BONNIE & CLYDE Unveils New Broadway Art- Page 2

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 8/31/11 at 8:42pm

I just watched a naughty DVD of the 2009 production with Stark Sands and Laura, does anyone know if much has changed since this one?

The show is better than most Wildhorn shows and about 80 percent of the music is pretty good, but the 2009 version has problems that i hope they can sort out (though one could never be fixed)

The music stays period specific for much of the show and really works, but you know Wildhorn, he just can’t help throwing a few pop ballads in that sound totally different from the rest of the show. Long Arm of the Law is an awful song and should be cut if it has not been.

Not much really happens in act 1, it really needs a bit of a kick, act 2 is better but like the rest of the show you are not really learning anything new, we don’t understand them anymore and the story was a bit messy. Saying that the book scenes do work well, it’s just a touch disjointed.

Laura was incredible, i thought Stark was great as well (shame he aint doing the Broadway version).
The ending is horrible and ends the show on such a dull note.
The biggest problem with this show is that the writer is trying to get you to fall in love with the couple as the show goes on, the fact of the matter is they killed a lot of people for no reason and bragged about it. They can tell us it’s because they wanted to make a name for themselves, boredom etc but it makes no difference. It's hard to base a show around 2 criminals and have the audience attach to them. If they are going to do that then at least give them some moments of warmth, we don’t really see that many.

I hope they don’t change the set as it worked so well, as did the great lighting, projections and costume for the show.

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 8/31/11 at 9:03pm

I dunno, normally it is hard to center a story on two criminals, but Clyde and Bonnie are different. The movie with Dunaway and Beatty did pretty well, didn't it?

[ChenoKahn]

Posted: 8/31/11 at 9:04pm

The more I hear and see of Bonnie & Clyde the more I like it.

[Eris0303]

Posted: 8/31/11 at 9:16pm

The ending is horrible and ends the show on such a dull note.

I believe that was changed in Florida.

[PitPro2004]

Posted: 8/31/11 at 9:34pm

Just out of curiosity...

How do Equity contracts work in cases like this? Laura did the show in Florida, that finished and then was in Anything Goes and is now leaving to go back to B&C. What kind of contract do you sign? Can actors actually leave shows that are hits to go try out something that might bomb and have a guaranteed spot to come back to? That's kind of cool.

If she was under contract to B&C, wouldn't she have to keep herself in a sort of employment limbo? Just wondering how those things work themselves out.

[philly03]

Posted: 8/31/11 at 10:09pm

Laura Osnes is very very good in this. Definitely a star-making performance. Jeremy Jordan is also very good, and I think Melissa as Blanche is another great performance.

The score (generally) lacks the ballads that Wildhorn is known for, which saddens me (who doesn't love a good ballad?), but the score makes up for it with soaring duets. Not a big fan of the song "I'm Ready," I believe it's called.

The set has only been improved from the original La Jolla run, and stays in place. They are very serious about cutting the unnecessary and making sure the best version gets to Broadway. Ivan & Jeff Calhoun have done a great job!

[sorano916]

Posted: 8/31/11 at 10:45pm

Yeah, they changed it a bit from La Jolla. I'm quite glad that they removed "Long Arm of the Law."

Here's my review of the Asolo version:
http://grassmah.tumblr.com/post/2151780659/bonnie-clyde-at-asolo-rep

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 8/31/11 at 10:47pm

So Clyde is a full blown, able to get it up heterosexual in this version, re-writing history?
Which is fine, but less interesting.

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 8/31/11 at 10:56pm

Im glad Long Arm of The Law went, dreadful song.

Philly the few ballads he puts in are bad enough, this should be music that sticks with the time period, some of the ballads in the one i watched just came out of nowhere and whilst were pretty enough broke the style of the show.

They should have left the set alone, it was great

[philly03]

Posted: 8/31/11 at 11:59pm

I don't like most of the solos-ballads in this one either. I actually kind of miss "Short Order World," but I'm probably alone there.

The set is the same, with some additions?

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 9/1/11 at 12:03am

CurtainPullDowner: According to what I've read, there is no real evidence to support the idea that Clyde was homosexual or impotent.

Updated On: 9/1/11 at 12:03 AM

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 9/1/11 at 12:25am

songanddanceman2, they did make a lot of changes since La Jolla, but most of them weren't for the better. There's a whole new opening with a young Bonnie and Clyde which is far more complicated and completely unnecessary.

The book scene where Bonnie and Clyde first meet has been substantially rewritten and all they really did was suck all the charm out of what was probably my favorite scene in the La Jolla production. That was the scene that sort of endeared the audience to Clyde and showed an adorable side to him that sort of made you understand why Bonnie might fall in love with him despite everything else. That's gone now and the show is sh*t without it.

"Long Arm of the Law" is gone and the sheriff character is almost completely gone as well which eliminates the chase element and excitement from the first act by not showing the sheriff hot on their trail. That, combined with the removal of the act one finale cliffhanger makes the whole first act seem like exposition now which could prove deadly for the Broadway production.

I deeply miss "This Never Happened Before." They've basically replaced that song with "How 'Bout a Dance" which isn't nearly as romantic and it's really strange to me since Jeff Calhoun has commented on the fact that the romance and sex appeal was what drew him to the piece in the first place.

There are some changes that I like. "Raise a Little Hell" is a major improvement over "These are What You Call Guns," but over all what they've done is muddy the entire first act and made the rest of the show very slow paced and episodic with new songs and solos that are basically unnecessary.

