A once-forlorn house in Tulsa that served as a key setting in the movie adaptation of S.E. Hinton’s novel “The Outsiders” will host a ribbon-cutting ceremony and film-location tours Aug. 9.
The Facebook page for The Outsiders House announced Wednesday:
Join us as we celebrate the long-awaited opening of The Outsiders House Museum. Be there Friday, August 9th for the V.I.P. Ribbon Cutting Ceremony dinner at The Outsiders House Museum with Actor C. Thomas Howell and special guests or the following day Saturday, August 10th. We will be offering three separate V.I.P. guided Outsiders filming locations tours with Ponyboy Curtis.
The VIP tickets for the ribbon-cutting and tours run from $150 to $300 each and may be purchased here. The Outsiders House museum will open to the public “hopefully not long” after the VIP weekend, its owner stated.
Danny O’Connor, a Brooklyn rapper for the House of Pain group, in 2016 purchased the house at 731 N. St. Louis St. in north Tulsa with half of his life’s savings. O’Connor said he was deeply influenced by Hinton’s book and the movie, directed by Francis Ford Coppola.
Almost all the film was shot in Tulsa because Hinton’s real-life inspirations for the book occurred there when she wrote it at age 17. Scenes included two Route 66 landmarks — the Circle Cinema and the Admiral Twin Drive-In theater.
“The Outsiders” proved notable for its young actors who later became stars — Matt Dillon, Rob Lowe, Patrick Swayze, Tom Cruise, Emilio Estevez, Diane Lane, Ralph Macchio, Tom Waits, Leif Garrett, and Howell.
“The Outsiders” house sits about a half-mile north of the old Second Street alignment of Route 66. Here’s what the website says about the site:
The Outsiders House Museum unveils a behind the scenes layer that everyone loves: the trivia, the untold yarns, the story behind the story. Stepping into the museum gives fans young and old a chance to stand in the living room where Ponyboy and Darry quarrel, visit the kitchen and recall all the talk about chocolate cake for breakfast, see Dallas Winston’s leather jacket, hear about the mysterious disappearance and reappearance of Francis Ford Coppola’s Director’s Chair, see rare and never before seen photos, movie artifacts and more. Even if you’re a longtime fan of The Outsiders, you’re bound to see and learn something new.
Rhys Martin, president of the Oklahoma Route 66 Association, wrote in a Facebook post shortly after the announcement:
Many of my friends celebrate Route 66 as a unique piece of the American fabric. The Outsiders House is another panel in the same quilt.
(Image of The Outsiders House Museum logo and the house in 2016 via Facebook)
I’m WAY behind in reading my Route 66 News articles. I wish Danny O’Connor every success in his restoration effort and look forward to visiting the Outsiders House Museum the next time I drive Route 66. I haven’t seen F.F. Coppola’s 1983 movie but have read the book, which remains an excellent young men’s coming-of-age classic, though the area of the “greasers” has passed. How ironic that the book was written by a young woman. Route 66 is, for me and in part, literary tourism. I look forward to experiencing this uniquely American aspect of the road.