In denim and leather and newly acquired vintage snakeskin boots, the cast and creative team bringing “The Outsiders” to Broadway went on a trip across Tulsa, Okla., last month — a granular, history-flecked tour of the place where, about 60 years earlier, S.E.
Hinton’s coming-of-age story was written and set.
Hinton, 75 and still a beloved local, was a star attraction; the visit was a way of mapping out how the new musical version might fit into, or even build on, the durable legacy of “The Outsiders.”Bouncing along together in a van, singing bits of the show’s score, the company members let out a collective gasp as they caught sight of the enormous Admiral Twin Drive-In.
Hinton watched double features there as a kid, and it figured prominently in her 1967 novel.
The theater, whose midcentury-style signage remains, also served as a location for Francis Ford Coppola’s 1983 movie adaptation, whose stars included Tom Cruise, Rob Lowe and Patrick Swayze.
Persons:
Hinton’s, Hinton, Francis Ford Coppola’s, Tom Cruise, Rob Lowe, Patrick Swayze
Organizations:
Broadway
Locations:
Tulsa, Okla, Hinton