Brody Grant, Sky Lakota-Lynch, Daniel Marconi & More to Star in THE OUTSIDERS World Premiere at La Jolla Playhouse

La Jolla Playhouse has announced the cast and creative team for its world-premiere production of The Outsiders, the new musical adapted from S.E. Hinton's seminal novel and Francis Ford Coppola's groundbreaking film. Featuring a book by Pulitzer Prize finalist Adam Rapp, music and lyrics by Jamestown Revival (Jonathan Clay & Zach Chance) and Tony Award winner Justin Levine; music supervision, arrangements and orchestrations by Justin Levine, and choreography by Rick Kuperman & Jeff Kuperman, The Outsiders is directed by Obie Award winner Danya Taymor. The Outsiders will begin preview performances on February 19 (press opening: Saturday, March 4). For tickets and information, please visit LaJollaPlayhouse.org.

The cast features (in order of appearance): 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," Kiki Lemieux as "Marcia," along with ensemble members Annelise Baker, Jordan Chin, Milena Comeau, Barton Cowperthwaite, Tilly Evans-Krueger, Spencer McCabe Hunsicker, Sean H. Jones, L'ogan J'ones, Renni Magee, Tristan McIntyre, Junior Nyong'o, Melody Rose and Daryl Tofa.

The creative team includes AMP featuring Tatiana Kahvegian (Scenic Designer), Sarafina Bush (Costume Designer), Isabella Byrd (Lighting Designer), Justin Ellington (Sound Designer), Tal Yarden (Projection Designer), Jeremy Chernick (Special Effects Designer), Nicholas Parrish (Wig Designer) and Tishonna Ferguson (Make-up Designer). The production team also includes Matt Hinkley (Music Director), Matt Stine (Music Producer), Ann James (Sensitivity Specialist), Gigi Buffington (Company Voice and Dialect), Liz Caplan (Vocal Supervisor), Tara Rubin Casting/Xavier Rubiano, CSA and Jacole Kitchen (Casting), Jimmie Lee Smith (Stage Manager), and Jenn Elyse Jacobs and Emily Searles (Assistant Stage Managers).

"It is with tremendous excitement that we cap off our 2022/2023 season with the world premiere of The Outsiders. The classic novel and movie have influenced generations of people, and this stellar cast and creative team will bring S.E. Hinton's timeless story to vibrant life in a brand new incarnation for the stage," said Christopher Ashley, the Rich Family Artistic Director of La Jolla Playhouse.

About The Outsiders

The story that defined a generation has been reimagined as a groundbreaking new musical. Tulsa, Oklahoma, 1967, the hardened hearts and aching souls of 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. A story of the bonds that brothers share and the hopes we all hold on to, this gripping new musical reinvigorates the timeless tale of 'haves and have nots', of protecting what's yours and fighting for what could be.

Adam Rapp

is the author of numerous plays, which include Nocturne (New York Theatre Workshop), Finer Noble Gases (26th Humana Festival), The Metal Children (The Vineyard), and Red Light Winter (Barrow Street Theatre), for which he won Chicago's Jeff Award for Best New Work, an OBIE, and was named a finalist for the 2006 Pulitzer Prize. The Sound Inside received its world premiere at the 2018 Williamstown Theatre Festival and was named one of The New York Times best plays of 2018. It premiered on Broadway at Studio 54 in the fall of 2019 and went on to be nominated for six Tony Awards, including Best Play. His playwriting honors include Boston's Elliot Norton Award, The Helen Merrill Prize, The 2006 Princess Grace Statue, a Lucille Lortel Playwright's Fellowship, The Benjamin H. Danks Award, the PEN/Laura Pels International Foundation Award, and a 2021 Arts and Letters Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

Jamestown Revival

(Jonathan Clay & Zach Chance) is an internationally recognized Americana/Roots Rock band from Austin, TX. who describe their music as "Southern & Garfunkel." Jamestown Revival's latest release, Young Man, is the band's first album without electric guitars and their first to be recorded in a studio. With themes like coming of age and settling into an identity, Young Man was produced by Robert Ellis and Josh Block (Leon Bridges, Caamp). The band has performed at iconic music festivals, such as Farm Aid, Coachella, Stagecoach and Lollapalooza, and has performed with the likes of the Zac Brown Band, Nathaniel Rateliff, Ryan Bingham and Willie Nelson. Jamestown Revival has released three critically acclaimed albums (Utah, The Education of a Wandering Man and San Isabel) and two equally praised EPs (A Field Guide to Loneliness, an intimate collection of songs reflecting recent times where human contact was limited more than ever, and Fireside with Louis L'Amour, featuring songs inspired by stories from author Louis L'Amour).

