Young people across the country will have more opportunities to experience live theater through a new national partnership between the Tony Award-winning musical The Outsiders and City Year, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting students in schools.
The partnership between City Year and The Stay Gold Project was announced October 5, 2026, during an event celebrating the musical’s Los Angeles premiere at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre. Producer Angelina Jolie and actress Octavia Spencer, a City Year Los Angeles board member, hosted the kickoff event.
Based on S.E. Hinton’s bestselling novel and Francis Ford Coppola’s landmark film, The Outsiders follows a group of young people navigating friendship, loyalty, class divisions and belonging. The new initiative aims to make the production accessible to students and educators who might otherwise be unable to afford theater tickets.
The Stay Gold Project began by providing New York City public school students with opportunities to see the Broadway production. It has since expanded into a national effort supporting access to the musical as its North American tour travels to communities across the country.
During the tour’s first year, support from the SONIC Foundation and private donors helped provide approximately 4,000 subsidized tickets to students and educators. The Crimson Lion / Lavine Family Foundation is now the project’s principal sponsor, helping fund additional opportunities.
Through the partnership, City Year’s 29 local sites, which support 250 schools nationwide, will coordinate student attendance at performances. The program will provide subsidized tickets, educational study guides and post-show discussions with members of the show’s company.
City Year’s 1,500 student success coaches will accompany students to the theater and help them explore the production’s themes, connecting the story to their own experiences.
Matthew Rego of The Araca Group, a producer of The Outsiders, said the initiative reflects the belief that cost should never prevent students from experiencing live theater or connecting with stories that resonate across generations.
City Year CEO Jim Balfanz also highlighted the connection between the program’s mission and the organization’s work helping young people build confidence, develop life skills and remain focused on their goals.
Situation Project, which serves as the fiscal sponsor for The Stay Gold Project, will help facilitate donations supporting students in cities where the touring production performs.
The partnership represents an effort to bring theater beyond traditional audiences and into classrooms and communities, giving more young people the opportunity to experience a major stage production while engaging with its themes of identity, resilience and belonging.
For more information about The Stay Gold Project, visit outsidersmusical.com/stay-gold.