Thirty-five Boyle Heights middle schoolers walked into the Hollywood Pantages Theatre on Oct. 1 for opening night of "The Outsiders," many experiencing live theater for the first time.

The students, ages 12 to 14 from Pio Pico Middle School, sat among press, season ticket holders and celebrities including Topher Grace, Ashley Park and Daniel Dae Kim. Their tickets came through the Stay Gold Project, the musical's educational initiative. The program has reached more than 8,600 students and educators in over 100 schools, the Los Angeles Times first reported.

Earlier that evening, producer Angelina Jolie and City Year board member Octavia Spencer co-hosted a fundraiser at the Aster Hotel, around the corner from the Pantages, to raise money for the initiative. City Year AmeriCorps members in yellow jackets mingled with attendees and actors, explaining the nonprofit's work tutoring and mentoring students in under-resourced schools.

"The Outsiders" won the 2024 Tony Award for best musical and earned 12 nominations total, plus a Grammy nod for Best Musical Theater Album, according to the Daily Bruin. Jolie signed on as a producer after her daughter Vivienne, then 14, brought her to see it at La Jolla Playhouse, where it premiered in February 2023.

"But I was watching her, and I was learning about her … and what was moving her, and I was discovering my daughter," Jolie said at the fundraiser, describing that first viewing with Vivienne.

Spencer said the work comes down to paying attention. Her job as an actor is to listen, she told the crowd, and the same applies to working with students. She said it matters that mentors ask what young people need rather than assume.

The Stay Gold Project ensures cost is never a barrier for middle and high school students to see "The Outsiders" on tour. Since launching on Broadway in 2024, it has provided more than 1,800 free tickets to New York City public school students alone, plus thousands more in tour cities, according to Playbill. City Year, the project's national education partner, operates 29 sites supporting 250 schools across the country. Its 1,500 student success coaches accompany students to the theater.

Emily Baeza, a City Year alum who served two years at a Boyle Heights high school and now works in the film industry, recalled waking at 5:30 a.m. and greeting students near the Sixth Street Bridge. She said she arrived at 23 thinking mentorship required nobility, then learned it required showing up.

Back at the Pantages, the Pio Pico students had their own verdict. Boima Clarke, 13, said it was his first play ever. He rated it four-and-a-half stars. His friend Aleyda Hernandez, 12, gave it four. Her first live performance had been "The Nutcracker" the previous year with a different school.

"The Outsiders" runs at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre, 6233 Hollywood Blvd., through Oct. 18. Tickets start at $57. The show then moves to Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa, Oct. 20 through Nov. 1.