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[0:00] Robert Bannon: Are you ready? It's The Roundtable with me, Robert Bannon.

[0:15] Robert Bannon: The Outsiders is from 1983. I'm from 1983. The Outsiders is in every middle school classroom. I feel like I've been in every middle school classroom for the past 15 years.

[0:29] Robert Bannon: Hello, Roundtable family. Robert Bannon here. We are live at the press event for The Outsiders. You've read the book, you've seen the movie, and now the show comes to Broadway.

[0:41] Robert Bannon: A brand new musical. So you get your Ponyboy Curtis on, you get your tickets, you head out. Why don't you get it? I bet you have the book in storage, stolen from 8th grade high school, and I'm sure you have notes in it.

[0:52] Robert Bannon: Or you at least have the CliffsNotes version. And now I'm dating myself. Before Wikipedia, we would... Anyway, we're going to give you all the cast and all the creative team right here. The Outsiders is coming to Broadway and make sure you get online and grab those tickets.

[1:06] Brody Grant: I am Brody Grant. I play Ponyboy Curtis in The Outsiders.

[1:11] Sky Lakota-Lynch: I'm Sky Lakota-Lynch and I play Johnny Cade in The Outsiders.

[1:15] Robert Bannon: Look at you both having fun, like you're being like friends.

[1:18] Brody Grant: This is not boring at all.

[1:21] Sky Lakota-Lynch: No, you don't know the half of it. The clownery that ensues. The true clownery that ensues.

[1:27] Brody Grant: This whole cast is like a massive clown. It's crazy.

[1:31] Sky Lakota-Lynch: It's wild.

[1:32] Robert Bannon: But then you get up, you rumble, you fight. Are you having the time of your life? What is it like? How do you describe it?

[1:39] Sky Lakota-Lynch: I mean, that's it. The time of my life. Because we go on stage and it's all drama and crying and epicness and songs. And then we're off stage and we're like...

[1:53] Robert Bannon: This is your Broadway debut.

[1:54] Sky Lakota-Lynch: Yes, sir.

[2:01] Robert Bannon: So do they come to you? Do they want advice?

[2:03] Sky Lakota-Lynch: Oh yeah, they do.

[2:04] Brody Grant: Yeah, I steer them in the wrong direction all the time.

[2:07] Sky Lakota-Lynch: Every time. Every time. Every single time.

[2:11] Robert Bannon: How do you manage a Broadway show? He's got like 56 TV credits. And then we can go to your Instagram, stream your music.

[2:21] Sky Lakota-Lynch: That's okay.

[2:23] Brody Grant: Check it out.

[2:25] Robert Bannon: How do you manage? How do you take part in this? I'm here, I'm working, and then I have another life, more art, and I can't do it all.

[2:32] Sky Lakota-Lynch: It's really hard, man. But you know what? I feel privileged to get to work. I know there's a lot of people who don't get to have the privileges that we have.

[2:38] Sky Lakota-Lynch: So I just always try to center myself and go, okay, one second at a time, one day at a time, one hour at a time, one minute at a time.

[2:46] Sky Lakota-Lynch: I honestly am really not good at it yet. If anyone wants to help me out...

[2:51] Brody Grant: I'm going to help you.

[2:53] Sky Lakota-Lynch: No, because I get home and I'm still thinking about it. My mind is still racing about the outside world. I'm still going through everything.

[3:01] Sky Lakota-Lynch: I'm really not skilled at that yet, to be honest. I'm still figuring that out. But I have practices, like prayer and meditation.

[3:08] Sky Lakota-Lynch: Sometimes just having a nice sparkling water at the end of the day. Just some small rituals.

[3:16] Brody Grant: Yeah, it's not easy. When you love it so much, it's on your mind and it's on your heart.

[3:25] Robert Bannon: Was the journey to this role quick? Did you audition and they were like, yes? Or were you like, they gave you a run for your money?

[3:34] Sky Lakota-Lynch: It's been a journey for both of us.

[3:37] Brody Grant: Yeah, I've been in the show for six years. It's my first table read and stuff like that.

[3:42] Brody Grant: To see it evolve and see how it shifts and see what they're learning about the source material has been just so awesome.

[3:49] Brody Grant: And also just to have people like Sky come on to the show. He's one of my best friends. It's just so cool.

[3:56] Brody Grant: It's been a pretty epic journey. I auditioned in 2019 and did not get a job.

[4:02] Brody Grant: I was like, dang, I need to be able to do this.

[4:05] Brody Grant: And then it came back around 2018 and I auditioned and I was actually cast or something.

[4:10] Brody Grant: So we did this six-week workshop, which I had a lot of fun with.

[4:14] Brody Grant: And then that went very well. I got a chance to get a job and I'm like, yeah, I'm in.

