DEAD OUTLAW Previews — Page 5

View from Mezz A Seat 11 for reference off Reddit:

inlovewithjerryherman said: "Saw this last night and absolutely hated it. I was bored, angry, antsy, and just miserable the entire show. Moving this to Broadway was a colossal mistake.

I did not see it downtown but can see how it would work in a smaller space - that makes a lot of sense, because in a smaller space, Durand's performance, even in stillness, an audience can readtheexchange of energy between him and the rest of the cast...so we feel for him as terrible things continue to happen to him.

From the 4th row mezz, it just doesn't read. Not only is the first half a mess acoustically (difficult to hear lyrics),the second half plays as a hollow show where we just watch awful people do awful things over and over and over again. It becomes numbing because we just don't feel for Elmer. The energy doesn't fill the space. It's not Durand's fault at all, it's just misconceived.

Additionally, an observation. The show's timely themes of capitalism, opportunism, and draining a piece of entertainment for everything it's worth certainly come through - but in moving this show to Broadway...hasn't it become the very thing it's satirizing?If it worked so brilliantly off-Broadway, WHY did it need to move to a larger space?It's become as much as a cash grab as Elmer's corpse was for so many.

Total misfire. Shame, because the score is tuneful and the performances are good. It's just not a fit for a big house."

Accurately put. I felt the same things.

Caught the performance last night, and this show has only deepened and sharpened since its Off-Broadway run. People on here have questioned whether it’s “big enough” to hold a Broadway stage—I absolutely think it is, and then some. It delivers exactly what this season has been missing: guts, grit, and originality. The upgraded elements—the automated bandstand/train, the richer lighting design, and the expanded set pieces—give it just the right amount of theatrical oomph for its Broadway arrival, while still keeping the raw, downtown spirit that made it special to begin with. And yes, the cement was pouring last night!

For context, I saw it twice at Minetta Lane and was thrilled to revisit this delightfully weird gem. It remains a true ensemble piece, and the entire company has leveled up—every performance is more precise, more lived-in, more electric. Durant in particular continues to astonish; how he manages to ride the line between seductive and unsettling as a sexy corpse-in-a-coffin is beyond me.

If you’re planning to go, I’d recommend sitting 8 to 10 rows back in the orchestra. The mezzanine is quite far, and while I usually love being up close, Row C was almost too close for this one.

In terms of awards? IMO, this could be the strongest competition for MHE in the Best Score and Best Book categories. The score is a banger—country-rock with Yazbek’s signature genre-hopping flair. One knockout number after another. The audience was locked in from start to finish and went absolutely wild when Jeb belted, ‘Jeff Bezos dead, and so are you!’ It’s exhilarating to finally have a show this season that doesn’t feel cut from the same safe, sanitized Broadway mold

We need the cast album yesterday. As we exited, one of the songs was blasting through the theater speakers and people were literally dancing their way out.

For those asking, here’s the list of musical numbers:

MUSICAL NUMBERS

• “Opening”
• “Dead”
• “Normal”
• “Killed a Man in Maine”
• “Dead (Reprise)”
• “Nobody Knows Your Name”
• “Blowin’ It Up”
• “Indian Train”
• “Leave Me Be”
• “A Stranger”
• “Something From Nothing”
• “Our Dear Brother”
• “Somethin’ ‘Bout a Mummy”
• “Andy Payne”
• “Somethin’ ‘Bout a Mummy (Reprise)”
• “Millicent’s Song”
• “Nobody Knows Your Name (Reprise)”
• “Up to the Stars”
• “Our Dear Brother (Reprise)”
• “Crimson Thread”
• “Dead (Finale)”

Looking at several pictures on Reddit, I've never seen a set seem so "swallowed up" by the house it's in. It looks like a child's playhouse in a huge black box. And other Off-Broadway transfers don't feel that way. Performances and score are great.

ShowBro said: "Bwaygurl2 said: "Looking at several pictures on Reddit, I've never seen a set seem so "swallowed up" by the house it's in. It looks like a child's playhouse in a huge black box. And other Off-Broadway transfers don't feel that way. Performances and score are great."

If you’d actually seen it on Broadway instead of just relying on Reddit pics, you’d know the ‘black box’ transforms into something entirely different.

"

I've seen it from the orchestra in the seventh or eighth row, where it looks great. The pictures I'm referencing are from mezzanine or balcony (which are taken before the show starts and the set transforms).

