That's the Beauty of a Gun: Outlaws at NYMF

This last week of NYMF rolls on, and though an unexpected sickness kept me from seeing Kiki Baby last night, I did have the pleasure of seeing the final performance of Outlaws: The Ballad of Billy The Kid on Sunday at the McGinn/Cazale Theatre. Not knowing a ton about Billy the Kid going into the show, I was really excited to see how the tale of the gun-slinging legend would be retold through a modern rock lens.

I'm happy to report that the outlaws of the Wild West translate rather flawlessly to a rock musical. There was a palpable energy and youthfulness that emanated from the stage as Billy and his gang of outcasts try to escape their complicated family lives and find freedom in California. The soaring score really helps highlight some of the teen angst and anger bubbling to the surface in this rag-tag group of misfits, and there were definitely a couple of tunes stuck in my head after leaving the theatre, most notably "We Do Whatever We Want" and "That's What They Said." I especially liked how a cast of only 6 felt like a cast of many more, and it was an especially nice touch for many of the actors to serve as a kind of Greek chorus in Billy's darker times. Though the NYMF run is over, you can still listen to tunes from the show on its website and be on the lookout for more from these writers in the future.