Andrew Durand (left) as Elmer McCurdy and Jeb Brown is the Bandleader in Dead Outlaw, directed by David Cromer.
The afterlife of outlaw Elmer McCurdy was as brilliant as his failed life of train and bank robbery was bleak. In the new musical Dead Outlaw, David Yazbek and Erik Della Penna (music and lyrics), and Itamar Moses (book) team up with director David Cromer to tell the true story of a turn-of-the-century outlaw who became a famous carnival attraction after his untimely death.
Although one might think that a musical using the trope of memento mori would be a dead ringer for failure, Dead Outlaw is a documentary musical that is as quirky—and funny—as they come. A lively band play a mix of country, folk, and rock songs that tell the story of Elmer from his tough childhood in Maine, to his killing by a posse in Oklahoma in 1911, to his posthumous adventure as a carnival exhibition. It’s a parable in which the American obsession with money, success, and fame can quickly come to naught.
Julia Knitel as Maggie and Durand as Elmer join hearts and hands in Dead Outlaw, Audible Theater’s first commissioned musical.
Dead Outlaw stars Andrew Durand (Shucked) as Elmer in a cast of eight; the others—Jeb Brown, Eddie Cooper, Dashiell Eaves, Julia Knitel, Ken Marks, Trent Saunders, and Thom Sesma—take on a variety of roles. As the ensemble reenacts Elmer’s story, the Bandleader (the superb Brown) serves as the main raconteur and guide through the Old West.
Elmer first appears lying on a bed in a loftlike structure above the stage. As he begins to croon the opening ballad with a childlike innocence, one fleetingly gets to peer into Elmer’s soul as he sings:
When the stars are bright like these stars
So they almost hurt your eyes
It’s like, maybe God is singing you a song.
Singing you a song.
But when the distant whistle of a train pierces the air, Elmer abruptly changes his tone: “All right, boys. Let’s go rob that f---ing train.”
Dead Outlaw moves along with the speed and force of a locomotive, with each of its songs propelling it forward. The Bandleader wastes no time informing the audience how the mummified Elmer was discovered in 1976 in Long Beach, Calif., by a Teamster who was helping to dress a set for an episode of The Six Million Dollar Man. For some uncanny reason, this Teamster was drawn, “out of all the ghosts and goblins on display,” to the arsenic-preserved Elmer, says the Bandleader:
It was like the puppet of a shriveled mummy of what had once been a slight man, with small eyes. Painted Day-Glo red and hanging from a noose. Then he saw the Y-shaped scar on the chest. And when the arm broke off in his hand … he saw a white shine of bone.
Trent Saunders performs in Dead Outlaw at the Minetta Lane Theatre.
The Teamster’s macabre discovery became a national news story. And, in the world of this musical, the event is played out in deadpan, with an echoing of the grisly press headlines: “Shock and horror in Long Beach today as the L.A. County Sheriff removed mummified human remains from an amusement park ride on the Long Beach. ”
Moses’ book captures more than the grotesque aspects of Elmer’s story. He subtly weaves the reality of western expansion into the narrative, with Elmer leaving his home state of Maine and eventually landing in Iola, Kan. There Elmer introduced himself as “Frank Curtis” to the proprietor of Eagle Cornice and Plumbing Supplies. The owner would hire Elmer for his decent plumbing skills, something Elmer had picked up at the knee of his grandfather, a plumber by trade. Elmer also would cross paths with Maggie (Julia Knitel), who soon would become his fiancée. In fact, in the song “Normal,” Maggie dreams of their life together on the American frontier:
From left: Saunders, Durand, and Eddie Cooper in Dead Outlaw, inspired by a true story. Photographs by Matthew Murphy.
And here
Beneath this perfect prairie sky
On this perfect frontier street
Is my perfect frontier guy.
Unfortunately, Elmer’s addiction to alcohol returned just when it seemed that he and Maggie would marry and settle down. As the Bandleader recounts to the audience, “it was around then that an old feeling started to creep back in.” And in the song “Killed a Man in Maine,” the audience witnesses the evanescence of Elmer’s future as he bullies Maggie’s former boyfriend Louis in a local bar and then destroys the place in a drunken rage. Worse, Elmer turns into a drifter again, and then a bungling robber of trains and banks who is eventually killed in a police shootout in Oklahoma.
Dead Outlaw is not for the faint of heart. But it is a terrific opportunity to see an achingly funny and offbeat new musical crafted by the creative team of The Band’s Visit.
The Audible Theater’s production of Dead Outlaw runs through April 7 at Minetta Lane Theatre (18 Minetta Lane). Evening performances are at 7 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday; matinees are at 2 p.m. Saturday and 3 p.m. on Sunday. For tickets and more information, visit www.deadoutlawmusical.com.
Book: Itamar Moses
Music & Lyrics: David Yazbek & Erik Della Penna
Direction: David Cromer
Scenic Design: Arnulfo Maldonado
Lighting Design: Heather Gilbert
Sound Design: Kai Harada & Joshua Millican
Costume Design: Sarah Laux