[4:21] Brody Grant: Down and then we got here. We went to La Jolla, tore my ACL. Six days of rehearsal.

[4:27] Brody Grant: So then it was like the next week after, I was just like, oh my God, I lost this job.

[4:33] Brody Grant: But they were very supportive. The whole team was very supportive.

[4:37] Brody Grant: And the cast was very supportive. They were like, we're going to make this work.

[4:41] Brody Grant: They haven't recovered since then. It's been a journey. It's truly been a journey.

[4:46] Brody Grant: Emotionally and the body's taking a bunch of it. It's an epic show.

[4:51] Brody Grant: It's a physical thing I've never done in my entire life, but it's so rewarding.

[4:57] Robert Bannon: Well, we're really excited. I'm so excited.

[5:00] Robert Bannon: See Thomas Howell and Ralph Macchio. Watch this right here. Come on, guys.

[5:06] Brody Grant: My mom wants to meet you.

[5:09] Brody Grant: She's adamant about it. She loves y'all.

[5:12] Robert Bannon: Congratulations. We're so excited for you all.

[5:15] Robert Bannon: Joshua and Daryl are here.

[5:17] Robert Bannon: We're looking at camera. What's good, y'all?

[5:20] Robert Bannon: You're no stranger to Chicago.

[5:22] Robert Bannon: You're like the old goat to this cast.

[5:25] Joshua Boone: Hey, look, let me say this.

[5:27] Joshua Boone: Old goat.

[5:29] Joshua Boone: Hey, look.

[5:31] Joshua Boone: Let me put that in my bio.

[5:33] Joshua Boone: I think I'm the oldest cast member for the first time in my life.

[5:37] Joshua Boone: I'm serious, bro.

[5:40] Joshua Boone: I think I'm the oldest.

[5:42] Joshua Boone: I've never been in this position.

[5:44] Joshua Boone: I mean, 35,000.

[5:51] Joshua Boone: There's nothing that bothers me.

[5:55] Joshua Boone: It might bother you. Don't bother me. I have a job.

[6:02] Joshua Boone: It's one of those things. It comes with responsibility.

[6:05] Joshua Boone: I think that's why I brought that up.

[6:07] Joshua Boone: To be in this position for the first time.

[6:10] Joshua Boone: I'm not trying to put anything on me or other people.

[6:14] Joshua Boone: But I do feel that this time around in a way that I haven't before.

[6:17] Joshua Boone: And it also speaks to my character.

[6:19] Joshua Boone: My character has more experience than all the other readers and outsiders.

[6:22] Joshua Boone: Which is why it's fitting for me to be in this part.

[6:24] Joshua Boone: Not from the standpoint of work experience, but life experience.

[6:27] Joshua Boone: I've just had more years in a way.

[6:29] Joshua Boone: And hopefully that helped me ground the character.

[6:31] Joshua Boone: And in turn, help us live in the moment in a more fruitful way.

[6:34] Sky Lakota-Lynch: Absolutely.

[6:35] Brody Grant: Absolutely.

[6:37] Sky Lakota-Lynch: I felt your crew was an amazing show.

[6:40] Sky Lakota-Lynch: And if you haven't seen Netflix, if you haven't seen your Jasmine Blue.

[6:43] Brody Grant: Ah, the shout outs!

[6:45] Robert Bannon: Okay.

[6:47] Robert Bannon: And I think if you're making a show about the 80s, you hire this one right here.

[6:50] Robert Bannon: Because you come from Back to the Future, you come to Outsiders. What was the journey like?

[6:54] Joshua Boone: Bouncing. Learning the books.

[6:57] Joshua Boone: After doing it for so long, it just becomes a muscle memory.

[7:02] Joshua Boone: And thank you to all of my teachers who have taught me all of the greatest things.

[7:06] Joshua Boone: To be able to do this very well.

[7:08] Sky Lakota-Lynch: Yeah.

[7:10] Joshua Boone: I'm still getting over the fact that 35 is old.

[7:13] Sky Lakota-Lynch: I don't think 35 is old.

[7:16] Joshua Boone: I think other people consider that.

[7:18] Joshua Boone: I think age is a spirit.

[7:20] Joshua Boone: I'm aware that I'm younger than most of the people in here.

[7:23] Joshua Boone: And also, I can be ancient at times.

[7:25] Joshua Boone: I can feel light and heavy.

[7:27] Joshua Boone: And I think that helps in my art.

[7:29] Joshua Boone: So, cast me in other things.

[7:31] Sky Lakota-Lynch: Yes! Come on!

[7:33] Joshua Boone: Leave those movies on!

[7:35] Joshua Boone: You know what I'm saying?

