If your holiday week feels overscheduled until December 25 and then suddenly empty, Broadway Sacramento just solved that problem. The Outsiders — winner of four 2024 Tony Awards — opens December 29 at SAFE Credit Union Performing Arts Center and runs through January 10. It’s a rare chance to catch a recent Broadway hit during the stretch of the year when Sacramento’s entertainment calendar usually thins out.
What It Is
S.E. Hinton wrote The Outsiders in 1967 when she was 16 years old, and her novel about class conflict and loyalty in Tulsa, Oklahoma has been assigned reading in Sacramento-area middle schools for decades. The story follows Ponyboy Curtis and his tight-knit group of working-class “greasers” as they collide with the wealthier “Socs” in a series of confrontations that escalate quickly. What the novel does on the page — put readers inside a teenager’s head as everything falls apart — this production does physically, through movement, choreography, and a staging that is as much dance and fight as it is spoken word.
The Broadway run won four Tony Awards in 2024. Director Danya Taymor’s work earned her recognition for a staging that The New York Times called “refreshing, gritty, and endlessly effective,” while Time Out New York described it as “more pulse-pounding than anything else on Broadway.” Those aren’t pull quotes from a marketing campaign — they reflect a production that surprised reviewers who expected something nostalgic and delivered something urgent instead.
For Sacramento families who read the novel in school, watching it staged is a genuinely different experience. For anyone who hasn’t read Hinton’s book, the show doesn’t require it. The story is self-contained and the production is built to be immediate.
The Performance Schedule
The show runs from December 29 through January 10 at SAFE Credit Union Performing Arts Center, located at 1301 L Street in downtown Sacramento. Evening performances begin at 7:30 pm. Matinees run at 1:30 pm.
Two things worth noting for holiday planning: the December 31 matinee (1:30 pm, New Year’s Eve) is an Open Captioned Performance, making it accessible for Deaf and hard-of-hearing audience members. The January 8 evening show is an Audio Described Performance. Both are listed on the Broadway Sacramento website alongside the rest of the run.
The run time is two hours and thirty minutes, including a 20-minute intermission. Plan dinner before or after accordingly — downtown Sacramento has plenty of options within walking distance of 1301 L Street.
The Details
- Show: The Outsiders, winner of four 2024 Tony Awards
- Venue: SAFE Credit Union Performing Arts Center, 1301 L Street, Sacramento, CA 95814
- Dates: December 29, 2026 – January 10, 2027
- Evening performances: 7:30 pm (Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays, most Saturdays)
- Matinee performances: 1:30 pm (most Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays)
- New Year’s Eve (Dec 31): 1:30 pm matinee — Open Captioned Performance
- New Year’s Day (Jan 1): 7:30 pm evening show
- Audio Described Performance: January 8 at 7:30 pm
- Run time: 2 hours 30 minutes, including a 20-minute intermission
- Tickets: Available at broadwaysacramento.com or the SAFE Credit Union Performing Arts Center box office
Bottom Line
The Outsiders is a strong choice for anyone looking for a real evening out over the holidays. It plays over New Year’s week, which means it’s also one of the more practical gift options for the hard-to-shop-for person on your list — the run extends into January, so post-Christmas buyers aren’t racing a deadline. The source material is familiar to most Sacramento residents, and Taymor’s production gives it the kind of staging that makes people talk about a show for weeks afterward.
Buy tickets directly through Broadway Sacramento’s website or at the SAFE Credit Union Performing Arts Center box office at 1301 L Street. Avoid third-party resellers — Broadway Sacramento specifically warns that they cannot seat, replace, or refund for fraudulent tickets purchased elsewhere.
Looking for more holiday entertainment this season? See our roundup of the best Sacramento Christmas events in 2026, our guide to Sacramento New Year’s Eve parties and fireworks, and our earlier preview of Water for Elephants at Broadway Sacramento, the other Broadway On Tour production this season.
