Video: Go Inside Rehearsals with the Cast of THE OUTSIDERS

Hello, I'm Richard Ridge for Broadway World, The Outsiders, the new musical

which is adapted from S.E. Hinton's Seminole Book and Francis Ford Coppola's iconic film

will open on Broadway at the Jacobs Theater on April 11th, and we drop by the rehearsal

to meet the company. Today is an amazing day, getting to speak on the show, getting to have our company

many of whom are making their Broadway debuts, get introduced into the world. We're also in week three rehearsals, so I'm also so excited about what we're building in the room

and how the show is coming along. I mean, I joke that I try to fugue myself back

into my 14-year-old state and look through the piece with 14-year-old eyes

while I'm seeing it, or 15. And that's amazing to get to live in that space

and get to remember how much we get changed when we're that age, how much things matter and mark us and shape us

So it's a privilege. I mean, this book is amazing and getting to be with Susie Hinton

and talk to her about it. It's an honor and a privilege, It's really fun

How excited are you both to be bringing the outsiders, the musical, to Broadway

I'll start with you, sir. This is your first musical, right? Yeah, it's my first musical

I can't believe I wrote a musical. If you would have told me when I was 22 years old that I was going to be part of a musical that's going to Broadway

I would have asked you to stay in my house for a few days, I think

You know, it's been a nine and a half year project. We have had a lot of ups and downs

I think the show is in the best shape it's ever been in. And I think every moment is accounted for now and I so excited for people to experience it For you to be wearing a few different hats on this show what it means to you I so tired I not sure I can effectively answer the question

No, it's so exciting. I think what I'm really trying to do

I was thinking about this last night actually, that I really want to center myself as much as I possibly can

and take a lot of mental pictures and be as present as I can because every day we come in

in and he's got amazing ideas. Donia's got amazing ideas. James Town

I just feel like we're always mixing it up. It always feels like we're still in the sandbox

even though there's set pieces and stuff now, and the rubber is indeed meeting the road

or at least the cork. But I feel like we just, I'm just excited to go to work

It's rare. It's rare that I feel that way, where every day I'm on the train

and actually looking forward to getting into the room. and that's mostly just because I'm so tired all the time

But here it really, Adam also brings lots of donuts, which is great

That will do it. That will definitely do it. Yeah, we're big fans

I think what was cool is we've been writing songs since we were 15. And we're 17 now, so it's two years of writing

We move really quick. We move fast. No, we wrote, we've been writing together since we were kids

and we took what our instincts were as songwriters, and we got to work with some incredible teammates

one of which being Justin, who we brought in as a co-writer

When we met him it was just kind of like musical just soulmate connection And so he really helped us take what we do and apply it to a Broadway format

The reasons you sing are different in a musical a lot of times than on an album per se

Yeah, Justin's our musical mentor. Yeah. Well, working with your family, with your brother on a show about family, about brotherhood is really a once-in-a-lifetime a gift

So it's been really great to work with Rick and access some of our childhood in this

Absolutely. And I'll just say the collaboration with the creative team overall has been extraordinary

I mean, I studied Adam Rav's plays in college. And to be at his home with the entire creative team

workshopping the story and the structure is truly a dream come true

So it's been a blast. I can't believe it, actually. Yeah, yeah, yeah

It'll be my first time getting to be a part of the community. and it was such a Broadway was such a thing that I held on to very, very dearly early on

And so it's just like I found a lot of my identity in it and my love for art in general through Broadway

And so, like, yeah, I feel really honored, you know, to get to be a part of the community

And it's literally a dream come true. The first time you read the book

14 years old, I read it. And it was the first book ever finished. I was a kid with dyslexia

So I just never was into reading. And so I read that book and it just changed my life

And then I saw the movie and I kept reading the book and I got obsessed with it. And then when the outsiders came around in like 2018

I was like, I gotta be in the show somehow, some way. I thought it was a two bit Turns out I a Johnny Cage So Well you two are about to make your Broadway debuts How excited are you I stoked I very excited Yeah Yeah it absolutely thrilling

You know, I'm just so happy to be here. And so fresh out of college, too. Just everyone is so wonderful

And I, yeah, I'm so happy to be here. Yeah. So excited. I mean, excited, elated, buzzing is the word that I would use

The energy is just electrifying. Grease. See what I did there? That's how I feel

Yes. Incredible. It's going to be incredible. This is the musical of my dreams

And I'm here standing presently a part of it. And that feels amazing

It's special that you have a Broadway debut and also you have a Broadway debut with something that that's really meant so much to you for everyone in this cast

And also, a lot of us, we're not making our Broadway debuts alone

There's a lot of Broadway firsts, not just in the cast, but on the creative team

and we're all bringing a lot of ourselves to it. And it really makes the room very special

It means the world. This music is game-changing. And I don't think anybody is going to be able to compare this score

And they're going to want to keep listening to it over and over and over again. Yeah, I haven't done a musical in quite some time

And Adam Raps words, you know, initially. This is away from the music

First brought me in. But then when I first heard the music, I was like, oh, it's something else going on

with this show. You know, you have, you have that book, that you have the lyrics that James Time Revival and Justin Levine came up with, and then you have Danya's vision

And it's like, I want to be a part of that. Whatever y'all, whatever they're cooking up, count me in, you know