the Great Lakes production, Holmes is embodied by dependably versatile company regular Jodi Dominick with equal abandon. But without a little more honing by director Maggie Kettering, the character becomes a bit grating rather than ingratiating. The two remaining members of the cast -- earnestly playing a variety of Baker Street regulars, specialty characters and, of course, Professor Moriarty (Rex Young and Emjoy Gavino) -- are admirable. But it would seem especially hard to establish any dramatic or comedic footing when the play strews out bits of other Sherlock Holmes tales along with winking references to updated 2021 tech-centric London in seeming abandon. There doesn't appear to be a discernable dramatic arch, dissuading audiences from becoming more engaged with the often scatological proceedings, funny as some of them may be. But the Great Lakes production, stylishly designed by Jeff Herrmann, with busy contemporary costumes by Yvonne Miranda, is at least attractive to behold -- as long as the chaos of everything else can subside for a moment or two. How to make everything seem a bit less interruptive is the real Holmesian mystery to solve. Contact Howard Gollop at howieeg@gmail.com. IF YOU GO WHAT: "The Outsiders" WHEN: Through May 17 (times vary) WHERE: Connor Palace, 1615 Euclid Ave., Playhouse Square TICKETS: $106.80 to $214INFO: (216) 241-6000 or playhousesquare.org WHAT: "Ms. Holmes & Ms. Watson -- Apt. 2B" / Great Lakes TheaterWHEN: Through May 10 (times vary)WHERE: Hanna Theatre, 2067 W. 14th Street, Playhouse Square, ClevelandTICKETS: $18 to $106.80INFO: (216) 241-6000 or ClevelandPlayhouse.com