Bonnie and Clyde: The Musical
Bonnie and Clyde: The Musical
Book by Ivan Menchell
Lyrics by Don Black
Music by Frank Wildhorn
Directed by Rob Winn Anderson
Starring Tay Anderson and Preston Ellis
The Garden Theatre, Winter Garden Florida</strong>
A little crime can always spice up a musical; this loving look at America’s most famous crime duo succeeds in recapturing that long, dark era of the 1930’s. Bonnie Parker (Anderson) met up with Clyde Barrow (Ellis) just as the depression got rolling; they robbed banks and small businesses and killed more than a few police. This production dances between the hard scrabble reality of the era and the glorified image that the contemporary press gave them. Ellis’s Barrow is a braggart with a touch of sociopath; Anderson’s Parker leans toward the softer side of the female gangster with solo numbers like “How ‘Bout A Dance?” and the fatalist “Dying’ Aint So Bad.” Backing them up are the rest of their on again, off again gang; Jake Rura plays the brother Buck while Lauren Culver covers for his sister-in-law Blanche. Crime sprees are no fun without the police in hot pursuit and Al Mauro fills the biscuit and gravy roll with the conviction it demands.
The set design by Mr. Anderson consumed up every remaining unpainted barn board in Winter Garden. It’s artfully shabby and colorless in a way that recalls the black and white images we have of the depression; each small town scattered across the midwest clung to a self-identity dependent on farming and a cross road business or two. Bonnie and Clyde were folk heros for some odd reason: their victims were working folks hanging on by a thread and the small banks they robbed had no protection; the money stolen was people’s savings and not the profits of some distant mega corporation. A five piece band lurks in the background; the program calls these musicians an orchestra but orchestras have violins, not fiddles.There’s a good solid country gospel sound filled with catchy numbers; the crowded house loved this show and so did I; this is a strong musical piece with some real heart.
For more information on The Garden Theatre, please visit www.gardentheatre.org
