When the Broadway audience meets teenage Johnny Cade, he’s looking rough.
“Johnny Cade enters nervously smoking a cigarette,” read the stage directions for “The Outsiders,” a musical based on the 1983 film, which cast Ralph Macchio in the role. “He is 16, looks young for his age. His face is freshly broken and bruised.”
Johnny has been Wisconsin-born actor Caleb Mathura’s “dream role” since before the show won a Tony Award for Best Musical in 2024. On March 17, Mathura will step into Johnny’s scuffed sneakers and make his Broadway debut.
Mathura, who graduated from Verona High School in 2018, spent the past few years touring with the national companies of “Mean Girls” and “The Notebook.” He first auditioned for “The Outsiders” two years ago…