Friday, December 9, 2011

Theater Review: Bonnie & Clyde

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Laura Osnes and Jeremy Jordan. Photo: Nathan Johnson
They've Got the Lore Down, but Not the Lure
By Lauren Yarger
A musical about Depression-era outlaws Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow might not be on everyone's most wanted list, but the Broadway show starring super vocal talents Laura Osnes  and Jeremy Jordan singing one of the best scores to date from Frank Wildhorn (Jekyll & Hyde, The Scarlet Pimpernel, The Civil War, Wonderland) is worth a quick getaway to the box office.

Ivan Menchell's book sticks close to the facts about the couple who left a trail of bank robberies and murders across the south central US before being gunned down by the law in 1934. He offers a lot of details about who they were and how they ended up choosing an outlaw lifestyle and removes some of the glamour associated with them and enhanced in the popular film about them in the 1960s starring sexy Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty. What he can't capture, perhaps because there is no real explanation for it, is why the couple are regarded as heroes of any kind. They weren't very nice or likable people -- and they're not really here either, so it's hard to get on board with them as the leads of a musical. Menchell at least gives us enough insight to make them interesting, though. And it's all worth it, just to hear the music.

The couple (he was 20, she was 19) meet in poverty in West Dallas, TX and fall almost immediately in love (despite the fact that Bonnie has an absentee husband). Clyde has always gotten into trouble with his brother, Buck (Claybourne Elder), but Buck's devoutly religious wife, Blanche (Melissa Van der Shyff) convinces him to make a fresh start and to turn himself in to authorities after he and Clyde break out of jail. The preacher (Michael Lanning) baptizes him (with a terrific ballad/gospel number called "God's Arms Are Always Open") and for years, tries to live a straight life with Blanche.

Clyde resolves to have money, clothes and Bonnie and supports himself by committing small robberies while dreaming of becoming famous like his boyhood hero, Billy the Kid (Talon Ackerman plays a young Clyde, already convinced he can solve any problem with a gun). Bonnie's mother, Emma (Mimi Bessette), urges her daughter to forget about no-good Clyde and encourages the courtship of lawman Ted Hinton (Louis Hobson). Fame and attention also attract Bonnie, however, who once dreamed of being a movie star (dynamic singer Kelsey Fowler plays young Bonnie). She wants out of nowhere Texas.

Abused during his latest time in jail, Clyde turns to murder. Bonnie breaks him out and the two begin a life of crime together.

"We are the heroes that people look up to and that feels great," they sing.

Life on the lam isn't all it's cracked up to be, however, and Bonnie thinks about leaving. Their overwhelming need for each other -- and periodic trips back to visit their families -- help push doubt aside. Eventually Buck and Blanche join them on their robbing and killing rampage.

The harsh story is offset by a paneled, changing set by Tobin Ost (who also does the period costumes) lighted by Michael Gilliam and home for projections of photos and other images by Aaron Rhyne. Jeff Calhoun directs (and also is credited with choreography, though there are no real dance numbers as we expect in a musical) and wisely starts with the couple's ambush in their Ford V8. We know how it all ended -- this is a story of why.

The real star here, however, is Wildhorn's terrific score (with smart lyrics by Don Black). Sounding different from any of his other musicals, it's right up there with Jekyll & Hyde for having some really lovely ballads, belt-challenging climbs for several of the singers and there's a beautiful duet for Blanche and Bonnie  "You Love Who You Love" (think "In His Eyes"). The beauty of the blues-driven music and the excellent vocal quality of the cast make this enjoyable, even if the lure of Bonnie and Clyde proves less so.

Bonnie & Clyde are in the line up at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, 236 West 45th St., NYC. Discounted tickets are available by clicking here.

