BONNIE & CLYDE Reviews - Page 3

[bjh2114]

Posted: 12/1/11 at 7:25pm

Talkin' Broadway is very negative:

"Though one always wants to assess each Frank Wildhorn musical anew, the composer himself does not make it easy. From his first full-length work in 1997 (Jekyll & Hyde) to his most recent (Wonderland, which ran for one month earlier this year), shows with which he's involved tend to fall into the same traps. Poor book. Sloppy (and often lamentable) lyrics. Uninspired staging. And, for Wildhorn's part, music that's completely disconnected from what characters are experiencing and ostensibly feeling onstage. A regular theatregoer has every right to conclude that Wildhorn and those with whom he collaborates never learn. Well, with the latest, which just opened at the Gerald Schoenfeld, they prove that new tricks aren't outside Wildhorn shows' purviews after all: They can make a property with the title of Bonnie & Clyde incapacitatingly boring."

http://www.talkinbroadway.com/world/index.html

[mattywhits]

Posted: 12/1/11 at 7:28pm

http://newyork.timeout.com/arts-culture/theater/2287835/review-bonnie-clyde

Time Out New York is MIXED.
http://newyork.timeout.com/arts-culture/theater/2287835/review-bonnie-clyde

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 12/1/11 at 7:28pm

This is such a shame I really thought this would get better reviews

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 12/1/11 at 7:29pm

Matthew Murray has not liked a new musical in years lol

[Harpz2006]

Posted: 12/1/11 at 7:29pm

Wow, interesting how Louis Hobson gets a great review within that Talkin' Broadway shredding!!!

"We identify only with Ted, in fact; Hobson's incredibly gentle and sensitive portrayal helps, but it's as much because Ted is forced to watch helplessly as Bonnie trashes her life against his protestations and attempts to help. Yet he's destined to fail because he commits the greatest of all crimes: He's just not that exciting"

[bjh2114]

Posted: 12/1/11 at 7:35pm

Just posting some pull quotes from the mixed (3 of 5 stars) Time Out NY review that mattywhits mentioned:

"Two major points in Bonnie & Clyde’s favor are its charismatic young stars, Laura Osnes and Jeremy Jordan, who not only possess the requisite sex appeal for their roles (in this account, their crime spree seems motivated primarily by pheromones), but also have charisma and vocal strength to spare. And Melissa Van Der Schyff, as goody-two-shoes outlaw-in-law Blanche Barrow—she is married to Clyde’s brother, Buck (Elder)—is a wow throughout, with a voice like a country stream. But as the plot thickens into violence, the writing lacks the heft to support it; when it takes aim at larger targets, like the Depression penury that made Parker and Barrow into folk heroes, it wobbles. "

http://newyork.timeout.com/arts-culture/theater/2287835/review-bonnie-clyde

[massofmen]

Posted: 12/1/11 at 7:37pm

awesome "the actors are sexy..come see our boring show"

[bjh2114]

Posted: 12/1/11 at 7:53pm

Variety is mixed:

"Boy meets girl on a deserted road in Depression-era West Dallas, and sooner than you can say "Warren Beatty," they're rolling in the hay -- or rather, the dust. Seeing as how his name is Clyde and hers is Bonnie, the eventual outcome is no surprise here, and indeed the dead-end story trajectory grows burdensome, as does the fact that unschooled white-trash gunslingers generally aren't loquacious enough to steal the spotlight. For all that, three exciting performances and a better-than-usual score from Frank Wildhorn combine to make this an arresting if problematic new musical."

http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117946677

Posted: 12/1/11 at 7:58pm

Frug the naysayers. Robbing banks hasn't been this much fun since JPMorgan Chase bought Bear Stearns for $2 a share!

[massofmen]

Posted: 12/1/11 at 8:03pm

unless the times, usa today and the two ny rags come out to RAVE about this show, its dead.

[blaxx]

Posted: 12/1/11 at 8:04pm

Truly, after they opened this show months after Wonderland (and adding Wildhorn's awful Broadway record with audiences and critics alike), I hope no one expected raves.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 12/1/11 at 8:12pm

I know these are early reviews, but from the overall reactions I've read, I antipated SLIGHTLY milder reviews--not raves, but...

