DEAD OUTLAW SET DESIGNER ARNULFO MALDONADO

On creating a set and a story that keeps surprising you.

In this astonishing overfull jack-in-the-box moment of the 2023-2024 Broadway season, there are also some really exceptional shows happening far from the Great White Way.

Perhaps my favorite is Dead Outlaw, a new musical from David Yazbeck and Erik Della Penna, with book by Itamar Moses (whose other current off-Broadway show The Ally is another fantastic show, and one I will be covering here soon).

Warning: Spoilers ahead.

Dead Outlaw tells the true story of Elmer McCurdy, a small time criminal from the turn of the last century, who ended up getting shot to death at age 31 after a failed bank robbery…

…and then his mummified remains became a sideshow entertainment at various sites for much of the next sixty years.

Yeah. It’s wild.