Following a spring 2024 Off-Broadway run at Audible’s Minetta Lane Theatre, “Dead Outlaw” will take a Broadway bow next spring. The musical, which features a book by Tony Award winner Itamar Moses and music and lyrics by Erik Della Penna and Tony winner David Yazbek, will begin previews on April 12, 2025 and open on April 27 at the Longacre Theatre. David Cromer, who directed the Off-Broadway staging, will repeat his work at the helm of the Main Stem mounting, which is being produced by Lia Vollack Productions and Sonia Friedman Productions.
“Dead Outlaw” is inspired by the real life (and after life) of Elmer McCurdy, an outlaw who died in a shootout in 1911. McCurdy’s body finds even more outlandish adventures in death than it could have ever hoped for in life, as the musical comedy explores fame, failure and legacy. The Audible production was nominated for ten 2024 Drama Desk Awards, taking home the top honor as Outstanding Musical. Moses’ book and Yazbek and Della Penna’s lyrics also received wins.
“Dead Outlaw” will mark a Main Stem reunion for Moses, Yazbek and Cromer, who previously collaborated on 2017’s Tony-winning Best Musical “The Band’s Visit”; the trio of creatives also each took home a Tony Award for the musical’s book, score and direction, respectively. “Dead Outlaw” will be the second spring 2025 production for both Yazbek and Cromer; Yazbek is serving as a music consultant on “Buena Vista Social Club,” while Cromer is set to direct “Good Night, and Good Luck.”
Della Penna’s Broadway credits include playing guitar for two prior Yazbek-scored musicals, 2010’s “Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown” and 2005’s “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels”; “Dead Outlaw” will mark his first Broadway songwriting credit.
Casting for “Dead Outlaw” and additional members of the creative team will be announced.
The Longacre is the current home of “Swept Away,” which is slated to conclude its run on Dec. 29.
