Broadway Access Review -
Dead Outlaw

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ID: image of the Dead Outlaw Playbill in front of the stage with the text "Access Review" on top

 

General Note

This is a review of the accessibility of the theater, of the lighting/sound/scent design of the show, and a list of content warnings as a way to prep folks with various needs before they go see it. 

This is not meant to scare anyone away from seeing the show. Most productions have about the same amount of content warnings and sensory warnings to go along with it, they’re just rarely explicitly written down. 

For some people, knowing these things ahead of time makes it easier to enjoy the show because they know what to expect. And, often, makes those people more likely to see it in the first place. I hope that it’s helpful!

I am also happy to clarify any specifics, just send me a message or an email and I will respond when I can.

Also please note that I make these while seeing a show for the first time, so I may miss some cues or be slightly off as to their placement/cue line!

Theater

(Longacre Theatre)

All comments on the accessibility of lighting are in reference to seats in the center mezzanine

Bathrooms:

  • divided into the binary, though there is a sign that says “Please use the restroom that best fits your gender identity or expression.”

  • located a flight of stairs below the orchestra and up in the balcony level with an accessible restroom on the orchestra and balcony levels

  • the basement bathrooms have different entrance/exit doors, with the entrance on the staircase side

Other theater accessibility:

  • there is an elevator in this theater, though it only goes to the balcony; the orch is the only entire step-free level

  • they offer closed captioning, assistive listening, loop receivers, and audio description devices, available on the orchestra level

Click here for more information on the physical accessibility of this theater.

Light/Sound/Scent

General:

  • I might recommend earplugs for this show– it does make the mix a little muddy (so it’s harder to understand the words), but the show is fairly loud. I had one in and one out which was a good balance for me

  • the show runs 100 minutes without an intermission

  • the guitars cause a great deal of accidental strobe throughout the show because of how shiny they are

  • the sensory accessibility of this show is similar to that of Six, Spamalot, and Titanique

The Show:

  • “let’s go rob that fuckin’ train” - loud drum start to Dead

    • brief flashlight pointed at the audience

    • on/off fairy lights during claps until end of song

  • heartbeat sound effect when it’s just Elmer + Dad onstage and continues until Dad exits

  • Killed a Man in Maine - occasional pulse of the stage lights– there are also lights around the proscenium pointed at the audience that brightly flash 4x, the proscenium lights very slowly get brighter and then dimmer and back again, and footlights on the stage come up pointed at the audience very briefly 

  • after Dead (reprise), content warning for the dead body

  • light gets pointed at the audience inadvertently while the stage slowly turns 

  • quick side light on after Nobody Knows Your Name

  • explosions noises of the safe are clear each time (there are 4), the fourth one has a quick white flashing light but it’s small and inside the safe

  • “3 2 1 fire in the hole!” - another explosion, also not too loud (this one does not have a flash)

  • ~5-6 gunshots directly into the air in quick succession after the squabble over there not being a safe. This is the only time guns are audibly shot in the show

  • body returns after Leave Me Be (I think, my notes on song name are unclear here)

  • loud drum after people come to see the corpse – this song (Something From Nothing) includes back lights pointed at the audience that get bright

  • Andy Payne - some on/off and quick transition lights throughout. Overall not too flashy, but perhaps a little disorienting

  • “So he followed it” - ~30 sec projector-style flicker light that returns again after both “if you were me”s

  • body returns after the audio of them finding Elmer is repeated - this song (Up to the Stars) has brief front row audience interaction

  • big boom of a crematorium opening after “thank you, no questions”

  • Dead (Finale) - on/off fairy lights for the claps 

  • quick single flash of the proscenium lights pointed at the audience on the final note after bows

Content Advisory

  • death

  • light gore – there is a fake dead body version of Elmer that appears a few times, usually for no more than a minute each time 

  • descriptions of gunshot wounds and autopsy info

  • guns (only shot in one moment)

  • violence 

  • alcoholism