[7:37] Joshua Boone: I like a mailbox check.

[7:39] Joshua Boone: I like a residual.

[7:41] Robert Bannon: What is it like when you all get together? You must be a good old time.

[7:43] Sky Lakota-Lynch: We have fun.

[7:45] Joshua Boone: If there's anything this cast knows how to do, it's we have fun.

[7:49] Sky Lakota-Lynch: Especially this one.

[7:51] Joshua Boone: Stop, stop.

[7:53] Sky Lakota-Lynch: I mean, yes.

[7:55] Joshua Boone: Yes, to all of it.

[7:57] Sky Lakota-Lynch: Yeah.

[7:59] Sky Lakota-Lynch: Yes, we have a good time.

[8:01] Sky Lakota-Lynch: And we care about the work.

[8:03] Joshua Boone: You know, I used to operate under the philosophy of work hard, play hard.

[8:06] Joshua Boone: Then I realized that because I was playing hard, I was getting a little tired.

[8:10] Joshua Boone: And now, I play less in order to do more through the work.

[8:15] Joshua Boone: And I feel like, to a degree, the cast is all taking that on.

[8:19] Joshua Boone: Like, we have a good time.

[8:21] Joshua Boone: And it's like we're choosing when to have a good time.

[8:23] Joshua Boone: So that we can show up in this work and make some money.

[8:26] Sky Lakota-Lynch: Sometimes, they call us out of each other, too.

[8:27] Joshua Boone: Yeah, we have a good time doing the work, too.

[8:29] Sky Lakota-Lynch: Yeah, I know.

[8:31] Sky Lakota-Lynch: And we're really excited.

[8:33] Joshua Boone: I hope they sell this in Japan.

[8:35] Sky Lakota-Lynch: Yeah, maybe.

[8:37] Joshua Boone: We need a little moment.

[8:39] Sky Lakota-Lynch: Light work.

[8:41] Robert Bannon: Welcome back to Broadway.

[8:43] Joshua Boone: We're ready for it.

[8:45] Robert Bannon: We're ready.

[8:47] Robert Bannon: So, congratulations, Simone.

[8:49] Robert Bannon: We have Adam Rafferty with the book.

[8:51] Robert Bannon: We have Justin Levine's book, music, lyrics, and I don't know, a little bit of everything.

[8:53] Robert Bannon: What about the show? What did you think about the show?

[8:56] Joshua Boone: Did you turn to music?

[8:58] Joshua Boone: Somebody from the rocker group got in touch with me.

[9:00] Joshua Boone: And said, hey, the rocker group, I didn't know who they were.

[9:02] Joshua Boone: And they were like, it sounded like it was a bank or a company that makes jewelry.

[9:06] Joshua Boone: And I thought, I'll meet anybody about any project.

[9:10] Joshua Boone: Because I needed a project.

[9:12] Joshua Boone: I had no idea initially that it was going to be about a musical.

[9:17] Joshua Boone: I heard the outsiders mention it.

[9:19] Joshua Boone: I was a huge fan of the book as a kid.

[9:21] Joshua Boone: It stayed with me all the way up into my adulthood.

[9:24] Joshua Boone: I said, of course I'm going to take this meeting.

[9:26] Joshua Boone: And I came in with kind of a pitch to them about how I saw it.

[9:30] Joshua Boone: And what role it could be in.

[9:32] Joshua Boone: And that was it.

[9:34] Joshua Boone: It was actually, I think, their literary manager at the time reached out to my agent.

[9:38] Joshua Boone: And I went in and had a meeting with Matthew Rego.

[9:40] Joshua Boone: And then I think I had a second meeting.

[9:42] Joshua Boone: And I met the guys who were the music initially before Justin was brought in.

[9:46] Joshua Boone: And loved those guys.

[9:48] Joshua Boone: Loved the music.

[9:50] Joshua Boone: I thought the two or three songs that they had demoed were really beautiful.

[9:52] Joshua Boone: And not like anything I'd ever heard in a musical theater.

[9:55] Joshua Boone: And I was like, I'm in.

[9:57] Joshua Boone: I'm going to see how far this goes.

[9:59] Joshua Boone: And here we are.

[10:01] Joshua Boone: Welcome to Broadway.

[10:03] Joshua Boone: And the sound inside is brilliant.

[10:05] Joshua Boone: It's one of the most brilliant pieces of drama ever.

[10:07] Justin Levine: You're no stranger to an orchestration. I mean, we can hula-hoop and pop our head and dance away. Diamonds are a girl's best friend. What was it like to work with something like that?

[10:15] Justin Levine: This is a very different piece. What was it like to work with the music like this?

[10:19] Justin Levine: Yeah, incredibly different. What feels more like home to me, to be honest.

