Thursday, November 9th-  I departed my home in Alabama for a few days 

of bliss in the world of The Outsiders--Tulsa, Oklahoma.  After a 

tiring 10 hour drive, I finally reached my destination.  Throwing my 

stuff out (literally) at the hotel, it was on to the Circle Theater (movie theater) on 

South Lewis Street to see The Outsiders, and then Rumblefish. What a 

rush it is to be able to see The Outsiders at the theater where it all 

started!  Of course, the actual Circle Theater is undergoing major 

renovations, but its still the same.  I met some fans of the movie; Cherie, 

Ashley & Sarah, and got the following opinion from them that they ”love 

the Outsiders!“. It was so cool to be able to meet Jeff from the Fan Forum, and his mom, 

and then get to pose for pictures under the newly re-designed marquee, 

with the “The Outsiders” in lights!  We all agreed to possibly meet for 

lunch within the other 2 days I had in Tulsa, which we did on Saturday. 

More on that later.

Friday, November 10th- We drove around to the Admiral Drive-In 

Theater, which had closed for the season only the weekend before.  

Not much has changed at that theater, but I did notice some renovations in 

connection the Great American Landmarks contest that the Admiral won 

last year.  We did find the location of the Pines Drive-In, on Pine 

Street, but there is nothing left of it. Time marches on I guess. We met 

with Mike Ransom, of Tulsa TV Memories, and spent 

almost 3 hours discussing the movie and other topics. We got a great 

interview with Mike; and a picture of me, Mike and James .  After we met 

Ces (also from the Fan Forum) and baby Adam for dessert at a local restaurant, it was time for 

the play!!  I was so keyed up about getting to see the stage play.  We 

had only been in the theater a few minutes, when I spotted author S.E. Hinton 

herself, making her way in for a viewing of the play. She recognized me 

immediately; and after greeting each other I introduced her to James. 

We got a great picture of me, James, Susie and play director Sally Adams.

I got to talk to some of the parents who had kids in the play, and I 

handed out a number of our little Outsiders Website cards. After 

a lengthy discussion with the director, we were invited back the 

following night for interviews with the cast. That was exciting in itself.   

It was time for us to be seated, so after finding our seats we waited 

anxiously for the start of the play.

I have to admit, I really didn’t know what to expect, but no fear, 

because the play was wonderful!   The kids portraying the characters did a 

great job!   No singing in the play, contrary to earlier reports, and 

the drowning scenes and rumble scenes were great, with the dramatic 

lighting. The death scene with Johnny was so moving; I heard a number of 

muffled sniffles from around the theater. The guy who portrays Dallas in 

the play, Whitson Hanna, did a  marvelous job of  bringing Dallas to 

life. I was very impressed. Having only ever seen the movie, I knew the 

play would  seem different,  but the man who adapted the book for a 

stage play was very skillful in what he did because it is only one set 

for the entire play.   After the play was over, we grabbed a quick 

bite to eat and headed back to our hotels. 

Saturday, November 11th- We departed the hotels for quite a day of 

adventure. The entire day turned out to be a matter of complete timing- 

it was as if one thing had gone wrong, none of the following events 

could have taken place.

First, a trip to the print shop was in order to pick up the more 

business cards for the website, and then on to Bixby for a quick tour of the filming 

locations for Tex.  I found the location of the house with no problems, the 

only problem was- THE HOUSE WAS GONE!  Yes, that’s right, the house was 

torn down last spring after vandals ransacked it.  I was in total 

shock. So, finding the gates open, I drove onto the property, and I 

spotted a truck coming from the barn on the property. Turns 

out the owner was there, and after James introduced himself, the owner 

talked to us freely, giving us the whole scoop on why the house was 

torn down. She also gave us some great stories about things during the 

filming of Tex. She allowed us to take pictures and film of the site.  

