My Day Trip From Canada to See the Final Saturday Matinee of Dead Outlaw

My obsession with Dead Outlaw began when I first heard about the Audible production at the Minetta Lane Theatre in early 2024. The name itself had me intrigued. Then to find out it was a musical based on a true story about, cowboys, criminals, and corpses? Yes please.

I try to get to New York City a couple of times a year and cram as many shows as I can into four or five days. Sometimes the timing works out and I’m able to see everything on my list. Other times, I’m not quite so fortunate. I’d heard and read only good things about Dead Outlaw, so it quickly shot to the top on my must-see list. Sadly, the seven-week off-Broadway run didn’t fit into my schedule, so I missed out.

Fast-forward to December 2024, when the Broadway transfer was announced. Hooray! I started looking at July for a long weekend in the city, and a date with a corpse.

When word came down on June 20 that the show was closing the following weekend, I was crushed. How dare they close before I have a chance to see it? I tried to console myself: “Well, hopefully it tours,” I thought. But it just wouldn’t be the same.

Ideas about getting to New York before June 29 started floating around in my head and I knew I had to make it happen. Did I mention that I live in Toronto? The element of international travel added to the challenge of this proposition, but I was undaunted.

Well, I was a little daunted. With the 51^st state rhetoric and Canada’s Elbows Up stance when it comes to our neighbors to the south, I almost felt like a traitor crossing the border. Many Canadians are avoiding US products, and services wherever possible—you wouldn’t believe the piles of untouched US strawberries at our grocery stores—and here I was, going to New York City to see a show.

But I paused my boycott and started looking at flights and hotels. Of course, everything is very expensive. Honestly, I was expecting better prices having heard how much the current political landscape has been impacting tourism in NYC.

To cut lodging out of the equation, I decided to fly in Saturday morning, attend the matinee, and fly home that evening. The catch? By the time I made this decision, all Saturday morning flights were sold out or close to it. I decided to attempt traveling standby.

The first flight I “listed” for was at 6:15am. I arrived at the airport nice and early with my fingers crossed. After using my unconfirmed standby boarding pass to get through security, I made my way to the gate. I approached the agent and let her know I was traveling standby, and she quickly said, “It’s full. You’ll have to wait.”

No problem. I patiently sat there, watching the stream of passengers board the plane, silently hoping that at least one person overslept. As the line dwindled, I spotted a man running toward to the gate waving his boarding pass. Did I just lose my opportunity to get to NYC? After the man boarded, the gate agents looked around the boarding area and started paging a couple of passengers. Could it be? Could there be no-shows? With no sign of the paged passengers, the agent looked at me and told me I was good to go.

Onboard I learned that a couple of flights the night before had been canceled, leading to all Saturday flights being sold out. I felt extra lucky after hearing that.

After landing at LaGuardia, I immediately made my way to the Longacre Theatre because I still didn’t have a ticket for the show. With flights being so full, I really didn’t want to buy a ticket in advance in case I didn’t make it out of Toronto. I tried the lottery the day before with no luck. I arrived at the theater at 9am and my heart sank; there must have been at least 40 people in line at the box office. Would there still be a ticket available by the time I got to the window? Yes! Rush seats were gone, but I was able to purchase a decent mezzanine seat. What a relief!

I grabbed a bite to eat, wandered around a bit, and then made my way back to the Longacre to finally see Dead Outlaw. While waiting to get in, there were a few people walking down the line asking if anyone had a single ticket. The man in front of me said, “There could be one; she’s not very interested in seeing this,” pointing to the woman he was with. I was aghast! With that, I proceeded to tell them what I had gone through to get there to see Dead Outlaw on its final weekend. She said she was more interested in seeing the show after that.

Dead Outlaw was amazing! The band rocked, and the songs had just the right amount of twang. Andrew Durand’s performance (alive and dead) was mesmerizing. Going in, I was a little concerned the corpse of Elmer McCurdy might be distracting, but its presence only complemented the strong performances of the rest of the company.

It was a long day, and a little stressful, but totally worth it. I’m a Trusted Traveler, making it easier and faster to get through airport security and immigration, and I’m a tall, white, blonde woman so wasn’t too concerned about getting snatched off the street by ICE. If I didn’t have these privileges, I’m not sure I would have made the trip, but thankful I do and that I did.

I still hope it tours, because I want to see it again.

Candice Thomas is a senior account executive with TheaterMania.