[10:23] Justin Levine: I mean, you know, I've always been somebody who loves internally popular music.

[10:29] Justin Levine: You know, finding the patterns and the overlaps between different songs and genres of music.

[10:35] Justin Levine: But, you know, music for me has actually always been my hobby.

[10:40] Justin Levine: I never really thought music was going to be what I was going to do for a living.

[10:44] Justin Levine: I don't really know what I thought I was going to do for a living.

[10:47] Justin Levine: That's kind of how it goes.

[10:48] Jeff Cooperman: I'm a house painter. When I first heard about the project, I was first drawn to it because I knew what Adam was doing. We didn't know each other. We weren't a lot of mutual friends, but I really admired his work, both for film and for theater. And then I started listening to Jamestown Friars, and immediately thought, oh my god, I love these guys. I love their sound. I love what they do. And at the time, I was actually trying to do less music directing and do less orchestrating and all that stuff like that, but The Outsiders was one of the most important books to me, and so I was like, I just gotta see what's going on here. And then we all got in a room together, and I just saw the alchemy. I just felt like a kid again, a lot of us.

I felt like we had permission to just let art in our schoolyard punk out. It was really fun. There was a lot of clowning, and within the clowning, there was a lot of seriousness. It was like streams of... We've been through a lot together, and I think we're all very close to it. Biggest clown in the world.

[12:06] Unknown speaker: Biggest.

[12:08] Jeff Cooperman: Well, because musical theater gets a reputation, look, the music needs to be musical. You had a pretty good template for this show, which is the novel, and then you got some music on it. What was it like to turn a novel into a script?

[12:22] Unknown speaker: Well, I'd never done it before, and it was a lot. I was just trying to identify, as we went through it, I was trying to identify what are the key flashpoint moments in this case. And then I think as we developed it more, we realized there was a memory. And I think that gave me a context, because I've done that in my own work. I studied that. I mean, there's the greatest memory played, probably, which was written, is of the last Menagerie. The last Menagerie, Tennessee Williams. I think there's something about memory and being an adolescent, reflecting on his life, after the fact, and how that became the novel that became the start of the novel. Lageria, which became S.E. Hansen's novel. There's something about all the meta theatrics of that that feels really exciting to me, and I feel like once that made sense to all of us, we had some real traction.

[13:15] Unknown speaker: Well, how do you describe the music? How do you describe what the sound of the show is?

[13:21] Jeff Cooperman: The music is bursting with life. It's American music, which in turn makes it world music. It's coming from traditions, from all over. There's a little bit of that umbrella of... There's pandemonium, there's soul, there's rock and roll, there's R&B, all sorts. I just wanted to point out two things. One is that what I love so much about the language in this music is that Adam has created a sort of a vernacular, or a dialect. I remember when I first read a draft of it, that really caught my attention because it's always used in other languages, so that also caught my attention. Also, he mentioned the classic mastering, and interestingly enough, the classic mastering actually came out of James Taylor. So, I hope that'll be on something.

[14:29] Unknown speaker: I think it will. I think it will. Congratulations.

[14:34] Jeff Cooperman: Thank you.

[14:35] Unknown speaker: Welcome.

[14:36] Jeff Cooperman: How are you?

[14:37] Unknown speaker: We're here with Jamestown Revival. Texas in the house.

[14:40] Jeff Cooperman: That's right.

[14:41] Unknown speaker: Are you awake?

[14:42] Jeff Cooperman: No, I'm from New Jersey, which is about as far from Texas as you can get.

[14:46] Unknown speaker: Texas, New Jersey, tomato tomorrow, you know?

[14:50] Jeff Cooperman: But music is music.

[14:52] Unknown speaker: Yes, absolutely.

[14:53] Jeff Cooperman: You guys have albums out, EPs out, you can stream your music, and you write music, and now you find yourself coming to Broadway. How did it happen?

[15:04] Unknown speaker: We got the opportunity to write a song for the book, which is a very, the book has a special place in our hearts. So, we wrote two songs, one of them was absolutely great, and then the other one was Stay Gold, which made its way through eight years of trials and tribulations, and is now one of the last songs of the book.

[15:28] Unknown speaker: What's your job in this piece? Do you write Wolfrite lyrics, Wolfrite music, how does it work?

[15:35] Unknown speaker: We're a band, so we create music together, and we're just lyricists, and it's just like a very collaborative process. We've been friends since we were about ten years old, so I think we just can communicate and play, and it comes so naturally. And then we met Justin, and it was like an extension of that. The three of us really discovered something together.

[15:55] Unknown speaker: And now you've written music for a country superstar, you've toured and played the biggest festivals, but there's a certain energy about seeing your song be done on stage, on a Broadway stage, by these actors. What has it been like to see them come alive?