Is Bonnie and Clyde (the film) really that forgotten? I admit even as a grade school kid I was reading books about classic movies, etc (though I didn't actually see it till I was a teen--I remember my mom thought it was too violent for me), But I'm 31, and I always assumed that most people I know around my age at least had some basic concept of who Bonnie and Clyde were (though if the planned remake had gone ahead--I guess it still might--they'd probably know more.

Of course a lot of people I know know the names more from the great Serge Gainsbourg/Brigitte Bardot song of the same name (with lyrics loosely based on them) which has been sampled ad nauseum by modern DJs.

[best12bars]

Posted: 12/1/11 at 8:13pm

I wouldn't worry about this. I'm sure he'll have another show in about two weeks.

[massofmen]

Posted: 12/1/11 at 8:14pm

i would venture to say that the average american has no CLUE about the old movie. they are more interested in how kim kardashian is going to make it though her troubles divorce.

[CukorLover]

Posted: 12/1/11 at 8:16pm

Well, I'm not sure about Wildhorn -but Jeremy Jordan sure will. I wouldn't be surprised if the critics swayed the vote to get him into NEWSIES. After all, he was the critics darling, and everyone wants a new star.

[best12bars]

Posted: 12/1/11 at 8:18pm

Judging from these early reviews, Jordan is on the wrong bus for "overnight star."

Updated On: 12/1/11 at 08:18 PM

[CukorLover]

Posted: 12/1/11 at 8:19pm

True. But the point is to get him into NEWSIES-and quick !

[bjh2114]

Posted: 12/1/11 at 8:20pm

I wouldn't be surprised if the critics swayed the vote to get him into NEWSIES.

Of what "vote" do you speak? I don't think critics really care one way or the other if Jeremy goes into Newsies.

[Jimbob2]

Posted: 12/1/11 at 8:22pm

Dear Talkin' Broadway reviewer,

Please learn the difference between the words 'flouting' and 'flaunting'. You should find an explanation in the same dictionary in which you found the word 'characterological' which (very) briefly made you look clever/pretentious in your review of 'Bonnie & Clyde'.

Lots of Love.

[gfaustswa]

Posted: 12/1/11 at 8:23pm

I'm really surprised and disappointed that the reviews aren't better. After scanning several of the reviews, it almost seems like the reviewers forgot they were at a musical. I saw Bonnie and Clyde the evening after I ran the NYC marathon. I still have several of those songs playing in my head all most four weeks later. A matter of fact "How Bout A Dance" still creeps into my head almost every day. The music overall was great. I like the "word of mouth" review on broadway.com. They all really liked it. I agree with them.... I will recommend it to my friends. Let's hope this is like the movie Pretty Woman...not so great reviews, but turned into a blockbuster!

[massofmen]

Posted: 12/1/11 at 8:26pm

not so great reviews? are you kidding me? these are awful

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 12/1/11 at 8:30pm

The reviews are not good, though a couple of mixed there save it from been a wipe out. It's a shame, i think most critics had the review written before they saw the show. For the most part audince response on theatre sites etc has been very positive. It's also a shame that if the Times etc gives it a pan that people believe the show is toast. Surely those people saying that don't mean that the public can't form their own opinion?

[massofmen]

Posted: 12/1/11 at 8:33pm

no one is saying that. Spiderman got rocked and its selling. Wicked got mixed..les miseables got mixed to bad reviews.
the difference is that the show has no advance sales and their reserve is washed up because they used it to cover op costs as they havent been selling. They are counting on these reviews to give them a HUGE jump in sales tomorrow to cover costs and compete with the numerous shows about to open.

since the most circulated paper in the country just destroyed the show, the third and second largest papers better help or else they are dead for lack of financing.

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 12/1/11 at 8:35pm

You do realise that during the holidays most people going to the theatre will be tourists so will have paid no attention to the reviews?

[MillieDillmount]

Posted: 12/1/11 at 8:36pm

This is so disappointing! I was stupid enough to actually think the critics would actually like anything that has the name Wildhorn attached to it. :/ I still love this show, and think its genus in many ways. I don't understand how they can write those things about this show. I just will never understand critics.

So, what's this show life after this? At what point will the producers decide to close the show? I'm really hoping these reviews won't affect the show too bad, I mean the word-of-mouth is still really positive, doesn't that count for anything any more?