A big Question mark.

What is this thing? What are they trying to do up there?

is it a satire on capitalism? or is it just a big goof on an odd story?


In any case, I don’t think the authors have gone far enough. It’s not goofy enough - it’s not satirical enough. It’s just kind of flat.

Skip23: A big Question mark.

What is this thing? What are they trying to do up there?

is it a satire on capitalism? or is it just a big goof on an odd story?

In any case, I don’t think the authors have gone far enough. It’s not goofy enough - it’s not satirical enough. It’s just kind of flat.

I saw it Off-Broadway and remember walking out with a big smile on my face reminiscent of Kimberly Akimbo. It reminded me that I better live my life now the way I want because we’ll all be dead soon anyway. It stoked my “great adventure” coals. Many of the beautiful lyrics (The dew, it appears, just like grateful tears) reminded me to witness the beauty around me while the deadpan of Dr. Noguchi winked at me to have a good time doing so. My return trip to Dead Outlaw is scheduled for mid-May.

This show seems to have zero momentum. I thought it would rise to the top after the acclaimed off bway run.

This season sure has been unpredictable!

RUkiddingme said: "This show seems to have zero momentum. I thought it would rise to the top after the acclaimed off bway run.

This season sure has been unpredictable!"

The lack of discounts or any kind of decent promo codes wasn't a good move since people wanted to buy months ago but tickets were quite high. The flash sale is a good idea (despite the sale being for crappy seats only) but it needs better WOM.

Updated On: 4/22/25 at 11:41 AM

All of the visuals for this show thus far have been incredibly confusing to me. The key art is nice enough, but I admit I’m just not sure what I’m in for looking at it.



The photos have been weird and mostly had a “my friend has a camera and will shoot this for free” vibe. The photo shoot they’ve shared at the carnival looks like it had no real perspective, the editing looks cheap, and the concert they had prior to previews similarly had a feel of being neither here nor there.


Even the production photos are weird to me—the Off-Broadway ones looked much better to me.



It’s always so interesting when I show I’m excited about finds ways for me to start to lose interest because it feels like whoever’s making the content isn’t super interested.



Scrappy/low budget visuals with intention could be a perfect fit for this show but I mostly look at their presence thus far and am left more confused about what the show might be than I was before.

I think there were very high expectations, but the show hasn't lived up to them. They transferred to Broadway with a chip on their shoulder and are now dealing with bad word-of-mouth.

jpbran said: "We saw it Thursday evening. REALLY wanted to love this one, and went in with as open a mind as possible. Was... um... let down. Disappointed. It just never quite "got there." Some lovely moments, some nice songs, but the never gelled as a whole. Seemed like a hipster/Americana theatrical experiment that suddenly found itself on B'way. No moments of "levitation" (to quote Clooney talking to Lupone this week.) I was occasionally bored, sometimes somewhat moved but only briefly and it never lingered. I'm a big softie at shows usually (Cromer's Band's Visit wrecked me in the best way) but zero a tear even in the tender/emotional scenes. Durand did his best, but the "importance" of his character in an historical sense was never gotten across, and I left with an "is that all there is...?" feeling. Sadly. Really wish I could have gotten the discount code to work correctly haha Hope it does well, but to even mention it as a competitor to Maybe Happy Endingis baffling to me. YMMV."

In fairness, Dead Outlaw isn’t intended to be moving or leave a lump in your throat. It’s pretty much the antithesis of that. For all its antics, Operation Mincemeat is, at heart, a sentimental show. Maybe Happy Ending is designed to bring a tear to your eye.

I didn’t mind that Dead Outlaw was as sentimental as barbed wire. I just didn’t think the creatives came up with a throughline that made it an interesting, dark take on the American dream. The ingredients are there, and it works in fits and starts, but the creatives’ solution to their, ‘Why are we writing this show?’ problem was unsatisfying to me.

I had such a good time at this show last week that I'm surprised to read so many negative reactions to it on this board. I laughed throughout, I loved its score and I don't think its cast could have been stronger. To each his own, of course.

I'm curious now as to whether or not last season's off-Broadway critical darling will be a bust this season on Broadway. I hope not.

In some ways it strikes me as the good-natured antithesis of Floyd Collins, the yin to its yang. Of course, that revival has also been received with a seemingly equal share of enthusiasm and disappointment. I'm hoping its mixed reviews allow it to make a return to TDF shortly.