What was Angelina Jolie doing in Tulsa? Turns out she's a fan of this iconic musical

TULSA — Angelina Jolie was one of "The Outsiders" last week during a trip to Tulsa.

With rehearsals set to begin Thursday, Feb. 1 in New York City, members of the cast and creative team of the “The Outsiders” musical — including the Oscar winner, a lead producer on the Broadway-bound show — made a Jan. 25-28 visit to Tulsa to explore the place where Oklahoma author S.E. Hinton penned her iconic 1967 novel and Academy Award-winning director Francis Ford Coppola filmed his beloved 1983 movie adaptation.

“The Outsiders” musical will begin its Broadway run with previews starting on March 16 ahead of the official opening night on April 11 at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre.

The show made its world premiere last year at the La Jolla Playhouse in California, where previews started on Feb. 19 with the official opening on March 4.

The show proved popular enough that an extra week was added to its world-premiere run.

Jolie was among those who fell in love with the show during its California debut, becoming a lead producer last year.

“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,” Jolie said in a statement last summer to The Associated Press. “I can’t begin to express how excited I am for this musical to make its Broadway debut and look forward to sharing this new adaptation of ‘The Outsiders’ with the world.”

What to know about 'The Outsiders'

"The Outsiders" 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 by Levine; and choreography by Rick Kuperman and Jeff Kuperman. It is directed by Danya Taymor.

Oklahoma City native Laura Galt, who is a co-producer on the show and has been involved in its development since 2018, visited Tulsa with the rest of the creative team and cast.

While in Tulsa, Galt said the cast and creative team members stopped by Hinton’s alma mater, Will Rogers High School, as well as the Outsiders House Museum, where the author and Danny Boy O’Connor, the museum’s founder and executive director, joined them for a tour of the filming-location-turned-tourist-attraction.

Jolie and her teenage daughter, Vivienne Jolie-Pitt, whom the star has reportedly hired as her assistant on the project, joined the group at the Outsiders House Museum.

“One of my ultimate things has been, ‘How can I bring Oklahoma into the fold?’ because this story is about Oklahoma. There's also opportunities to include Oklahoma in it and just build that Oklahoma pride,” said Galt, a Bishop McGuinness High School alumnus now based in Austin, Texas, who was previously a producer on the Tony-nominated Broadway musical “The Prom," in a Jan. 26 interview.

"This is a unicorn: It's not often that a cast and creative team from a Broadway show gets to come visit the place where the narrative takes place. … It just makes me so happy that they’re actually here.”

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Angelina Jolie was part of 'Outsiders' cast, crew who visited Tulsa