海角大神

S.E. Hinton鈥檚 classic novel 鈥淭he Outsiders鈥� has been read by generations of American teens. The nearly 60-year-old story was turned into an iconic 1983 movie starring Matt Dillon, Patrick Swayze, and Ralph Macchio. Its narrative chops and cultural clout are undisputed. What might be more surprising is that its newest incarnation is a Broadway musical, which opened last Thursday.

With previews all but selling out, part of the draw may be its star-studded creative and producing team, featuring award-winning playwright Adam Rapp, Tony Award winner Justin Levine, and Oscar winner Angelina Jolie.

But perhaps more important is the story鈥檚 relevance at a moment when people seem divided on everything.听The听book has sold 15 million copies worldwide, and critics often credit it with inventing the young adult genre. Set in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in the late 1960s, 鈥淭he Outsiders鈥� follows Ponyboy Curtis (Brody Grant), an orphan eking out a life alongside his older brothers. It tracks the constant conflict between two factions 鈥� the Greasers and the Socs 鈥� and succeeds in making the audience sympathize with both. It鈥檚 a hopeful reminder that those differences that seem so intractable might not be impossible to overcome after all.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a good tale for right now,鈥� says audience member Sue Miller after the March 30 preview, which garnered a standing ovation. 鈥淭here are so many factions in our world right now, and I think we just really need to come together and try to get along.鈥�

Longtime fans of the story wondering about the prospect of Ponyboy and Sodapop bursting into song are definitely not alone. Mr. Rapp, who describes himself as 鈥渘ot a musical theater person 鈥� in fact, I openly dislike many musicals,鈥� says he was surprised when he was asked to write the book for the show.听鈥淲hen I go see musicals, it鈥檚 like, why are they singing?鈥�

His interview with the Monitor staff writer Cameron Pugh has been edited for length and clarity.听

What made you want to adapt 鈥淭he Outsiders鈥� into a musical? What drew you to the story?

It was kind of one of the early books that turned me into a reader. I would become a much more serious reader later. But I never forgot it.

What role do you think music plays in the story? Because I admit, when I saw that there was an adaptation, I was really excited. But I was surprised that it was a musical.

I think the main thing that I thought about was, these are wonderfully inarticulate kids. And I mean inarticulate in the way that, like, how kids today are sophisticated and how they emotionally process things. They鈥檙e sophisticated in how they discuss gender identity and sexuality and听 their feelings. These kids from this 1967 kind of era don鈥檛 have that ability. So what made sense to me was to honor that. But when they sang, it鈥檚 when they couldn鈥檛 articulate something. And that the singing part of it became a new voice, or a new form of expression, because they had no other recourse. And so the songwriters and I ... we always kept that as our North Star. Like, why? Why is he having to sing this? Why can鈥檛 he say it?听

I thought a lot about the diversity of the cast. Particularly in that scene between Darry (Brent Comer) and Dally (Josh Boone) where they鈥檙e arguing. And Dally is sort of talking about how he thinks Darry thinks lesser of him. There鈥檚 sort of two ways to read that scene. And one of them is clearly racial. I was wondering if that鈥檚 something you were intentionally trying to bring into the story.

We didn鈥檛 want to author something that could only be done by a person with a certain skin type or a creed. ... We wanted it to be, 鈥渁nyone can play the role.鈥� So ... we鈥檙e not using the word 鈥淏lack鈥� or 鈥淎frican American鈥� or anything like that. We鈥檙e using, 鈥淚 see the way you look at me.鈥� It could be like he鈥檚 looking at him because he鈥檚 lower, less than him. He鈥檚 poorer than he is. You know, we try to be somewhat generous with that so that if the play gets done in high schools and colleges and cities around the world, that anybody 鈥� white, Black, Asian听鈥� anybody could play the part. We were very sensitive to that.听

But also it was important to Josh [Boone], while we鈥檙e in the moment, to like have him acknowledge the fact that he is a Black man playing that role with a white Darry and white Sodapop and a white Ponyboy. And that鈥檚 the truth. Like, we can鈥檛 deny that. And even, especially in Tulsa, where there鈥檚 so much history of racial violence and so much history of disruptions and those classes, of the haves and the have-nots. ... I feel like if we didn鈥檛 at least acknowledge it, and open it up a little bit, we鈥檇 kind of be lying, you know? And I鈥檓 glad that Josh, our actor, actually yearned for it.

I felt like a lot of the characters were explored almost more deeply than they were in the novel. In the novel, we鈥檙e getting Ponyboy鈥檚 perspective. We鈥檙e getting, 鈥淭his is what I think Darry thinks.鈥� And then in the show, we鈥檙e actually getting to see Darry sing about how he feels. And I鈥檓 just curious how you went about crafting those scenes and those character moments.听听

I felt really, really strongly that it鈥檚 an ensemble piece. I felt really strongly that Dally鈥檚 character was someone. ... And also the relationship between those three brothers, which is sort of the heartbeat of the story in some ways. All those people, to me, deserved real estate, narrative real estate, and deserved to be heard ... with songs and with good book scenes and good stuff to say.

I was also really struck by how much of the music in particular felt really joyful. I couldn鈥檛 help but smile at some parts of it, even though the story itself has a lot of darkness and a lot of tragedy.听

Well, we knew how much sadness there is in the story. And as you said, sadness and tragedy. ...听 [The big three-minute rumble scene] is one of the most thrilling sequences I鈥檝e ever seen in anything I鈥檝e been involved with, you know? But I think because of that, like the counterpoint, you have to find the vitality and why these kids want to be around each other. You have to find the sort of notion of the chosen family, the joys of that, the goofing off, you know, the pleasures of life, even.听听