Justin Levine

Justin Levine's recent projects include Moulin Rouge! The Musical (music supervisor, arranger, orchestrator; Tony Award), Shakespeare in the Park's A Midsummer Night's Dream (original music; Delacorte Theater; Drama Desk nom), VEVO X LORDE: Melodrama (vocal arranger/ supervisor, conceived by Lorde, Electric Lady Studios), Contemporary Color (music supervisor, conceived by David Byrne, Barclay's Center and Air Canada Center), Bonfire Night (book, music and lyrics, NAMT), The Weight of Smoke (original music with Matt Stine, choreographed by Doug Elkins for Paul Taylor American Modern Dance, Lincoln Center), Pepper and Sam (co-conceived with Salty Brine, Ars Nova, Joe's Pub). Bloody Andrew Jackson (music director, co-orchestrator, cast, Public Theater and Broadway), Here Lies Love (music director, Public Theater, National Theater, Seattle Rep, MassMoca), Love's Labour's Lost (music director, co-orchestrator, cast, Delacorte), Robber Bridegroom (music director, co-orchestrator with Martin Lowe, Roundabout Theater), Murder Ballad (music director, orchestrator, Manhattan Theater Club and Union Square Theater).

Rick Kuperman & Jeff Kuperman

Rick Kuperman & Jeff Kuperman's upcoming credits: co-directing and choreographing an immersive show with the producers of Sleep No More. Recent choreo: Alice by Heart (MCC; Lortel, Chita Rivera, and Callaway Awards), Cyrano (Goodspeed/The New Group), Phish at Madison Square Garden, The Count of Monte Cristo (St. Petersburg, Russia), Peter Pan (Beijing, China), The Light Princess (ART/New Victory, NY Times Critics' Pick). Other works with Williamstown, New Ohio, Pipeline. Film: Verona, F*cking Identical Twins (A24), Silent Retreat (Miramax). TV: "Living with Yourself" (Netflix). As directors: Roll! (Ars Nova), Dispossessed (HERE), Smile (FringeNYC), The 39 Steps (PST), and many shorts & music videos. Education: BAs, Harvard & Princeton. www.kupermanbrothers.com

Danya Taymor

is a New York based director. She reopened Broadway with Antoinette Chinonye Nwandu's Pass Over, the first play back after 18 months of darkness on Broadway (New York Times 10 best shows of 2021). Other recent work includes: Samuel Beckett's Endgame (Gate Theater, Dublin), Will Arbery's Pulitzer Prize finalist Heroes of the Fourth Turning (Obie Award, Callaway Award for Outstanding Direction), Jeremy O. Harris' "Daddy" (New Group/Vineyard), korde arrington tuttle's graveyard shift (Goodman), Martyna Majok's queens (Lincoln Center), Danai Gurira's Familiar (Steppenwolf) and Brian Watkins' My Daughter Keeps Our Hammer and Wyoming (The Flea + Lesser America). Her world-premiere production of Pass Over (Steppenwolf 2017) was filmed in collaboration with Spike Lee, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and is streaming on Amazon Prime. Recipient of the Cullman Award for Extraordinary Creativity from Lincoln Center. B.A.: Duke University.

La Jolla Playhouse

is a place where artists and audiences come together to create what's new and next in the American theatre, from Tony Award-winning productions, to imaginative programs for young audiences, to interactive experiences outside our theatre walls. Founded in 1947 by Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire and Mel Ferrer, the Playhouse is currently led by Tony Award winner Christopher Ashley, the Rich Family Artistic Director of La Jolla Playhouse, and Managing Director Debby Buchholz. The Playhouse is internationally renowned for the development of new works, including mounting 108 world premieres, commissioning 60 new works, and sending 33 productions to Broadway, garnering a total of 38 Tony Awards, as well as the 1993 Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre.