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TULSA \u2014 Nolan White<\/a> couldn’t help but feel like he was stepping onto hallowed ground when he stepped onto the stage at the Tulsa Performing Arts Center<\/a> on opening night.<\/p>\n “It’s beautiful, doing the story in the place that it was created. It’s just so special,” he told The Oklahoman from the red carpet outside the Tulsa PAC on Wednesday, Oct. 8.<\/p>\n “The audience seemed to love it last night, and I hope that we continue to have just those reactions from the audience.”<\/p>\n One of the Sooner State’s most iconic stories<\/a> has returned to its birthplace, as the national tour of the four-time Tony Award-winning musical “The Outsiders”<\/a> officially opens this week, with performances through Sunday, Oct. 12 in the downtown Tulsa theater.<\/p>\n White stars as Ponyboy Curtis, the 14-year-old Greaser with the heart of a poet who is the narrator and protagonist of “The Outsiders,” in the new national tour.<\/a><\/p>\n “Every night I get up on that stage, and as soon as I open the notebook, I’m there. Of course, little pieces of Nolan seep through … but I think that comes through just trying to really live in the material and in the moment,” White said of playing the blue-collar literary hero.<\/p>\n Even as it continues to run on Broadway<\/a>, the national tour of the celebrated new musical played its official opening night Tuesday, Oct. 7, at the Tulsa PAC, following technical and dress rehearsals<\/a> in Buffalo, New York, and a preview run in Omaha<\/a>, Nebraska.<\/p>\n The 2024 Tony winner for best musical, “The Outsiders”<\/a> is just the second show on the 2025-2026 season for Celebrity Attractions<\/a>. But Tulsa’s presenter of nationally touring Broadway shows already has announced a return engagement in 2027, which will follow the musical’s 2026 Oklahoma City debut.<\/p>\n