Angelina Jolie has joined the producing team of the new musical “The Outsiders,” which is eyeing a Broadway run. Based on the book of the same name by S.E. Hinton and the movie directed by Francis Ford Coppola, the “Outsiders” musical premiered in February at La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego.
Jolie will produce along with the Araca Group, American Zoetrope, Olympus Theatricals and Sue Gilad & Larry Rogowsky. Specific plans for a Broadway engagement have not been announced.
“I studied at the Lee Strasberg Institute where I realized my first love, as a performer, was the theater. I had not found a way back until now,” Jolie said in a statement. “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.”
“We are so thrilled Angelina has joined us as a lead producer on this journey to bring ‘The Outsiders’ to Broadway,” said Araca Group’s Matthew Rego. “Her remarkable career as a storyteller makes her a perfect partner for this project.”
Jolie is an Oscar-winning and Emmy-nominated actor as well as a film producer and director. She is well-known for her turns in movies such as “Girl, Interrupted” (for which she won the Oscar), “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider,” “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” and “Changeling.” She has directed films such as “A Place in Time” and served as director and producer on “Unbroken” and “By the Sea.”
Set in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1967, “The Outsiders” follows the young men Ponyboy Curtis and Johnny Cade and their chosen family of “outsiders,” who are in a fight for survival and a quest for purpose in a world that wasn’t built for them.
The musical features a book by Adam Rapp with Justin Levine, music and lyrics by Jamestown Revival (Jonathan Clay and Zach Chance) and Levine. Music supervision, arrangements and orchestrations are also by Levine. Directed by Danya Taymor, the musical includes choreography by Rick Kuperman and Jeff Kuperman.
