Tony Nominee Andrew Durand on Starring in Dead Outlaw, the Most Unblinking Show on Broadway

When the stars are bright, like these stars
So they almost hurt your eyes
It's like maybe God is singing you a song
Singing you a song

Andrew Durand remembers his first time reading these lyrics on page one of Dead Outlaw. They're the opening salvo to David Yazbek and Erik Della Penna's Americana-scented score—a lullaby subduing audiences at the Longacre Theatre with the warm embrace of a campfire and the watchful eye of a benevolent God. And then: "Alright, boys. Let's go rob that f**kin' train."

Durand has earned his first Tony nomination for his performance as failed train robber-turned celebrity corpse Elmer McCurdy—a role that stands out in the canon of male leads, not only for the emotional puppetry of moments like that opening number, but for the fact that McCurdy's stage presence only grows more magnificent the longer he's been dead. 

"Probably 40-45 minutes," Durand tells Tamsen Fadal on The Broadway Show, estimating the amount of time he has to stand stock-still in an upright coffin in front of a paying crowd. He's got tricks of the trade to make the task possible. But with a show this juicy, he doesn't much mind the physical challenges. "As a person who's done theater for my whole life, since I was 10 years old, I'm so excited about this show," he says. "It really is unique, individual, different. There's nothing else like it and there's not ever been anything like it." 

Watch the full video below.