Bonnie & Clyde The Musical drove into The Croswell Opera House for a two week stay, and it is a fun ride. Since it’s original Broadway run, it has quickly become “America’s most wanted musical” and this production highlights both it’s strengths and inherent weaknesses.
Featuring one of Frank WIldhorn’s (Jekyll & Hyde, The Scarlet Pimpernel) strongest scores, the musical is a vocal showcase for the right cast – and this production very much has the right cast. Told in short cinematic scenes, it accurately tells the story of Bonnie Parker, Clyde Barrow, his brother Buck, and Buck’s wife Blanche, and invents a love-triangle with Officer Ted who has been in love with Bonnie since school days. The score is filled with soaring soul, jazz, country, and modern rock anthems that have become favorites of musical theater lovers. Told in flashback (I won’t spoil it for those who don’t know how it ends, though how that is possible I am not sure), it covers childhood to adulthood in short staccato scenes filled with humor, romance, suspense, and family melodrama.
I have to be upfront and note that I have directed this show three times – for Encore Musical Theatre Company, Ann Arbor Civic Theatre, and Dowriver Actors Guild, and I have had numerous discussions with Frank WIldhorn, writer Ivan Menchell, as well as set designer Tobin Ost and performers from the original Broadway production. So I approach this review from the eyes of both the general audience, as well as a leading expert in this particular musical.
You couldn’t ask for a better Clyde than Kevin Ludwig who is perfect as both the charmer and sociopath, integrated so smoothly it can be breathtaking, and his outstanding baritone helps fill the large theater with song. Emma Skaggs is outstanding as Bonnie, and her vocals soar individually and in duets with both Clyde and Blanche and she has the acting chops to match. Maxwell Lam is strong as Buck, as is Nicole Merchant as his wife Blanche. James Fischer is simply terrific as Ted and his vocals got mid-song applause twice on opening night.
Featured parts are also very well performed, especially Lydia Schafer as Bonnie’s mother, and Raymond Collins as the Preacher. The entire ensemble (playing various parts) is very good as well.
Everything sounds great under Dave Rains musical direction. His orchestra is pitch perfect and delivers everything from the blues to vibrant rock numbers with aplomb. Debra Calabrese directs with a good eye for interpersonal conflicts and attractions. Costumes and wigs by Tallie Carter are period perfect (and yes, Bonnie has that famous red dress in Act 2). Sound by Karl Kasischke is good.
Now, there are a few problems in the production, and while the casual theater goer might not be concerned with them, I certainly couldn’t ignore them. Lighting is spotty and there isn’t sufficient front light in some scenes. The use of smoke which billowed and furled throughout Act I looked terrible and was fortunately turned off for Act 2. Hopefully it is entirely gone when you see this production. The set design forces too much action too far upstage – scenes which I as a director would place center stage in one, here are played in three making some intimate scenes emotionally removed from the audience, as if you are watching a movie from the back of the house rather than right in front of you. The bathtub scene in particular loses it’s voyeuristic quality when it is set that far upstage. While Buck and Blanche are individually strong, there isn’t much of an emotional connection between the two, so it makes a scene which should be tear jerking a rather unemotional affair, Because of the set design, and the frequent blackouts, the cinematic quality of one scene overlapping another is lost and bogs down the pace of the show which comes in at twenty minutes longer than it should be.
That being said, this is still a very strong production in its own right,. It is difficult for me to separate criticism from directing with a show that I know so intimately. The casual theater goer won’t really see most of the flaws (many inherent in the script itself) and I recommend the production to everyone interested in musical theater. I just wish it had been a bit more quickly paced so that it barrels to its inevitable conclusion, rather than slowly making the way there in the production’s beautiful car.
Recommended.
Bonnie & Clyde continues at Croswell Opera House through October 26th. Tickets at croswell.org or 517-264-SHOW — beware third party ticket sales! The first link on a google search brings up a third party sales site — always buy ONLY from Croswell’s box office.
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