He was wanted by the law, killed by a posse... and then his career really took off! Based on the “that can’t actually be true” story of bumbling bandit Elmer McCurdy and winner of three Best Musical awards (Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, NY Drama Critics’ Circle), this “rollicking, darkly hilarious, and thoroughly original musical will knock you dead!” (Time Out). Step right up and get tickets to the show Entertainment Weekly calls “a truly one-of-a-kind production, complete with a whole lot of laughs and a surprising amount of heart. It needs to be seen to be believed!”
The new musical is the darkly hilarious and wildly inventive musical about the bizarre true story of outlaw-turned-corpse-turned-celebrity Elmer McCurdy. As Elmer’s body finds even more outlandish adventures in death than it could have ever hoped for in life, the show explores fame, failure, and the meaning – or, utter meaninglessness – of legacy.
Catchy and crammed with memorable hooks and lyrics that are clever as well as touching, Yazbek and Della Penna have written what is easily the best new score on Broadway since, well, Yazbek’s masterful score for The Band’s Visit (which also had a superb book by Moses). Bearing influences from Frank Loesser to Britpop band XTC, Yazbek has for 25 years remained one of my favorite composer-lyricists. He’s got a witty, skeptical way with melody and lyrics that always reminds you of his roots as a singer-songwriter (Dead Outlaw’s quirky black comedy sent my mind back to the 1996 album The Laughing Man). Along with Jeanine Tesori and Dave Malloy, Yazbek is an artist who sustains hope for the American musical.
The overall result is a visual and aural delight, an affectionate dive into a forgotten chapter from the American past that recalls the having-fun-with-history energy of Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson, but in a way that’s both more grounded and less weighty. Dead Outlaw unearths the corpse of forgotten history — elevating a twisty little yarn into a bizarro-world elegy to how the American Dream can curdle into violence, cruelty, and casual indifference.
| 2024 | Off-Broadway |
Audible Off-Broadway Premiere Production Off-Broadway |
| 2025 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
| Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Drama League Awards | DISTINGUISHED PERFORMANCE | Andrew Durand |
| 2025 | Tony Awards | Best Book of a Musical | Itamar Moses |
| 2025 | Tony Awards | Best Direction of a Musical | David Cromer |
| 2025 | Tony Awards | BEST ORIGINAL SCORE (Music and/or Lyrics) | David Yazbek |
| 2025 | Tony Awards | BEST ORIGINAL SCORE (Music and/or Lyrics) | Erik Della Penna |
| 2025 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical | Jeb Brown |
| 2025 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical | Andrew Durand |
| 2025 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical | Julia Knitel |
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