[16:08] Unknown speaker: I've told all the actors from day one, I want these songs to inhabit you, and I want you to be you, and I want you to have your own songs, so try to sing them like you think we want you to sing, kind of sing them how it's natural for you, how it comes from your heart, and it's been really cool to see the actors get more comfortable after they settle. It's really cool to see the choices they make, and just empower them and give them that liberty to really be artists, and interpreters, and artists. Seeing them do it, it's really a killer. When you see them just giving it their all, it's really cool to see them take care of the music themselves.

[16:54] Unknown speaker: How do you describe the music? What is the music like? Genre? Is it musical theater? Is it country? Is it rock?

[17:01] Unknown speaker: I think it's all of those. It's really hard to pinpoint. I think we write from so many different inspirations. It's under that Americana umbrella. There's roots, there's R&B, there's a hint of country, but I wouldn't call it country.

[17:17] Unknown speaker: It's not country. It's Bill Withers. It's 60s rockabilly. The bibliography runs deep.

[17:33] Unknown speaker: We're ready for your music to be sung by young actors, in their book, in audition rooms, forever. We're ready for it. It's going to be part of the American pop culture and theater industry. Welcome to Broadway. Congratulations. Thank you so much.

[17:48] Unknown speaker: Do you mind introducing yourself?

[17:51] Jeff Cooperman: Absolutely. I'm Jeff Cooperman.

[17:54] Unknown speaker: Hey, I'm Rick Cooperman. I'm one of the choreographers of The Outsiders.

[17:58] Unknown speaker: They are the most talented brothers, dancers. What was your house like growing up? Were you always 5, 6, 7, 8, and all around?

[18:00] Rick Cooperman: It was very chaotic. A lot of broken boxes. It was a great time. It was so cool to grow up learning an art form with your family. It was amazing.

[18:10] Unknown speaker: How do you guys take dance? This show has got an edgy sensibility. It's something that has lived forever. We all grew up with this book and the movie. How do you turn that into Broadway? What style of dance do you choose?

[18:23] Rick Cooperman: The first thing that we tackle is the rockabilly. It's brutal. It's intense. It's chaotic. Once we crack how to do that, not only realistically, hyper-realistically, but we kind of unlock the vocabulary for the rest of the piece. There's no dance for dance's sake. It doesn't feel forced. It's always to the point and unembellished.

[18:47] Unknown speaker: Likewise, to speak for the rumble, there's a lot of brutality, rawness, and violence that is part and parcel of The Outsiders story. In our choreographic research, we also wanted to figure out how to unlock a sense of fun and exuberance and freedom and what it means to be a teenager who has just discovered that new part of their life.

[19:10] Unknown speaker: What is it like to see John Lee on stage now? What is it like to see the ideas you've ripped out and practiced in the audience? What's it like?

[19:18] Rick Cooperman: One of the great joys of this piece is how individual each track is and how much each performer brings to themselves. If we were to make this with another group of people, it would look completely different. But this cast, at this moment, is really spectacular.

[19:34] Unknown speaker: I just have to echo those sentiments. The artists that you're going to see on that stage, come our opening on Broadway, are among the most talented we've ever worked with in our career. And I would say among the most talented in New York City or the country. And we're going to see that energy unbridled on stage. It's going to be amazing.

[19:54] Unknown speaker: I'm excited. I can't wait. It gives me all the nostalgia and all the feels of growing up in the 80s in Jersey and reading the book. I would be remiss to say I have not screened Dick's The Musical. The work in that, the comedic work, Hainton Lane and Megan Mullin, I mean, holy crowd! I had the best time ever. What was it like to work on that project?

[20:14] Unknown speaker: Oh, that was... It was complete chaos and so much fun at the same time.

[20:20] Unknown speaker: Yeah, I mean, you're working with musical theater histories, you know, and iconic performers of the genre. So it was really a blast, really stretched us. And we also had a great time.

[20:32] Unknown speaker: It's silly and it's unadulterated and we had a blast.

[20:36] Unknown speaker: Well, when Dick's The Musical comes out on Broadway, I'm sending a self-tape. I'm ready.

[20:40] Unknown speaker: We'll see.

[20:41] Unknown speaker: I can't even spend more than a day with my brother, so the fact that you're working together is brilliant. Congratulations on everything.

[20:46] Emma Pittman: My name is Emma Hittman and I'm playing Cherry Valance.

[20:50] Unknown speaker: Hi, I'm Tilly Evans-Krueger. I play Ace and I'm one of the associate choreographers for Bright.

[20:56] Unknown speaker: Okay, ready? Here's what we're going to do. We're going to show you how we know this.

[21:00] Unknown speaker: Musical interval from the beginning. This one, we're going to...

