Dead Outlaw Has ‘Dead’ In The Title But Is As Life-Affirming As It Comes

“Dead Outlaw is one wacky story. And it’s true,” said Kate Navin, Audible’s head of creative development, when she introduced the show at a special concert for the new musical. In fact, when talking about the show, she has to repeat, “remember, this is true,” several times.

Dead Outlaw recounts the life and afterlife, (yes, afterlife) of Elmer McCurdy. An outlaw whose attempts to rob banks and trains was one debacle after another, he lived from the late 1800s to the early 1900s. Even more fascinating was how his preserved dead body from Oklahoma ended up at Pike amusement park’s House of Horrors in Long Beach, California and was discovered in 1976.

The musical’s dream creative team includes music and lyrics by David Yazbek and Erik Della Penna, book by Itamar Moses and direction by David Cromer.

Around 30 years ago Yazbek stumbled upon the how-can-this-be-real story of McCurdy and was intrigued from the get-go. “It wormed into my thoughts,” says the Tony-winning writer, composer and musician whose credits include The Full Monty, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, the Band’s Visit and Tootsie. “I got deep into the story and went to the library researching it, looking up old clips on microfilm. Then, as the years went by, the question became, why am I so haunted by the story?”

Then he considered how others could be haunted by the story in the same way. “When you look at a mummy or are at a funeral you can’t help asking yourself, who is this?,” he says. “That answer is different now because the person is dead. But even when they were alive, that answer was never really a solid thing. Who are you at any given moment? What’s at the core of things?”

Yazbek enlisted his bandmate, Della Penna, to write songs about this mysterious man. And during gigs they included the songs. Eventually Moses, who had collaborated with Yazbek on the Band’s Visit joined forces writing Dead Outlaw’s book, which spans 97 years, and the musical was born. “It’s a rock musical about fame, greed, memory, death—all the things that make America great,” says Yazbek.

Director David Cromer was immediately smitten. “I loved that it was a strange, seedy, almost true crime-y sort of story with these beautiful, soulful songs about life and death. And I loved the meeting of those two things,” says Cromer. “David [Yazbek] calls it ‘the sacred and the profane.’ It’s the Ripley’s-Believe-It-or-Not-Guinness-Book-of-World-Records quality of the story combined with the depth and beauty of the music.”

Currently playing at Audible’s Minetta Lane Theatre, the cast features Jeb Brown, Eddie Cooper, Andrew Durand, Dashiell Eaves, Julia Knitel, Ken Marks, Trent Saunders, Thom Sesma, Emily Fink, Austin Ku, George Merrick, and Max Sangerman. The show is Audible Theater’s first venture into musicals.

“This is a story about identity and ambition and failed hopes and dreams. Or I should say hopes and dreams that aren’t attained until after the death of the main character,” says Sesma. “It’s about good guys, bad guys, dead guys, live guys, and everybody in between,” adds Brown.

“What I love about the show and these characters is that they are a reminder of the humanity of us all. We’re all just trying to make something special of this life we have. We’re trying to make an impact and do well,” says Durand who plays Elmer McCurdy. “And even though Elmer lived a unique life and afterlife, It’s a very universal story,” says Julia Knitel who plays all the women in McCurdy’s life including Maggie, his great love. “The themes that we deal with in the show affect us all.”

As Trent Saunders sees it Dead Outlaw is a reminder of what connects us. “We are greater than our singular lives. There’s beauty in considering the impact of the thread of the choices that we make and the larger picture,” he says. “Most stories take place within a person’s lifetime. And to have the opportunity to encompass a story that is wider reaching than a lifetime is a tall task. But it leads to exciting results.”

Also, the cast welcomed the collaborative nature of the creative team. “David Cromer, Itamar Moses and David Yazbek view the world of creativity through a completely original lens,” says Thom Sesma. “And they’re not selfish about it. They invite us to look through that same quirky lens.” Saunders adds “their devotion to the process is such a powerful thing. They give us the space to ask questions and to not necessarily know the answers in the moment.”

Movement director Ani Taj sees the show as completely life-affirming. “There’s an embrace of life in the show. It’s dealing with weighty topics, but in a really honest way,” she says. “It’s looking at how we’re going to move with this reality that is coming for us all. And the music gives you the bonus of poetry of theater with music that really rocks underneath it.”

Not only does Moses hope people are entertained and moved by Dead Outlaw, he also wishes that people take away a renewed sense of how to view our mortality. “We’re all going to die, but that rather than being paralyzed or scared, the show makes the argument for doing something that is meaningful and involves investing in the people in your life,” says Moses. “I believe the story is about building something as opposed to chasing short term highs, like fame or money.”