DEAD OUTLAW to close June 29- Page 3

[Kad]

Posted: 6/21/25 at 11:30am

I was being sarcastic with that comment- Broadway is still very much dominated by "mass appeal" shows far more than weird passion projects. 

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 6/21/25 at 11:32am

ACL2006 said: "Their in-person rush today was super crowded. Where were these fans a few weeks ago?"

The same place the people who've suddenly been buying all the Real Women Have Curves tickets were: doing other things.

It's almost as if closing announcements spur people to see something they otherwise were in no (ahem) rush to see while they still can. 🤔

[ACL2006]

Posted: 6/21/25 at 11:47am

And yet Smash's rush today had only few dozen people.

[DrMonicaDeMoneco]

Posted: 6/21/25 at 4:26pm

MemorableUserName said: "ACL2006 said: "Their in-person rush today was super crowded. Where were these fans a few weeks ago?"

The same place the people who've suddenly been buying all the Real Women Have Curves tickets were: doing other things.

It's almost as if closing announcements spur people to see something they otherwise were in no (ahem) rush to see while they still can. 🤔"

Well, DUH

[Charley Kringas Inc]

Posted: 6/21/25 at 7:57pm

Owen22 said: "gibsons2 said: "Less weird, "passion project" stuff and more musicals people can see themselves in and relate to, please. Those tend to stick around for a while."

This gem of ashow was all about people. Real people who found they could express themselves to Elmer, sometimes their secret selves. One of the most human shows of the season. With the best score of TWO seasons!"

I also found it moving and kind of uplifting in how it expressed the pointlessness of life as being normal and fine. Everyone's going to die and be forgotten, so the best thing you can do is be the best person you can and just go about your life while you have it. It's a very "make your garden grow" kind of message and I loved how it was able to express that.

[Bobster159]

Posted: 6/21/25 at 8:48pm

MemorableUserName said: "ACL2006 said: "Their in-person rush today was super crowded. Where were these fans a few weeks ago?"

The same place the people who've suddenly been buying all the Real Women Have Curves tickets were: doing other things.

It's almost as if closing announcements spur people to see something they otherwise were in no (ahem) rush to see while they still can. 🤔"

In my experience, there are also many repeat attendees/fans rushing after the closing announcements. This is your last chance to see something you love. So some are no doubt newcomers who've been holding off, but a lot are last-chance saloon repeaters.

[MrsSallyAdams]

Posted: 6/21/25 at 10:38pm

I had bought a ticket for July. This isn't the first time a show has closed between my ticket purchase and performance date. I can't always get to NYC in the window producers want us to.

[djoko84]

Posted: 6/22/25 at 2:35am

Has anyone done a wellness check on CoffeeBreak?

[DrMonicaDeMoneco]

Posted: 6/22/25 at 3:12am

MrsSallyAdams said: "I had bought a ticket for July. This isn't the first time a show has closed between my ticket purchase and performance date. I can't always get to NYC in the window producers want us to."

Wow, u have bad luck. Or bad taste?? 

[MrsSallyAdams]

Posted: 6/22/25 at 8:42am

I like off-beat musicals. And the cast album sounded more interesting than several of the other shows running right now.

[MichelleCraig]

Posted: 6/23/25 at 10:19pm

The performance on the Tony Awards was intriguing and I do hope it tours.

Will Part 2 of the cast album be released?

Updated On: 6/23/25 at 10:19 PM

[Owen22]

Posted: 6/24/25 at 10:16am

 

From Onstage Blog:

What Do Broadway Audiences Want? A Farewell to “Dead Outlaw”

Jun 24



(Photo: Matthew Murphy)

by Chris Peterson

On paper, Dead Outlaw should have been a Broadway hit.

It had an original story, a sharp creative team, and rave reviews. Music by the criminally underrated David Yazbek. A book by Itamar Moses. And directed by one of my faves, David Cromer. If you’re building a musical from scratch, that’s a dream team. Add in a true story about an outlaw whose mummified body became a sideshow attraction after his death, and you’ve got something bold, bizarre, and completely unlike anything else on Broadway.

And yet, the show will close on June 29 at the Longacre Theatre, after just 73 regular performances.

It’s a tough goodbye. Dead Outlaw didn’t crash and burn. It didn’t miss the mark. In fact, it checked every single box people claim to want: original, daring, intelligent, fresh, and well-reviewed. It won a slew of awards for its off-Broadway run and earned seven Tony nominations this year. Critics loved it. The cast album is a knockout. But somehow, that wasn’t enough.