[21:04] Unknown speaker: Yes!

[21:05] Unknown speaker: That's all you need.

[21:06] Unknown speaker: I'm T-Heart.

[21:10] Unknown speaker: And you, I'm going to sing, yes.

[21:13] Unknown speaker: Okay!

[21:17] Unknown speaker: Welcome to Broadway again. Welcome back.

[21:20] Unknown speaker: Thank you.

[21:22] Unknown speaker: This movie is iconic. This book is iconic. This work is iconic.

[21:29] Unknown speaker: Iconic.

[21:32] Unknown speaker: Exactly, iconic. That's exactly how we feel.

[21:36] Unknown speaker: It is an applause to us how important this story is, how iconic it is, and it's been an honor, a privilege, a blessing, and like, it feels like a duty to pay homage to the part that is the one that became the movie. It's insane.

[21:52] Unknown speaker: Yeah, and so, we all have the feels. It's very 1980s New Jersey right here.

[21:57] Unknown speaker: I love it!

[21:59] Unknown speaker: So, when you're on your assistant choreographer...

[22:01] Unknown speaker: Associate.

[22:02] Unknown speaker: Associate.

[22:03] Unknown speaker: So, there's two of us. Look it up. Kristen, Harkoni. Kristen Harkoni.

[22:09] Unknown speaker: Shout out!

[22:10] Unknown speaker: Shout out!

[22:11] Unknown speaker: How do you describe the movie? What is it like?

[22:13] Unknown speaker: Ooh, rooted, grounded, earth-shattering. But then for the Socs, it's giving more proper, but still ferocious.

[22:22] Unknown speaker: I like the word ferocious. I think that's an excellent descriptor.

[22:27] Unknown speaker: It's hard for me to watch sometimes because it's so ferocious, and I'm like, the Greasers have to win! But they're killing it.

[22:34] Unknown speaker: I heard this fight scene choreography is something. What is dance call going to be like?

[22:39] Unknown speaker: Oh, you mean like...

[22:41] Unknown speaker: When we do lift call?

[22:42] Unknown speaker: Yeah.

[22:43] Unknown speaker: Probably like an hour long.

[22:45] Unknown speaker: It's giving blood.

[22:47] Unknown speaker: It's giving hour long. We have to make sure everything is safe. All of it's together. We have to breathe. We circle up before every single show.

[22:56] Unknown speaker: And, yeah. It's going to be long.

[22:58] Unknown speaker: But great!

[22:59] Unknown speaker: I'm ready. I'm ready.

[23:01] Unknown speaker: How did you find your version of Cherie?

[23:03] Unknown speaker: She was born and lived in Oxford, Mississippi, and it's where I grew up.

[23:10] Unknown speaker: I'm telling everyone, I did a play adaptation of The Outsiders when I was in the 10th grade, and I played Marsha.

[23:16] Unknown speaker: And I remember learning Cherie and watching Cherie by being her friend at the play and being like, that is me. I can't explain it. I can feel so connected to her.

[23:26] Unknown speaker: And so, I just dropped into that sweet 10th grade girl that wished and longed to be her, and now she is her, and I let her live free.

[23:35] Unknown speaker: So amazing!

[23:37] Unknown speaker: That is so nice!

[23:39] Unknown speaker: It makes me want to cry a little bit, but in a cute way.

[23:42] Unknown speaker: How many schools did The Outsiders in high school?

[23:44] Unknown speaker: Like, yeah.

[23:45] Unknown speaker: So like, that's just, it's crazy to me. Every time I hear this story, I'm like, oh my god.

[23:48] Unknown speaker: It's so cool.

[23:49] Unknown speaker: It was meant to be.

[23:50] Unknown speaker: Yeah, 100%. It makes me, it gives me chills every time.

[23:52] Unknown speaker: It does feel like mine in a crazy way.

[23:56] Unknown speaker: Because it is.

[23:57] Unknown speaker: And now it's going to be shared on Broadway, so you need to get your tickets and come down here.

[24:01] Unknown speaker: Open to the Bernard Jacobs and see all of this hour long dance calls and singing and dancing and fighting.

[24:08] Unknown speaker: Get off my ear! Get off my ear!

[24:10] Jason Schmidt: Congratulations, welcome back to Broadway, y'all.

[24:12] Brent Comer: Thank you so much!

[24:13] Jason Schmidt: I'm Jason Schmidt, and I play Sodapop Curtis.

[24:16] Brent Comer: I'm Brent Comer, and I play Daryl Curtis.

[24:18] Jason Schmidt: And this is the key to Tulsa, Oklahoma.

[24:21] Brent Comer: A personal pledge of ours.

[24:23] Jason Schmidt: Given to us by the mayor of Tulsa, Oklahoma.

