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“I became completely obsessed with this show as soon as I read the script,” shares Julia Knitel about the new Broadway musical Dead Outlaw. The narrative revolves around the astonishingly true tale of Elmer McCurdy, an amateur bandit who was killed by lawmen in the early 1900s, with his mummified remains wandering through various exhibitions for six decades.
Knitel previously starred in the off-Broadway version last year at Minetta Lane and admits to feeling “so intimidated” by the opportunity to collaborate with the “team of geniuses” behind the transformation of this folk figure into a theatrical piece, including Tony Award recipients David Cromer, Itamar Moses, and David Yazbek. As the musical finds its footing at the Longacre Theatre, she expresses feeling “more at home” and considers the opportunity to revisit the material “dreamy.” In a recent interview, Knitel delved into the intricacies of this simultaneously moving and absurdist production.
Throughout Dead Outlaw, Knitel embodies multiple roles, primarily functioning as McCurdy’s mother, Helen, his fiancée, Maggie, and a young girl named Millicent, who shares a unique bond with him. The creative choice to have a single actress portray all three women resonates deeply. She explains that these roles engage in a dialogue, emphasizing that they often exhibit the only compassion and care for Elmer. Knitel articulates the emotional depth in her musical numbers, stating, “In this cold, harsh world, these soft songs come out and blossom like a little desert flower.”
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Although her time as Helen is brief, Knitel highlights the crucial conversations between Elmer and his mother, noting one pivotal moment as a defining change in the story. She describes this dynamic as rendering Elmer “incapable of love for the rest of time,” a deficiency that becomes apparent in his relationship with Maggie. Their duet, “Normal,” encapsulates the future they dream of together. “I love that song so much. I really find myself completely living in the moment of that and not ever thinking about what happens next,” Knitel reflects.
A notable highlight in Knitel’s performance is Maggie’s song, “A Stranger,” where she must confront the body of her deceased former fiancé. Despite the limited shared stage time with Elmer, the emotional weight of the song is palpable. “The beautiful and tragic thing about love is that it doesn’t matter how they treat you, if you love them, you love them,” she muses, explaining Maggie’s profound tenderness towards Elmer. Her chemistry with co-star Andrew Durand, who plays Elmer, aids her in accessing these raw emotions. “I love Andrew so much, it’s really easy to access. I just walk out there and see his dead body lying on a slab … as soon as the music starts, it just sort of takes me on the ride.”
“A Stranger” also introduces a unique staging moment, as Maggie transitions from the morgue to an on-stage bandstand for the remainder of the performance. “That was actually a big conversation during rehearsal, finding the balance of, ‘Is this Maggie? Is this Julia breaking out and stepping up and taking in the audience?’” Knitel recalls. This creative choice reflects the broader ethos of the musical, which aims to break conventional storytelling methods. She notes, “We’re going to break the walls, we’re gonna break the conventions, and we’re not going to tell you a typical story.” Adding a personal touch, she makes eye contact with each musician in the band as if seeking reciprocal permission to step into that space.
Shortly after Maggie’s poignant moments conclude, Knitel adopts the role of Millicent, the 10-year-old daughter of a man who exploits McCurdy’s corpse for marketing purposes. While the situation is absurd, Knitel believes Millicent’s song represents “such a perfect musical theater song,” allowing her character to undergo a complete arc. “She’s so full of life and she’s so universal. In this show that is all about universal themes — life and death and loss and love — she gets to the core that we have in all of us, which is this inner child who is bullied, who is going through it, who has her first crush, and then moving, going off to school, going off to life.” Additionally, Millicent’s entrance allows Knitel to showcase her “blood curdling” scream to comic effect.
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The universal themes brought forth by Millicent become prominent in one of the musical’s concluding scenes. Although specifics are withheld to avoid spoilers for those who have yet to experience it, the finale showcases Dead Outlaw’s signature blend of humor and poignancy, leading to varied audience reactions after each performance. “People sometimes laugh so hard and so long and in so many waves that they miss the entire last chorus that we sing,” Knitel admits.
Knitel aspires for audiences to reflect on “life and how short it can be and how the people in your life really matter” after leaving the theater. The retelling of McCurdy’s saga has prompted her to contemplate her own life choices and the legacy she wishes to leave behind. She muses whether McCurdy harbored any regrets, asking, “Do you wish it went differently? Or did you love going out in a blaze of fire like that little boy who just wanted to be Jesse James? Was this actually as much as you could have hoped for, or do you wish you stayed in town with Maggie?” Beyond these contemplative questions, she also desires the audience to leave feeling, “This is the weirdest, coolest, most incredible musical I’ve ever seen!”
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