So here we are, watching another strong show fade out way too early—and asking, once again, what does Broadway really want?

Because if a show like Dead Outlaw can’t make it, we need to stop pretending Broadway is a place that rewards originality. Not unless it comes with a celebrity, a famous brand name, or a guaranteed audience built in. This season was packed with revivals, sequels, adaptations, and legacy titles. In that kind of landscape, Dead Outlaw was fighting for air from the beginning.

Producers Lia Vollack and Sonia Friedman put it plainly: “The commercial momentum just wasn’t fast enough in a crowded season.” They’re not wrong. The show didn’t win any Tonys. It didn’t have a movie tie-in or a major star. It wasn’t based on a book everyone read in high school. What it had was story, craft, and heart—and right now, that’s not always enough.

This isn’t just about one show closing. It’s about a pattern. Risky(Redwood), thoughtful(Suffs), original shows(Swept Away) are getting squeezed out. Meanwhile, ticket prices keep rising, and audiences keep choosing familiarity over discovery. Who can blame them? If you’re spending $150 on a night out, are you going to gamble on something new, or see the thing you already know you’ll like?

It’s not just economics. It’s psychology. People are tired, overworked, and cautious. But if we keep saying no to shows like Dead Outlaw, we’re going to wake up one day with nothing left but jukeboxes and reboots.

Online, fans are already mourning. “Dropping like flies,” one person wrote. Another pleaded, “If you haven’t seen it, go before it’s gone.” But by now, it’s too late. The final week is here. The seats are suddenly full. That always happens. The urgency kicks in once the show is already slipping away.

There is a small silver lining. The cast recording is out now, and a full audio play will release on Audible this fall. Like the outlaw at the center of the story, Dead Outlaw may have a strange and winding afterlife. But Broadway is where it belonged, and it didn’t get the time it deserved.

It’s frustrating because this show did everything right. It was smart. It was different. It didn’t play it safe. And it still couldn’t survive.

So again—what does Broadway really want?

If the answer is “more of the same,” we’re going to keep losing shows like this. If the answer is “something new,” then we all—audiences, producers, critics, and institutions—have to start acting like it. That means buying tickets, yes, but it also means giving shows time to grow. It means lifting up the ones that take a risk. It means paying attention.

Because we can’t say we want fresh voices and then ignore them when they show up. Broadway doesn’t just need new stories. It needs people willing to listen.

 

 

 

Updated On: 6/24/25 at 10:16 AM

[Kad]

Posted: 6/24/25 at 10:21am

I appreciate Peterson’s sentiment, but he neglects to mention that the the best musical winner this year was a Korean show about love struck robots written by fairly young writers making their Broadway debut and that built a strong audience base after a very rocky start. 
 

[tomorrowBIGLITES]

Posted: 6/24/25 at 10:35am

People need to stop pretending the Tony awards performance doesn’t matter.

 

Montage, medley, SELL the show. 

[Mr. Wormwood]

Posted: 6/24/25 at 10:47am

Kad said: "I appreciate Peterson’s sentiment, but he neglects to mention that the the best musical winner this year was a Korean show about love struck robots written by fairly young writers making their Broadway debut and thatbuilt a strong audience base after a very rocky start.
"

Exactly. I was just coming to say the same thing. This article would hold a lot more weight if shows like Maybe Happy Ending and Kimberly Akimbo haven't won the top Tony in recent years and had success at the box office (to a certain degree in Kimberly's case, I know it closed at a loss). Shucked did decently too and Operation Mincemeat is hanging on. And that's not even dipping back to pre-Covid with shows like Dear Evan Hanse and Come From Away.

Once Upon a One More Time was Britney Spears music and fairy tales and it flopped. Smash had IP recognition. Mrs. Doubtfire and The Notebook are two beloved movies. The list goes on.

Both Big IP shows and wholly original ones can flop or be a success. Maybe original stories have a bit of a tougher hill to climb but plenty have done it. Yes, it did seem like Dead Outlaw should work with the acclaim it received. For whatever reason it didn't connect but it's not because original stories can't work and that's a dumb conclusion to draw.

[carolinaguy]

Posted: 6/24/25 at 10:56am

The article mentions somewhere that the show has "heart." I disagree with that point. Maybe Happy Ending became a word-of-mouth hit because people fell in love with the characters. Despite a great score, Dead Outlaw doesn't offer that IMO. The title tells you what you happens, then the book is "this happened, then this happened." There's no emotional connection there, and to me, that is critical to being commercially successful. It doesn't automatically mean big box office, but without it, you're sunk.