[24:25] Brent Comer: What does it open?

[24:26] Jason Schmidt: The city.

[24:27] Brent Comer: The city?

[24:28] Jason Schmidt: A gas station? A library?

[24:30] Brent Comer: What is the city?

[24:31] Jason Schmidt: Where'd you get it?

[24:32] Brent Comer: The Outsiders front door.

[24:34] Jason Schmidt: The mayor of Tulsa, we took a trip there.

[24:37] Brent Comer: He actually did give us this key.

[24:39] Jason Schmidt: Yeah, it was a really special...

[24:40] Brent Comer: Me and Brent personally.

[24:44] Jason Schmidt: Casually under the table.

[24:45] Brent Comer: He said, Jason, come here.

[24:47] Jason Schmidt: I was like, why?

[24:49] Unknown speaker: What is your introduction? Did you read the book? Did you read it in school?

[24:53] Jason Schmidt: My dad actually read this book to me before the time most people that I've read to me.

[25:00] Brent Comer: Any of the books.

[25:02] Jason Schmidt: I read it in the seventh grade.

[25:06] Brent Comer: It was required reading.

[25:07] Jason Schmidt: A lot later than most people were introduced to.

[25:10] Brent Comer: And what stuck out to me was very much the first book that I personally clung to.

[25:16] Jason Schmidt: And I think a lot of young people have that experience as well.

[25:19] Brent Comer: I think Susie Broderick with In Honesty.

[25:22] Jason Schmidt: And also, like she doesn't condescend to young people.

[25:27] Brent Comer: It's a young adult's novel.

[25:28] Jason Schmidt: I think that the truth really speaks to young people.

[25:33] Unknown speaker: And now it's on Broadway, and it's your Broadway debut. Congratulations!

[25:36] Jason Schmidt: Thank you.

[25:38] Brent Comer: We already have the key to Tulsa.

[25:40] Jason Schmidt: I know.

[25:41] Brent Comer: I'm worried about you, because this might be it.

[25:43] Jason Schmidt: I know.

[25:46] Brent Comer: I'm never going to get a key to the city again.

[25:49] Jason Schmidt: Again, probably.

[25:50] Brent Comer: Especially after Hallmark did this.

[25:52] Jason Schmidt: And that's cool.

[25:54] Brent Comer: I'm fine with this being the apex of my trajectory.

[25:58] Jason Schmidt: Honestly, I'd be honored.

[26:00] Brent Comer: I think you're having fun here with this show.

[26:04] Jason Schmidt: A little bit.

[26:06] Brent Comer: A little bit.

[26:08] Jason Schmidt: Sometimes a little too much.

[26:10] Brent Comer: It never gets in the way of work.

[26:12] Jason Schmidt: The beautiful part of this group is that we work hard and we play hard.

[26:16] Brent Comer: I think that's so important, because the show deals with so many dark themes.

[26:21] Jason Schmidt: And if you don't play hard within that, it can get really dark.

[26:25] Brent Comer: And you're walking home, and you're sad.

[26:28] Jason Schmidt: We keep it light.

[26:30] Brent Comer: We cool down every work day to just ground ourselves.

[26:36] Jason Schmidt: Because it's a tough story to tell, really.

[26:38] Brent Comer: It's three hours, and a lot of it's dealing with a lot of really heavy things.

[26:43] Jason Schmidt: But there's also beauty in that.

[26:45] Brent Comer: I think there's a silver lining there.

[26:47] Unknown speaker: Yes. Well, I've never felt older.

[26:49] Unknown speaker: A.

[26:51] Unknown speaker: B.

[26:53] Unknown speaker: Thank you.

[26:55] Unknown speaker: You want a job?

[26:57] Unknown speaker: I'm ready.

[26:59] Unknown speaker: Who would you want to play?

[27:01] Unknown speaker: That's a sparse.

[27:05] Unknown speaker: I don't want to be in No Rumble, though.

[27:07] Unknown speaker: I don't want to do that choreography.

[27:09] Unknown speaker: You can.

[27:11] Unknown speaker: I told your choreographers that I'm more like this, the musical.

[27:13] Unknown speaker: That's more my thing.

[27:15] Unknown speaker: Oh, okay.

[27:17] Unknown speaker: But I have to go on here in the blue eyes.

[27:19] Unknown speaker: You do?

[27:21] Unknown speaker: You could be one of the others.

[27:23] Unknown speaker: Where's Miss T-More?

[27:25] Unknown speaker: I'm ready to do my self-tape right now.

[27:27] Unknown speaker: 5, 6, 7, 8.

[27:29] Unknown speaker: I'll give you a beautiful intervention.

[27:33] Unknown speaker: Because my work means a lot.

