“I would stage that at any Broadway theater tonight.”

— Joseph Stein, Bookwriter for Fiddler on a Roof, after presentation of excerpts from “Dead End the Musical” at the ASCAP Musical Theater Workshop

“Let’s get this musical to Broadway as soon as possible!”

— Sidney Kingsley, Author of “Dead End” the play, while heading to Sardi’s for cocktails with the producers after a reading at the Dramatists Guild

“The work is professional and always honest.”

— Stephen Sondheim, in a letter to the creative team after listening to a recording of a live Dramatists Guild workshop presentation

Almost ninety years after its Broadway premiere, Sidney Kingsley’s enduring landmark play, "Dead End", has been adapted into a powerful and entertaining musical. Like Kingsley’s play in 1935, DEAD END THE MUSICAL, set on Manhattan’s East Side during the Depression, shines a light on the social ills of a time and place that resonate today: hunger, poverty, crime, class struggle, and economic and social inequality. It is also a story about justice and redemption, love and desire, hopes and dreams.

DEAD END THE MUSICAL is the third concept musical album from the award winning songwriting team of Neil Fishman and Harvey Edelman, whose previous two albums garnered numerous Audie and SOVAS awards. Teamed with Peter C. Palame with whom they created the wildly entertaining Off-Broadway show, “On The Air,” the trio have collaborated on a musical set in the 1930’s that is meant for our times.

DEAD END THE MUSICAL is a gritty, realistic story of a young woman activist seeking a better life for her and her teenage brother, an unemployed architect envisioning a better world, a kept woman who clings to a rich man lest she slip back into poverty, and a notorious gangster returning to recapture the innocence of his childhood. All the while, a group of rich folks literally look down on this neighborhood from their adjacent luxury tower, as the neighborhood kids roam the streets with unbridled antics and carefree innocence.

“Dead End” the play, subsequently made into an Academy Award nominated film starring Humphrey Bogart, Claire Trevor, Joel McCrea, and Sylvia Sidney, was also the genesis for the iconic Dead End Kids.

The concept album of DEAD END THE MUSICAL, released on May 1st, 2022, has a cast of 16 Broadway caliber performers and twenty musical numbers. As a full length, fully orchestrated, multicast production, with sound effects and musical underscoring, the concept album delivers a truly theatrical experience.

Young theatre lovers will identify with the vitality and mischievous fun of the Dead End Kids, and older audiences will be enthralled by the classic American story portraying a very real and human drama.

Note: Contains some scatological language that some people may find offensive, as well as some subtle but adult situations. Not recommended for young children.

Dead End the Musical is a story of poverty, hunger, social injustice and income inequality, but it is mostly about dreams for a better life. We had a dream too… to take Sidney Kingsley’s Depression era landmark play and turn it into a powerful and entertaining musical for a new generation of musical theater enthusiasts. Welcome to our dream…

— Harvey Edelman, Neil Fishman, and Peter C. Palame, the writers and producers of DEAD END THE MUSICAL