Oscar winner Angelina Jolie (Girl, Interrupted) will be a lead producer of the Broadway-aimed new musical The Outsiders, which had its world premiere at La Jolla Playhouse earlier this year.
Based on the novel by S.E. Hinton and Francis Ford Coppola’s motion picture of the same name, the musical adaptation features a book by Adam Rapp with Justin Levine and music and lyrics by Jamestown Revival (Jonathan Clay and Zach Chance) and Levine.
Jolie, who joins a producing team that also includes The Araca Group, American Zoetrope, Olympus Theatricals, and Sue Gilad and Larry Rogowsky, says, "I feel very fortunate to be a part of this special production. I studied at the Lee Strasberg Institute where I realized my first love, as a performer, was the theatre. I had not found a way back until now. I hope to be able to contribute while continuing to learn from this amazing team, who I have been working with since my daughter brought me to see the show at La Jolla Playhouse. I can’t begin to express how excited I am for this musical to make its Broadway debut and look forward to sharing this new adaptation of The Outsiders with the world.”
The Araca Group’s Matthew Rego adds, “We are so thrilled Angelina has joined us as a lead producer on this journey to bring The Outsiders to Broadway. Her remarkable career as a storyteller makes her a perfect partner for this project. We are so grateful for the invaluable insight, experience, and commitment that Angelina brings to the development of this new musical.”
The news is part of a growing trend on Broadway, placing celebrity power on producing teams as well as cast lists. In the last few seasons, Broadway has seen names like RuPaul, Don Cheadle, Mindy Kaling, Alan Cumming, and Ilana Glazer producing shows, to name but a few. Real Housewives star Kandi Burruss and husband Todd Tucker recently added their names to the roster of producers working on the Broadway-bound touring revival of The Wiz, and LaChanze, Taraji P. Henson, and more recently joined the producing team for Manhattan Theatre Club's Jaja's African Hair Braiding. Also, Tony and Emmy winner Billy Porter joined the producing team of the regional world premiere of the new Billy Strayhorn musical, Something to Live For, earlier this week.
The Outsiders also has music supervision, arrangements, and orchestrations by Levine, choreography by Rick Kuperman and Jeff Kuperman, and direction by Danya Taymor.
The Outsiders is set in 1967 Tulsa, Oklahoma, as Ponyboy Curtis, Johnny Cade, and their chosen family of "outsiders" are in a fight for survival and a quest for purpose in a world that may never accept them. Read reviews for the La Jolla run by clicking here.
Broadway plans for the new musical will be announced at a later date.
The La Jolla cast was led by Brody Grant as Ponyboy, Sky Lakota-Lynch as Johnny, Daniel Marconi as Randy, Kevin William Paul as Bob, Brent Comer as Paul, Ryan Vasquez as Darrel, Da'Von T. Moody as Dallas, Jason Schmidt as Sodapop, Trevor McGhie as Two-Bit, Piper Patterson as Cherry, and Kiki Lemieux as Marcia. No Broadway casting has been announced.
Visit OutsidersMusical.com.