[27:37] Unknown speaker: You're here.

[27:39] Unknown speaker: Yeah, they listen to us.

[27:41] Unknown speaker: Well, I can't wait for Street Night.

[27:43] Unknown speaker: I can't wait for people to see this.

[27:45] Unknown speaker: Just keep correcting those kinks.

[27:47] Unknown speaker: Lexington, Kentucky is next.

[27:49] Unknown speaker: Greenville, Alabama.

[27:51] Unknown speaker: We're coming for you.

[27:53] Unknown speaker: New York is next.

[27:55] Dan Barry: Hey, I'm Dan Barry.

[27:57] Kevin William Paul: I play Paul Holden.

[27:59] Dan Barry: Hi there, I'm Kevin William Paul.

[28:01] Dan Barry: And I play Bob Sheldon.

[28:03] Unknown speaker: Congratulations.

[28:05] Unknown speaker: Welcome to Broadway.

[28:07] Unknown speaker: Do you have any history lessons?

[28:09] Unknown speaker: Do you remember reading this book?

[28:11] Kevin William Paul: Yeah, I mean, the book was handed in front of us.

[28:13] Kevin William Paul: I think in like 7th or 8th grade.

[28:15] Kevin William Paul: It was a tube seal, a side reading, so we had to do it.

[28:19] Kevin William Paul: But it was an easy story to read, which I think is why it's really important for that youth too, because it was written by a person who came to Kentucky when he was 16 years old.

[28:27] Kevin William Paul: So it speaks to us, it's easy to read, and it tells a really impactful story.

[28:33] Kevin William Paul: I remember always being confused on my English tests between Daryl and Dally.

[28:39] Kevin William Paul: So I definitely read it.

[28:41] Kevin William Paul: But that's the highlight of that.

[28:43] Kevin William Paul: It was in Pat Stewart's English class at my school.

[28:47] Kevin William Paul: I was actually new that year at school.

[28:49] Kevin William Paul: I just switched 8th grade.

[28:53] Kevin William Paul: And I remember the overall kind of mystery of it to me, and especially watching the movie.

[28:57] Kevin William Paul: You know, you turn the lights down in English class, you get an hour and a half, you finish it the next day.

[29:05] Kevin William Paul: There was something so intriguing and dark about it.

[29:09] Kevin William Paul: I didn't really know what to make of it, honestly.

[29:13] Kevin William Paul: It kind of just was a kind of mystery to me, and it was exciting.

[29:17] Kevin William Paul: I loved the way it was directed, and when I read the book, I felt like I was kind of reading almost a diary, because of what was going on at my old school.

[29:25] Kevin William Paul: But it's written decades before, so it truly is timeless.

[29:31] Unknown speaker: It is timeless.

[29:33] Unknown speaker: People don't even know about Cliff Notes no more. What was it like when you came here and you bring this show to premiere here on Broadway? What is the story? Why do we need this story today? Why is it so relevant?

[29:51] Kevin William Paul: I think it tells a really great story about brotherhood and family, which I think we always need, especially in times of trouble.

[29:59] Kevin William Paul: I think if you don't separate the light from the dark, I think we embrace both sides of this, and it's telling a true story.

[30:09] Dan Barry: I can't agree more. Dan and I are both on the side of this story. We have to carry a good amount of that darkness, and I think that Stay Gold and everything, literally, that goes along with the messages in the book and kind of what it is for people to step into this world, see themselves in all of this, and leave perhaps learning something, perhaps feeling uplifted, inspired to change something in their actions. Call someone they haven't spoken to in a while and have the courage to lead with love, to lead with belief, and especially to create. I think that when it finishes, it's not giving anything away, but the act of creation, what we're literally doing, we're creating every night in front of you, and so to end in that way, hopefully be fully feeling a little bit of that magic.

[31:11] Unknown speaker: Oh my goodness! I need to write homework cards! These are two Broadway debuts, so kudos to all of those years, all of the school days, all of the music lessons, all of the books and auditions, the sound tapes, and all of it! Congratulations! Welcome to Broadway!

[31:27] Unknown speaker: I just want to give you some facts about this property. Do you know that S.E. Hinton is a woman? Her name is Susie. Do you know that she had 20 million copies of the book? Half a million copies of the book are sold a year to this day. It is 57 years old. The movie came out 16 years later. Francis Ford Coppola, who you may have heard of, he's more than just related to Nicolas Cage. He, who's not in my movie. And this property still exists every year. 20 million plus copies. So now take that, add this team together, and you've got a Broadway debut. It's opening at the Bernard Jacobs Theatre. Hold on, I'm being professional. It's not easy to look at. It's opening March 16th, where you start. And the show opens April 11th at the Bernard Jacobs Theatre.