2024 - 2025 Broadway Musical Logos: Dead Outlaw

We end this season of show art with the logo for the last show to open: Dead Outlaw. An acclaimed off-Broadway transfer, this musical tells the true story of a man who was more famous after he was dead than he ever was when he was alive. Will the advertising imagery keep this alive on Broadway? We think so.

2024 - 2025 Broadway Musical Logos:

Dead Outlaw

Truth be told, this is one of my favorites of the past couple of seasons. It is sharp, eye-catching and will look great on the Playbill, the marquee and on merch. Will a t-shirt be in my future? The color scheme is a study in contrast, perfect against a sinister(ish) deep purple background. The yellow-orange of the title stands out and works well with the roguish red bandanna image. Immediately, we know this is a masked bandit situation.

The font looks like it might be on an old wanted poster, or maybe wooden slats... maybe a wooden casket... apropos for this particular story of a man paraded around the country in one.

Then there's the bandanna, another natural fit for this guy, who was killed in an attempted robbery. But a closer look at it reveals some fun details. The bright red is textured like real cloth and even has edge "stitching." Like any classic bandanna, it is a repetitive pattern in white. It practically tells the story! Down the center, we have a guitar (it is a musical, after all), a sheriff's star (outlaws always have the sheriff after them), and a bag of money (there's a robbery!). Around the edge are railroad tracks, perfect for the two trains at the top (it's a train robbery!). The major pattern is all about the subject of the tale, Elmer McCurdy. The cowboy hats and guns fit our Wild West guy, and I'll bet both a woman (the flower) and alcohol figure prominently in the show, too. Of course, you only keep those bottles upside down when they are empty; the broken hearts on the labels hint that the booze broke some hearts.

Even if I'm completely reading all of that wrong, it is compelling enough to make we want to see how it all plays out. If the show is even half as good as the show art is, I'll bet it is as amazing as everyone says it is. 

Grade: A+