droll

“Dead Outlaw” evokes at moments the droll perversity of “Sweeney Todd,” the cold-hearted glee of “Assassins” and the Brechtian skewering of “Road Show” — Sondheim musicals that fly in the face of conventional musical theater wisdom.

The book’s title makes a droll pun for “lair,” a villainous place of danger or death, while his vivid, mostly monochrome abstract photographs of poisoned atmosphere wittily recall fashionable Color Field paintings.

It’s smartly written, festooned with quirky business, farcical situations, droll asides.

As a frontwoman, she developed her own style – a droll mixture of sprechgesang and her fluttering, airy upper register.

Daniel Breaker as the Jester is as droll a narrator as he is dreamy a singer.