[tomorrowBIGLITES]

Posted: 6/24/25 at 11:26am

Maybe Happy Ending has its finger on the pulse of the moment.

Original musicals can thrive but the “why this story now?” has to be REALLY strong.

Maybe Happy Ending’s why is tremendously clear

[Charley Kringas Inc]

Posted: 6/24/25 at 11:54am

The main emotional impact I felt from Dead Outlaw was a sense of wonder at the fleeting smallness of life, which is kind of a cerebral reaction for a show to provoke, and it doesn't surprise me that that didn't translate into boffo box office. I can't say the advertising was particularly good, either, and I would even include the dryly succinct title in that.

Also, my god, is the Longacre cursed or something?

[bear88]

Posted: 6/24/25 at 9:29pm

Peterson’s article comes off as strangely naive. Glowing reviews notwithstanding, Dead Outlaw had no chance. It wasn’t a show that the average theatergoer was going to embrace because that wasn’t its goal. The musical was deliberately distancing - the first half presents an unappealing central character who is both a racist drunk and an incompetent crook. The second half is a series of revue sketches and songs after his demise, and the running theme is a song telling the audience they’re all going to die. The score is great and the show is often funny but it’s not exactly a musical that’s aimed at the masses, or even many regular theatergoers. I liked it, despite a few qualms, and was hoping it would find an audience. But I’m not surprised it didn’t, especially in these times and with a lot of tough competition at the very end of the season.

The show’s only chance was opening in a weak season and that’s not what happened. Maybe Happy Ending, which I saw the night before, is a brilliant, well-constructed original musical that did all the things Dead Outlaw pointedly refused to do. And I don’t think it is an accident that it thrived on word of mouth with a story that allows the audience to escape from real-world troubles even while addressing some serious themes.

There is always a show or two each season with plenty of brilliance that doesn’t make it on Broadway. Dead Outlaw’s failure isn’t really a sign of anything. It was always going to be a tough sell. Peterson is forgetting the obvious truth: Most new Broadway musicals are flops.

Updated On: 6/25/25 at 09:29 PM

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 6/24/25 at 9:48pm

bear88 said: "There is always a show or two each season that’s flawed with plenty of brilliance that doesn’t make it on Broadway. Dead Outlaw’s failure isn’t really a sign of anything. It was always going to be a tough sell. Peterson is forgetting the obvious truth: Most new Broadway musicals are flops."

Peterson’s entire article reeks of self-entitlement. The sad truth is that it is increasingly rare for a new musical to run beyond 2-3 months post-opening in this current economy. 

Updated On: 6/24/25 at 09:48 PM

[inception]

Posted: 6/25/25 at 10:44am

This makes me think of Side Show, which flopped twice on Broadway.  Although many have come to love the score, it was just too odd a story to sell to general audiences. 

[JSquared2]

Posted: 6/25/25 at 12:48pm

bear88 said: "Peterson’s article comes off as strangely naive. Glowing reviews notwithstanding,Dead Outlawhad no chance. It wasn’t a show that the average theatergoer was going to embrace because that wasn’t its goal. The musical was deliberately distancing - the first half presents an unappealing central character who is both a racist drunk and an incompetent crook. The second half is a series of revue sketches and songs after his demise, and the running theme is a song telling the audience they’re all going to die. The score is great and the show is often funny but it’s not exactly a musical that’s aimed at the masses, or even many regular theatergoers. I liked it, despite a few qualms, and was hoping it would find an audience. But I’m not surprised it didn’t, especially in these times and with a lot of tough competition at the very end of the season.

At least Peterson is consistent -- he's ALWAYS a f*ucking moron.  He makes the smelly nutsack seem like Solomon the Wise in comparison.

 

[everythingtaboo]

Posted: 6/25/25 at 2:02pm

Thankfully he included the statement from the producers, because that was the only part of the article that made any sense.

Also, he mentions twice the cast recording is out. Does he mention it's part one, and how aggravating that is in general? No.

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 6/29/25 at 1:55pm

Anyone going to closing today?

[tacotheatrelover]

Posted: 6/29/25 at 1:55pm

Anyone going today?

It definitely should not be the closing performance, but what can ya do? 

I hope this show finds a life on the road, or regional theatre, or just somewhere that it can be seen by audiences that have easier access to this show. It should not be closing today, this is one I'm actively pissed about.