That is why I am interested, since there has been almost no talk of it, and I also liked the pictures. Also because it is Wildhorn.... well I am just intrigued
I'm not seeing this one, but it seems like it will be a mixed bag. I know there's a lot of country orchestrations in it which will make it seem like The Civil War, which generally is Wildhorn's most disliked score. However, looking at the songlist to Wonderland and hearing the concept album,...it seems like he's writing to please the ear over adding value to the piece. Same as Wonderland, Bonnie & Clyde from the bits I've heard (Laura Osnes sang some of it at her concerts and is on YouTube I believe) have some bad rhyming / bad lyrics in general... whoooo.
There will be 1 or 2 good songs. The lyrics will suck. The book will suck. The rest of the music will be full of banal reoccurring themes and repetitive garbage. Laura Osnes is pretty.
I listened to the demo recordings of songs from the show a long while back and, like most Wildhorn seems to be, many of the songs are stand alone pop songs. Some are more characterful than others and there are a few that, although not particularly memorable, I enjoyed at the time of listening. Many seem to be "park and bark" numbers and I'm struggling to see how these could be shaped into something that works dramatically. Thus, I'm not expecting much, but I'd be interested in hearing about how the material works (or doesn't) in the production itself.
I believe there is a warning about nudity set. It's Don Black and Wildhorn, maybe they're trying to set some controversy up like that did with Kelli O'Hara and nudity in DRACULA, the musical.
Though I am sure BobbyBubby's review is pretty much right on, I am desperate for a full review. It is strange, because even Wildhorn has put this on the back burner for Wonderland.
I am aware that bumping this a bunch of times won't provide a review, still....
To be honest, I believe that Bonnie & Clyde was rushed through to a production because of the remake of a movie. Wonderland has been planned for years!
Park and Bark is a great term for those songs where the performer just parks him or herself down (or stands still) and sings out to the audience. Power ballads tend to be park and bark numbers. (Jerome Robbins famously reprimanded a young Sondheim for writing one with Maria--"How am I meant to stage this?!")
"All our dreams can come true -- if we have the courage to pursue them." -- Walt Disney
We must have different Gods. My God said "do to others what you would have them do to you". Your God seems to have said "My Way or the Highway".
I'm curious about Mare Winningham's performance. She showed off a pretty nice voice in Georgia.
"The gods who nurse this universe think little of mortals' cares. They sit in crowds on exclusive clouds and laugh at our love affairs. I might have had a real romance if they'd given me a chance. I loved him, but he didn't love me. I wanted him, but he didn't want me. Then the gods had a spree and indulged in another whim. Now he loves me, but I don't love him." - Cole Porter
No there isn't - this production wasn't necessarily planned out for a while. I still assume it was done because the movie remake is coming out next year.
I think now was the perfect time to do it because a lot of scenes and comments made in the show about the great depression paralleled elements of today's recession. It made it more relatable.
In producing "Bonnie and Clyde" the Playhouse attempts to romanticize the repugnant. Clyde Barrow killed nine police officers and an "untold" number of civilians. Some protagonist! Cast as the victim of a Texas backwater, the depression, and law enforcement, and even Christians, the play attempts to rationalize Barrow's criminal rampage by blaming it on society. The theater conveniently ignores the other 99 percent of young people who are not turned into homicidal maniacs by "society." It is a simple fact: Crime is committed by criminals and Barrow was one. He started his criminal career as a boy and continued on robbing and stealing anything he and his brother could get their hands and murdered anyone that stood in their way. Stretching embarrassingly to try to sanitize their lead character, they taint the local sheriff with fatness, foul-mouthedness, and fatuity to vilify law enforcement. The plot accuses a local police officer of being jealous of Clyde because he got Bonnie. That and the story they met in a restaurant are just not true. To bolster the implausible storyline, the play is laced with male nudity, simulated sex, foul language and graphic violence.
"This thread reads like a series of White House memos." — Mister Matt