Every once in a rare while on Broadway, especially in the last two decades, a bold, stirring, wholly original musical opens that dares to combine the darkly comedic with social commentary and rich character development. Suffs came close last year. Before that, well, feel free to cite some examples. Suffice to say that when I saw Dead Outlaw off-Broadway last year, I was blown away by its seeming conflicting combination of audacity and restraint. And, as much as I loved it, I assumed when the run ended, that would be it—save regional productions, despite its charming critics and audiences as well as winning a host of OB awards.
Well, I applaud the producers for bringing it to Broadway so audiences can experience this rousing, off-beat gem, which has only gotten tighter, stronger and more relevant in its larger home at the Longacre Theatre. The show just received seven deserved Tony nominations, including Best Musical. And it is, by far, the best, most sublime musical of the season. Long may it live, mummified or otherwise!
The story is outrageous, yet most of it is true. it’s about a mess of a lawless soul named Elmer McCurdy (Andrew Durand), born in Maine in 1880, who turns to a life of barroom fights, which begets his plotting bank and train robberies–that go awry. And that leads to his being shot dead in Oklahoma in 1911, by the law, at the age of 30. But one might argue that’s where his story really begins, or at least, takes the strangest, most eerie turn. 65 years later, Elmer’s shockingly mistreated mummified remains are discovered while cast and crew are shooting an episode of the ABC hit TV series, The Six Million Dollar Man. I will not give away the sequence of events that lead to Elmer’s mummification, or what happened to his corpse during that time, because that’s part of the productions many wonderful and horrifying surprises.
The clever, cunning and often deadpan-hilarious book is by Itmar Moses (The Band’s Visit). The infectious, revealing and sometimes profound songs are by David Yazbek (The Band’s Visit, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown) and Erik Della Penna.
Tony-nominee Durand is the show’s ‘Ace in the Hole,’ to evoke a 1951 Billy Wilder film that also deals with the abysmal levels people are willing to stoop to for money and simply to entertain themselves at any cost.
Durand uses that sexy, naive charm that made him light up Broadway in Shucked two seasons ago and adds a petulant and angry-at-the-world menace. His Elmer could have easily been portrayed as pathetic or callous in the hands of another actor, but Durand finds the nuances, the subtle humane qualities. Durand is also called on to remain still for a large portion of the show, a feat he astonishingly pulls off. I never saw him blink!
The creatives do a damn fine job of trying to get at what made Elmer such a violent young man drawn to booze and thievery. He came from a pretty fucked up family. And not even his falling in love could save him. His longing to live a different life is eloquently expressed in the gorgeous and evocative number, “Normal.”
Here in the West
I start again
Like normal people
Who falter now and then
A man content with what he’s got
Even if he’ll be forgot,
Like normal people
Unfortunately, Elmer’s base and disruptive nature gets the better of him and a series of unfortunate and incredibly ironic events lead to his demise. But what came afterwards is the stuff of the incredulous and this show has no problem probing the depths of humanity’s abilities to behave in an abhorrent fashion.
The entire 13-member ensemble are collectively fabulous.
Thom Sesma has a Vegas-esque showstopper as Thomas Noguchi, L.A.’s “coroner to the stars.” He channels Wayne Newton, Tom Jones and Engelbert Humperdinck to perform, “Up to the Stars,” a rousing celebration of…himself, of course!
Tony-nominee Julia Knitel does wonderful work whether she’s playing Elmer’s long-suffering gal, Maggie, or Millicent, a young girl who bonds with Elmer’s preserved dead body.
And Tony-nominee Jeb Brown leads the band and holds it all together.
Director extraordinaire David Cromer (The Band’s Visit, Prayer for the French Republic, Good Night, and Good Luck) is to be applauded for his brisk pacing and keen ways he keeps us bedazzled, then sucker punches us with poignancy.
Tech aspects are top notch, especially Heather Gilbert’s awesome lighting design.
Dead Outlaw achieves something that’s rare. It pokes fun at Elmer and the fuck-ups that lead him to an early grave, in wickedly satiric ways, yet it also pays homage to a man who never felt comfortable in his own skin, ironic because he would keep that skin for way-too-long a time after his untimely demise. The show also treads not-so-lightly on some of the big themes and questions about human nature and whether we are all prone to behaving in the most self-serving, abominable and ludicrous manner, given the right (wrong) set of circumstances.
Elmer craved freedom, but he also wished for some kind of traditional life. In the process, he possibly found some solace in leaving this world for the next. But this world had other plans for him. Our capitalistic, side-show seeking society used and abused his corpse in the most outlandish ways. Perhaps it was karma. Or dumb luck. Or simply a way for Elmer and his truly fantastical story to forever be immortalized…in a most bizarre, most brilliant musical.
Dead Outlaw is currently playing at the Longacre Theatre, NYC. For tix visit: https://deadoutlawmusical.com
