Three and a half years ago, "The Outsiders" musical premiered right here in San Diego, at the La Jolla Playhouse.
It's based on the 1967 novel by S.E. Hinton, which was adapted into a movie in 1983 by Francis Ford Coppola. For the stage adaptation, Adam Rapp wrote the book, and the music was cowritten by Justin Levine and the Americana band Jamestown Revival.
The story follows teenager Ponyboy Curtis and his best friend Johnny Cade in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in the late 1960s. It focuses on two rival gangs, the "Greasers" and the "Socs."
"I'm not sure how you spell it, but it's the abbreviation for the Socials, the jet set, the West-side rich kids. It's like the term "greaser," which is used to class all us boys on the East side," Ponyboy narrates in the opening chapter of Hinton's book.
I spoke to director Danya Taymor at the time about the production. She said that the characters are just trying to get by.
"It's a story about class warfare, it's a story about chosen family and belonging, and it's also a story about masculinity and all its forms, and its tenderness and its aggression and rage, and its love. And at its heart, I think it is about friendship and belonging," Taymor said.
The musical was a huge success. It was moving, provocative and beloved by audiences (I, for one, had the song "Great Expectations" stuck in my head for months). Off it went to Broadway, where it collected four Tony Awards — including Best Musical.
And this week, the touring Broadway production finally comes back to San Diego.
The Finest podcast profiled Deb Hatch, longtime props supervisor at the La Jolla Playhouse, who retired earlier this year.
She told me that "The Outsiders" required some serious creative problem-solving.
There's rain, for one thing, and much of the story revolves around physical fight scenes. Plus, there's a lot of dancing on top of cars.
"Mostly I remember getting those cars. I found the Ford Falcon on Facebook Marketplace. It was this guy out in La Mesa somewhere, and I said, 'Hey, I wanna buy your Ford Falcon.' It was $2,000 or something. He goes, 'You know, it doesn't have a motor.' And I'm like, 'Perfect,' because we have to take them out anyway. So we sent a flatbed truck over there," Hatch recalled.
The Ford Falcon was a popular sedan iconic to the 1960s, manufactured from 1959 to 1970. But getting the car was just the beginning.
"And then, of course, the games begin because the whole thing had to be reinforced. 'Cause I don't know if you've ever jumped on the hood of a car, but it doesn't go well. So all of that is reinforced, with tubing and steel and everything. So, yeah, that was fun," she said.
Regardless of the actual vehicle used on the Broadway tour, chances are a props supervisor somewhere had to do some pretty obscure shopping.
'The Outsiders'
Nov. 3-8 | San Diego Civic Theatre, 1100 Third Ave., downtown | $57.75 | MORE INFO
