Bonnie and Clyde *Possible Spoilers*

[XanaDuDe2]

Bonnie and Clyde *Possible Spoilers*#1

Posted: 12/5/10 at 1:03pm

First off, Melissa Van Der Schyff is AMAZING as Blanche. She would be out of her mind not to follow this show to Broadway. Her voice is phenomenal, and has just the right sound for the style of music. Her character has the best development in the whole show and honestly this show should be called "Blanche and Buck." She has to get nominated for this part, I don't think the part is strong enough to win, but definite nomination.

Laura Osnes and Jeremy Jordan are perfect fits in their parts. Wildhorn has given them beautiful music to sing. I don't leave humming many of their songs, but the general tone of the show has stuck with me for over a week now.

The set is phenomenal, it allows us to pay full attention to the characters and story line which is the biggest part of this show. It's so simple, yet one of the smartest designs I have seen in a long time. Unfortunately, I HATE the use of projections in this show. They are incredibly distracting in the first act, especially with the video clips on top of the still projections. I found myself paying more attention to the flashing pictures than listening to the words. Luckily for Calhoun, he must have realized this because Act 2 is beautiful. There is a minimal use of projections and the second half of the show becomes very touching.

There aren't really any beautiful lighting moments in the show, and there is a star drop that just looks horribly cheesy (high school production).

From what I understand there has been a massive rewrite of the script for the Asolo Production. I think this show is going in the right direction. Unfortunately, Clyde has an overabundance of songs trying to make us feel sympathetic for him. WE NEVER WILL. He sings about growing up to be like Jessie James, and Al Capone... he gets exactly what he wants. There's no remorse for him because his dreams come true. If they want to make this show stronger, they need to do away with some of his stuff and give Bonnie, Blanche and Buck more. Those three are blinded by love and (in Bonnie's case) fame. We can feel for these characters and will.

Opening the show with them being gunned down is such a strong moment that we remember it for the entire show. The final scene with Bonnie and Clyde singing "This World Will Remember Us" is a beautiful moment, possibly the most touching of the show. They fade into black, we understand they have just been murdered and BAM, we're not allowed to live in that moment because the bow music is the happiest gospels I have ever heard. It ruined the show for me. I was finally pulled into the story and then I'm immediately ripped out of it into bright lights and toe-tapping music. Poor Choice.

Artistically the show has made poor choices, but as they are gunning for Broadway, I can see why they are trying to make it commercial. Unfortunately, for anyone with an artistic eye, it makes Bonnie and Clyde mediocre when it has the potential to be GREAT.

[CATSNYrevival]

Bonnie and Clyde *Possible Spoilers*#2

Posted: 12/5/10 at 2:43pm

The changes made from La Jolla to the Asolo sound so bizzare to me. I thought the book was damn near perfect in La Jolla. It was easily the best book for any Wildhorn musical. Granted, I haven't seen the show with the revisions, but from reading about them it just seems like they're making changes just for the hell of it and not really because they have any real logic. At no point in La Jolla did it ever cross my mind that adding a Young Bonnie and Clyde would somehow improve the show, and at no point did I ever think that an opening scene showing us an ending we already knew coming in would aid in the telling of the story. And why on earth would they move the brilliant act one finale from La Jolla to the second act? Frank did the same thing with Dracula. Those are not changes that I would have suggested, and if they do bring the show to Broadway I would hope that they would have the sense and foresight to go with their original instincts and maybe revert back to some of the La Jolla book scenes.

And I would also like to say that any sympathy the audience feels for Clyde has as much to do with the actor playing the part as it does with the book and score. It's true that we may never actually feel sympathetic towards him, but with Stark Sands as Clyde I definitely felt something for him. It wasn't sympathy, but at no point did I ever hate the character or root for him to get caught. I was still on his side and wanting to take the journey with him as much as Bonnie did. He had a sly sort of "bad-boy" quality with a wink that made you understand why Bonnie loved him so much and why she stuck with him to the end.

[XanaDuDe2]

Bonnie and Clyde *Possible Spoilers*#2

Posted: 12/5/10 at 3:27pm

That very well could be the reason for my feelings toward Clyde. As amazing as Jeremy Jordan's voice is, I never feel anything for him. The only time he pulls me in is at the end of Act 2. Hopefully they made note of the acting choices in regards to the script because Jordan just plays him as a "bad-boy" without the little wink... he doesn't reach out and grab you. It's not that we hate Clyde, he just doesn't let us like him.

The part with the children in the beginning actually ads to the story believe it or not. The part with them as children really pushes Bonnie's story and let's us see further into her. Unfortunately, they also made a poor choice by doing this we are more in touch with her mother, at the beginning. Throughout the show, we loose touch with her and yet at the end she has the 11 O'clock number.. why?? Who knows.. we don't really get to see her and she has the last big piece in the show. Hopefully that gets cut.

In regards to Frank, this is definitely one of his shows. I can think of 3 or 4 numbers that do NOT move the story along at all but are incredibly beautiful to listen to. I can see many college students buying the sheet music and using these pieces for auditions for years. At numerous points there are echoes of Jekyll and Hyde. They definitely need one more stop to fix this show. The show needs a lot of script work in Act 1 if they hope to continue forth. I don't see this show living long on Broadway or beyond. It really makes me sad because it has SO MUCH potential.

Oddly enough, I just read the local paper and the correspondant said that he felt the need to follow-up with his review on Bonnie and Clyde for the same reasons. He thinks it has the makings of a great piece, but something just doesn't agree with him still.

[goldenboy]

Bonnie and Clyde *Possible Spoilers*#3

Posted: 12/11/10 at 3:14am

I totally disagree with the above writer's assessment of Jeremy Jordon. I felt he gave a great portrayal of Clyde Barrow. Jeremy Jordon was charming, dangerous, smirky, a great actor and singer. I totally got how Bonnie Parker could fall for him. And yes I cared for him immediately.

I think the problem with the piece is that is too long and has too much music.
There were moments in Act Two I found myself saying to myself.... Are they going to sing and ruin this dramatic moment? And Of course they did.

Get rid of a few of the songs that don't move the story along and cut 10-15 minutes.

To many songs. Prune 2 or 3 songs out and you have the makings of a wonderful show

I aggree that the children beginning the story pulls us right into the characters.

[sorano916]

Bonnie and Clyde *Possible Spoilers*#4

Posted: 12/11/10 at 11:22am

I think that they could do away with the Ted storyline, although the actor who played him in Asolo was pretty good. From the La Jolla to the Asolo, I prefer the songs in Asolo. There was also more banter between Bonnie and Clyde in La Jolla than Asolo. And because of that I liked Stark's acting better; their chemistry was more apparently. However, I feel that Jeremy's voice handled the new songs really well and that Stark's isn't strong enough for them, especially "I'm Ready."

That being said, Melissa is amazing. I love her new song, "That’s What You Call A Dream." Her and Claybourne are really great together. Even in the little change in the hair salon scene.

I hope that the Broadway version will be a good combination of the two production with some trimming here and there. I'm still iffy on whether I like the change of the end of Act One... it was anti-climatic, but I do like how they get into that scene in Act Two. As long as "Long Arm of the Law" doesn't reappear in the Broadway version, I'll be happy. Heh...