I know I'm not a producer or book writer, but my advice would be for them to mostly return to the La Jolla book and score and only incorporate "Raise a Little Hell" and maybe write a new song for the sheriff or just have him be a non-singing character. The rest of the changes are just silly to me. They took something that was close to perfect and butchered it. And why? What were they trying to fix with these changes? Whatever it was it didn't work.
Updated On: 9/1/11 at 12:25 AM

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 9/1/11 at 12:30am

Sporky, W D Jones, one of the two people combined to make up the C W Moss (Michael J. Pollard, aka Hugo Peabody) character in the movie says it was well known that Clyde was a homosexual in and out of prison. His ramblings can be found online. Warren Beatty couldn't bring himself to play it gay so they went with impotent, till Faye "cures" him. It's pretty well documented that B&C were not avid lovers, like the art work suggests.
Updated On: 9/1/11 at 12:30 AM

[Eris0303]

Posted: 9/1/11 at 1:02am

It's pretty well documented that B&C were not avid lovers, like the art work suggests.

Yeah, I've always known that they weren't lovers. But I know people who only kinda know who Bonnie & Clyde are assume they were. Without having seen the show I can't comment on how well it's done. But I'm not against the idea of making their relationship more romantic. I think it adds some different dynamics that could draw the audience in emotionally.

Updated On: 9/1/11 at 01:02 AM

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 9/1/11 at 1:47am

Freud would have a field day with Clyde's gun fixation and also his gay frustration and killing instinct due to sexual repression.
The new artwork, strangely has Clyde's "gun" near her privates.

[chellie]

Posted: 9/1/11 at 2:21am

W D Jones, one of the two people combined to make up the C W Moss (Michael J. Pollard, aka Hugo Peabody) character in the movie says it was well known that Clyde was a homosexual in and out of prison.

Not that I think it really matters either way in the context of the show - given that they're more characters than representative of the actual people - but WD Jones actually said the opposite about Clyde: "I've heard stories since that Clyde was homosexual, or, as they say in the pen, a 'punk,' but they ain't true. Maybe it was Clyde's quiet, polite manner and his slight build that fooled folks."

[dramamama611]

Posted: 9/1/11 at 5:57am

PitPro --

Any number of things might have happened with Laura's contract. She would only be TIED to B&C if she wanted to be. Those decsions are made piece mail, not at the begining as each production is a different contract.

As far as her contract with AG, that was likely one of two thing:
The more likely: Osnes had it written into her contract that should B&C get picked up, she would be released with no repurcussions. (kind of like taking a new job, when you already have a vacation planned -- you make sure that the new employer knows about it and is willing to still give you the time off.) They almost always are understanding when they know in advance. If they didn't like it, they wouldn't have hired her.

The other possibility: Laura went to the producers and simply asked to be released from her contract. Again, most producers are understanding to this, as likely, THEY have wanted a contracted actor for one of their own shows at some point.

As long as the actors and the producers AGREE, Equity could care less. (At least, that is my understanding.)

(The only other real option I can think of, is that Lsura simply quit and will always worry about repurcussions from this producing team.)

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 9/1/11 at 7:12am

I guess as with most prison snitches, WD's story has changed several times. I found chellie's quote as well as contridicting stories. For every denial of Clyde's sexuality you can find the opposite. But, as stated, it's more romantic to think of B&C as lovers and killers.

Can someone who has seen the musical tell us if this is addressed in the show?
Updated On: 9/1/11 at 07:12 AM

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 9/1/11 at 8:32am

CATSNYrevival its a shame the scene when they first meet went from the original production, i agree i liked that scene and it set the chemistry between them up very well. The gun song was OK but im glad it got replaced. They should not have cut down the sheriff role just that awful song, i liked the chase element.
The Act 1 finale was something i thought needed a bit of work as it just kinda stopped, look forward to seeing what they have done there. I was kind of annoyed that you did not see the 2 get killed, i hated how it ended, it's like they didnt want to pain us with seeing the leading 2 get killed.

[jacobsnchz14]

Posted: 9/1/11 at 9:25am

The show's Facebook page features this variant as their profile picture:

Updated On: 9/1/11 at 09:25 AM

[sorano916]

Posted: 9/1/11 at 10:21am

The Act 1 finale was something i thought needed a bit of work as it just kinda stopped, look forward to seeing what they have done there. I was kind of annoyed that you did not see the 2 get killed, i hated how it ended, it's like they didnt want to pain us with seeing the leading 2 get killed.

The way that they did it in Asolo was that they started with show with Bonnie & Clyde dead and shot up and then when back to the beginning with their younger selves and progressed to the moment before they were killed.

I actually liked it that way since we all know that they were killed so starting that off first kinda made the show go "Here's the end result that you know of, now let's tell you how they got there."

I liked that they had added an additional song for Clyde as well as the song between him and Buck which shows their brother bond better than it was in La Jolla.

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 9/1/11 at 10:30am

That sound s abit better seeing them dead at the begining. It just seemd like the tried to make you fall in love with them so hard that you would not want to see harm come to them so instead they ending it with them singing a ballad to each other. I'm sorry but they killed a lot of people and we are shown that throughout the play with plenty of blood, i don't see why it should be different for the 2 criminals of the story (god it sounds like i just want to see people get shot eeek)

[Eris0303]

Posted: 9/1/11 at 1:43pm

Don't forget that Anything Goes was only supposed to run until July. I'm sure she signed on with that fact in mind. So, when it extended and it conflicted with B&C I'm sure she negotiated.

[ReggieonBway]

Posted: 9/1/11 at 8:24pm

There's a whole panel discussion on youtube with the creative team (sans Wildhorn) discussing the differences between Asolo and La Jolla in detail - there are also a few clips from the show inserted in the conversations.

[philly03]

Posted: 9/2/11 at 1:10am

This show has already planned it's international premiere - It was announced that it will play Japan THIS January of 2012!

Also playing Japan later this year is Camille Claudel, for the Wildhorn fans out there.