Dead Outlaw begins previews on Broadway at the Longacre Theatre April 12.
The work made its world premiere in 2024 at Off-Broadway's Minetta Lane Theatre via Audible Theater, where it became one of the most award-winning musicals of the season. The production won the Drama Desk, Off Broadway Alliance, and New York Drama Critics Circle Awards for Best New Musical. See what critics had to say about the Off-Broadway run here.
The new musical, which will officially open April 27, features a book by Itamar Moses (The Band's Visit) and music and lyrics by David Yazbek and Erik Della Penna. David Cromer again directs after staging the musical's Off-Broadway world premiere.
Based on a bizarre but somehow completely true story, the musical follows Elmer McCurdy鈥攁n ambitious, turn-of-the-20th-century outlaw, whose death ended a life of failed crime and alcoholism and began a brilliant career as a mummified side-show attraction that traveled the USA for decades. The project is the brainchild of Yazbek, who reportedly has been fascinated with the story for three decades.
READ: Dead Outlaw Composer David Yazbek Uses a Dead Body for a Lesson in Living
Set to reprise their performances from the Off-Broadway run are Andrew Durand as Elmer McCurdy, Jeb Brown as Band Leader/Jarrett, Eddie Cooper as Coroner Johnson, Dashiell Eaves as Louis/Charles Patterson, Julia Knitel as Helen/Maggie, Ken Marks as George, Trent Saunders as Andy Payne, and Thom Sesma as Coroner Noguchi, with Emily Fink, Noah Plomgren, Max Sangerman, Scott Stangland, and Graham Stevens as understudies.
Cromer is leading the Broadway production alongside a creative team that includes choreographer Ani Taj, scenic designer Arnulfo Maldonado, costume designer Sarah Laux, lighting designer Heather Gilbert, sound designer Kai Harada, and music supervisor Dean Sharenow, with orchestrations by Yazbek, Della Penna, and Dean Sharenow. The electronic music design is by Billy Jay Stein and Hiro Iida for Strange Cranium, with MainBrain/Ableton Programmers Chris Petti and Steven Tran. Casting is by The TRC Company's Peter Van Dam. Cynthia Cahill serves as production stage manager.
The onstage band for Dead Outlaw includes music director, pianist, organist, and vocalist Rebekah Bruce; guitarist, banjo player, and vocalist JR Atkins; guitarist, lap steel player, mandolin player, and vocalist Hank Heaven; bassist Brian Killeen; and percussionist Spencer Cohen.
Dead Outlaw is Audible Theater's first-ever commissioned musical, and has been recorded for a global release as an Audible Original. Details of a release for that recording, which reportedly includes the entire show adapted as an audio play, have not yet been made public.
Lia Vollack Productions and Sonia Friedman Productions are producing.
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