{"id":207775,"date":"2026-06-01T21:21:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-01T21:21:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/207775\/"},"modified":"2026-06-01T21:21:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-01T21:21:10","slug":"a-return-home-for-one-outsiders-cast-member-on-philly-stage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/207775\/","title":{"rendered":"A return home for one \u201cOutsiders\u201d cast member on Philly stage"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Given her background, Emma Hearn<\/a> would probably be a Soc (pronounced sosh, as in socialite) in real life, just as she is on stage where she plays Cherry Valance, the female lead and one of the Socs in \u201cThe Outsiders: A New Musical\u201d<\/a> at the Academy of Music<\/a> May 26 through June 7.<\/p>\n

The rock musical is a coming-of-age story told through the eyes of members of two gangs or cliques (depending on your point of view). Some belong to the Greasers and others are part of the elite Socs.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a socio-economic divide,\u201d Hearn<\/a> said. \u201cPeople identify with both sides. Fortunately and unfortunately, it\u2019s still relevant today.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hearn, who lives in the Upper Dublin area, grew up in Lower Gwynedd. She attended Germantown Academy in Fort Washington, where high school tuition now skates close to $46,000 per year (although it wasn\u2019t that much when she attended and many students receive financial aid.)<\/p>\n

\u201cI was definitely more of a Soc,\u201d Hearn said. \u201cThat was the world I grew up in, with resources available to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Later, she returned to Germantown Academy, teaching drama to middle-schoolers.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was so wonderful, so full circle. Former teachers became colleagues. I\u2019ve got former students coming to see the show and former classmates \u2014 100 people coming from my school. It\u2019s going to be emotional for sure,\u201d Hearn said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s probably for the best that I can\u2019t see\u201d the audience from the stage.<\/p>\n

Set in Tulsa, Oklahoma, \u201cThe Outsiders,\u201d which won a Tony award for best musical, is the second theatrical adaptation of the novel by S.E. Hinton.<\/a> Hearn thinks that the play rings true to what teenagers may experience because Hinton was a teenager herself, writing the book in high school in 1967.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a story by a teenager, for teenagers, with teenagers,\u201d Hearn said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe cast is not far from it,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s a much younger cast than the average of most national tours. It feels really raw to see the story told with those bodies.\u201d<\/p>\n

In October 2025, the company launched \u201cThe Outsiders\u201d tour in Tulsa where the cast met Hinton. \u201cShe empowered us to make it our own and not to feel the pressure to be a carbon copy of what was already made,\u201d Hearn said.<\/p>\n

In the play, the two sides rumble and violence ensues with tragedy on all sides. Some tensions come to a head over Cherry (the Soc), who later connects emotionally with Ponyboy, (a Greaser), who also serves as a narrator.<\/p>\n

Even though Hearn hadn\u2019t read Hinton\u2019s book as a teenager, she can understand how it resonates across generations. In the play, there are nine principal characters, including an older brother who has to raise his younger siblings when their parents die.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are so many different people that people can see part of themselves in,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Besides that, \u201cit\u2019s an exciting night of theater,\u201d with a fight sequence and many deep emotions.<\/p>\n

In the end, she hopes the show will encourage audiences and cast alike to \u201chave more compassion for each other, to understand that we don\u2019t always know what someone\u2019s going through.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the story, aside from whether you are a musical theater fan or not, is a story that hits home for a lot of people,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Off stage, Hearn proves that the gap between the Greasers and the Socs can be overcome. She and Travis Roy Rogers,<\/a> who plays Darrel, the older brother Greaser raising his younger siblings, are a real life item and drive from city to city with her little dog, Phoebe.<\/p>\n

From Philadelphia, they\u2019ll travel next to Grand Rapids, Michigan, then to Toronto, with tour dates<\/a> extending to May 2027 in Fort Worth, Texas. While she\u2019s here, she plans to visit favorite haunts near Germantown Academy, Zakes Caf\u00e9<\/a> and Rich\u2019s Deli<\/a> for a hoagie.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Outsiders: A New Musical\u201d<\/a>, May 26-June 7, Ensemble Arts at the Academy of Music,<\/a> 240 S. Broad St., Phila., 215-893-1999.<\/p>\n

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