We drove by the Bixby School, which looks pretty much the same, and 

then it was back to Tulsa.  There was talk of driving on to Owasso, but 

after a debate, I drove to the neighborhood where The Outsiders was 

filmed. So after we pulled up to the vacant lot/ rumble scene, we got out to 

take pictures, and a car pulled up beside us, and the man asked us what 

we were doing. After I presented him with a card, he said the owned the 

vacant lot!  He told us several stories about the filming events that 

took place there and he actually lived next door during the filming.   

So, after talking and filming for a few minutes, we drove around the 

block to see the Curtis house, and the owner was standing out in the yard. 

He waved at us, and we waved back. James simply got out, asked 

him if he was the owner and if this was the house used in the filming 

of “The Outsiders”.  He was very nice and talked with us for about 30 

minutes. We asked permission to take pictures of the house, and he was so 

cool about it. He said it was nothing new, and he guessed he had one of 

the most photographed houses in America.

We took pictures of the alley behind the house, and the alley where the 

Socs chase Ponyboy.  We cruised around by the street where Dallas was 

killed, and then around by the Crutchfield Park.  I did make some 

pictures of the area where Soda gives his heart to heart talk with Darry and 

Pony in the movie.

We made a few pictures, and then after a few more stops, it 

was time to meet Ces and Jeff for lunch.  We had a great time chatting 

and sharing stories. Ces brought baby Adam, and he is so sweet!  I 

signed the tree out in front of the restaurant, printing “The Motorcycle 

Boy Reigns”.  I took a picture of it.

We took pictures of all of us in front of the restaurant. It is so much 

fun to be able to meet the people from our website and fan forum; I can finally 

put a face with a name! Then it was off to the stage door for the 

interviews with the kids in the play.

We were to report at 5:30 so we would have plenty of time to meet with 

everyone. We were greeted by Kessa and Melissa, who showed us some of 

the kids getting their makeup put on, and a few of the others were 

already in their costumes. I walked around handing out business cards, while 

James did the filming of the interviews. The kids were genuine in their 

answers to our questions, and I spent a few minutes answering questions 

about C.Thomas Howell from August (Ponyboy).  All of them were excited 

to be in the play  and you could really tell they had put a lot of hard 

work into this production. It really came across on stage, I was so 

proud of all of them!   One of the kids told me, they had auditioned for 

this play before school started, and they had rehearsals at least 3-4 

times a week for many weeks.  It takes a lot of dedication and hard work 

to prepare for a play like this.   After a while, the kids had to go 

through their routines of getting ready for the opening scenes, while 

James and I went upstairs to get our tickets from the will-call window 

(where passes are handed out).   

The play seemed different the second night because now, instead of the 

cast simply being “people on a stage”, I could identify individually 

with each character. Earlier, I had seen Chase, Nicholas and August,  

playing a game on the floor in the green room; now they were on stage, 

saying their lines, and bringing the characters of Bob, Johnny and Ponyboy 

to life. It’s a very different thing to see indeed.

After the play, we walked back down to the stage door, hoping to grab 

some quick pictures before we went back to our respective hotels. We 

got some great pics with the cast, and I somehow ended up in a picture 

with the majority of the cast, (they said they were putting me “against 

the wall”); along with a great picture of me & Jerib (Two Bit).   

Sunday November 12th- Time for that long drive back home.  As always, 

I hated to leave Tulsa.  It almost seems like a second home to me. I 

can navigate the streets with ease, I don’t need a map to get around; 

I’m not sure, but if the chance ever arose, I think I could move there 

and be happy. I want to especially thank Ces, Jeff and James for a memorable trip.  

And a huge THANK YOU to 

S.E. Hinton for making all this happen in the first place. Without the 

book, there would not have been a movie.  I was so glad we got to see 

Susie at the theater on Friday, and very grateful she posed for a 

picture with us, and the director, Sally Adams, who did a fantastic job with 

a wonderful group of actors and actresses.  I really think this 

adaptation of the book could easily be on Broadway.