Christians might also like to know:
-- Minor language
--God's name taken in vain
--Adultery
--Blood, violence
Posted by Lauren Yarger at 2:12 PM

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My Bio

Lauren Yarger is Executive Director/Producer with Masterwork Productions, Inc. She has written, directed and produced numerous shows and special events for both secular and Christian audiences. She co-wrote a Christian musical version of “A Christmas Carol” which played to sold-out audiences of over 3,000 in Vermont and was awarded the 2000 Vermont Bessie (theater and film awards) for “People’s Choice for Theatre.” She also has written two other dinner theaters, sketches for church services and devotions for Christian artists.

Yarger trained for three years in the Broadway League’s Producer Development Program, completed the Commercial Theater Institute's Producing Three-Day Training and produced a one-woman musical about Mary Magdalene that toured nationally and closed with an off-Broadway run.

In 2008 she was a Fellow at the National Critics Institute at the O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford, CT. She writes reviews of Broadway and off-Broadway theater with a Christian perspective for Masterwork Productions (http://reflectionsinthelight.blogspot.com/) and is Connecticut theater editor for CurtainUp http://www.curtainup.com/, a national theater web site based in New York and editor of The Connecticut Arts Connection, an online source for news and reviews (http://ctarts.blogspot.com/).

She also worked in arts management for The Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts in Hartford and for the Hartford Symphony Orchestra.

Yarger writes news and inspiration for Christian artists at http://christianpeformers.blogspot.com/ and teaches theater workshops at conferences around the country.

She is a freelance writer and member of The Drama Desk, The Outer Critics Circle, The American Theater Critics Association, the Society of Professional Journalists, the CT Press Club, the National Book Critics Circle, the Connecticut SPJ, the Connecticut Critics Circle and Christians in Theatre Arts.

A former newspaper editor and graduate of the University of Missouri’s School of Journalism, Yarger lives with her husband in West Granby, CT. They have two adult children.

Copyright

All material is copyright 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 by Lauren Yarger. Reviews and articles may not be reprinted without permission. Contact reflectionsinthelight@gmail.com

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Key to Content Notes:

God's name taken in vain -- means God or Jesus is used in dialogue without speaking directly to or about them.
Language -- means some curse words are used. "Minor" usually means the words are not too strong or that it only occurs once or twice throughout the show.
Strong Language -- means some of the more heavy duty curse words are used.
Nudity -- means a man or woman's backside, a man's lower front or a woman's front are revealed.
Scantily clad -- means actors' private areas are technically covered, but I can see a lot of them.
Sexual Language -- means the dialogue contains sexually explicit language but there's no action.
Sexual Activity -- means a man and woman are performing sexual acts.
Adultery -- Means a married man or woman is involved sexually with someone besides their spouse. If this is depicted with sexual acts on stage, the list would include "sexual activity" as well.
Sex Outside of Marriage -- means a man and woman are involved sexually without being married. If this is depicted sexually on stage, the list would include "sexual activity" as well.
Homosexuality -- means this is in the show, but not physically depicted.
Homosexual activity -- means two persons of the same sex are embracing/kissing. If they do more than that, the list would include "sexual activity" as well.
Cross Dresser -- Means someone is dressing as the opposite sex. If they do more than that on stage the listing would include the corresponding "sexual activity" and/or "homosexual activity" as well.
Cross Gender -- A man is playing a female part or a woman is playing a man's part.
Suggestive Dancing -- means dancing contains sexually suggestive moves.

Other content matters such as torture, suicide or rape will be noted, with details revealed only as necessary in the review itself.

The term "throughout" added to any of the above means it happens many times throughout the show.

Our Reviewing Policy

Our reviewer Lauren Yarger receives free tickets to Broadway and Off-Broadway shows made available to all voting members of the Outer Critics Circle and The Drama Desk, the two professional critics organizations with journalists covering NY theater. Journalistically, she provides an unbiased review and is under no obligation to make positive statements. Sometimes shows do not make tickets available to reviewers. If these are shows our readers want to know about (we review all Broadway shows and pertinent Off-Broadway shows), Masterworks purchases a ticket.

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