RIALTO CHATTER: Bonnie & Clyde Headed to Broadway in August 2011?

[Rob]

Posted: 11/24/10 at 9:02am

Click Here to Read RIALTO CHATTER: Bonnie & Clyde Headed to Broadway in August 2011?

[carolinaguy]

Posted: 11/24/10 at 11:09am

But it doesn't answer the most important question--does Jeremy Jordan get naked in this draft like Stark Sands did in the California productions?

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 11/24/10 at 5:01pm

Well it looks like the bathtub scene is still in so I would assume so. That was one of the scenes where Stark got naked.

[esparza 333]

Posted: 11/24/10 at 6:33pm

I am also quite interested in the Rick Crom/Hunter Foster version that had a reading in September with Will Swenson, Sutton, Beth Leavel and Marc Kudisch. That is called Bonnie and Clyde: A Folk Tale. It will be interesting to see two theatrical interpretations of this story.

[philly03]

Posted: 11/24/10 at 7:40pm

The intention was for this to always go to Broadway - it got better reviews then Wonderland, but apparently producers jumped at the final summer reading of Wonderland.

Very curious to see how much was changed from San Diego!

[dented146]

Posted: 11/24/10 at 8:04pm

It must change dramatically in the first act to have any shot at sucess. Having said that, I felt that the second act had some really terrific action and music.

[philly03]

Posted: 11/24/10 at 10:14pm

Seems like Frank might have another hat trick up his sleeve..... Hopefully!

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 11/25/10 at 2:06am

I'm just a little nervous about the changes being made because I thought it was close to perfect in La Jolla and every time Frank has made changes to his shows after out of town tryouts the debates go on and on about whether or not those changes actually improved anything or if it was better the first time around. After watching the preview video it seems like the orchestrations have already been made more "pop" which was completely unnecessary. Updated On: 11/25/10 at 02:06 AM

[beautywickedlover]

Posted: 11/25/10 at 11:22am

I don't know if August is a good time for the show to open. Still, I'd be very happy if Laura returned to Broadway.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 11/25/10 at 11:45am

If he can get another show up & running quickly, he could be the only composer to have 3 shows up and running on Broadway on 2 separate occasions.

[perfectliar]

Posted: 11/25/10 at 12:44pm

philly, what would be the third show?

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 11/25/10 at 12:51pm

he has so many unproduced that you have a wide variety to choose from

Blade Runner
Frankenstein
Zelda
Count Of Monte Cristo
Svengali
Cyrano
Havana
Camille Claudel

Updated On: 11/25/10 at 12:51 PM

[adamgreer]

Posted: 11/25/10 at 12:59pm

Don't forget Camille Claudel.

[philly03]

Posted: 11/25/10 at 1:01pm

Can't confirm it yet, but there's talks of both producing a revival and/or a new musical...

Roxy: Svengali won't be produced again most likely: Too many melodies/tunes have been put into other shows.

Also, Lloyd Webber has had Three shows a few times:
Phantom, Cats, Aspects
Joseph, Cats, Evita
Starlight, Phantom, Cats
Sunset, Cats, Phantom
Phantom, Cats, Joseph


Also on an off-topic, Frank always has very dedicated producers: they kept changing The Scarlet Pimpernel over 3 years on Broadway; DRACULA's producers kept the show open with not so great attendance and horrid reviews from August til January...

[perfectliar]

Posted: 11/25/10 at 1:15pm

I didn't realize that many of them had ever actually been written, like Frankenstein. I thought they were just shows he was playing around with.

[Patash]

Posted: 12/2/10 at 2:50pm

A theatre friend and I just saw Bonnie and Clyde yesterday in Sarasota. I was very impressed. We'd agree with an assessment above that the first act needs a little work -- actually the musical numbers seemed strong, but too much back and forth going to jail, getting out of jail, going to jail, getting out of jail -- and a slow moving forward of the story. Act II was stronger. The staging was simply terrific. Laura Osnes was stunning and great, I felt Jeremy Jordan was a little "boyish" for the role somehow, but wow could he sing it!

And while the bathtub scene is there, we didn't see him naked -- even from the front row of the mezzanine! That tub is too deep!

[philly03]

Posted: 12/2/10 at 4:03pm

perfectliar: Not all the shows have been written. A lot of the ideas for shows began as a series of short song cycles (3-4 songs) that Frank was going to title "The Romantics" as just a record, not even a show (although it was tossed around to be staged). One song for the female, one for the male lead, and a duet.

I'm near positive the one duet for B&C was "The World Will Remember Us" which seems to be a bit of the "title"/promo song for the piece.

They included:
Camille Claudel (Lyrics by Nan Knighton) < turned into a complete musical highlighting the life of Camille and lover, sculpter Auguste Rodin

Bonnie & Clyde (Lyrics by Don Black) < obviously turned into a musical

F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald (Lyrics by Jack Murphy)
Adam & Eve (Lyrics by Maury Yeston) < I don't know what came of this one; Yeston wrote some lyrics for Linda Eder and on her original Christmas songs

Cyrano de Bergerac (Lyrics by Leslie Bricusse) < turned into complete musical

Anna Karenina (Lyrics by Stephen Schwartz) < Don't know what happened to this one either
and the "rebirth" of
Svengali (lyrics by Gregory Boyd), which had premieres in Houston & the Asolo in 1991 & 1992.

There were some others too with some other well known lyricists and the base for each cycle was famous couples.



Thanks for the review Patash!

[~FloweryFriend~]

Posted: 12/3/10 at 6:31am

Hey guys,

I work at the Asolo (and was at one point supposed to understudy B&C... long story).

- Jeremy Jordan is in the tub for a scene, but the lights go down when he gets out of the tub, so you don't see anything. There are no other scenes where he is naked.

- There are a lot of new songs since San Diego, and the structure has changed. One of my classmates is in the show (he plays several characters in the ensemble), and he says a lot of dialogue in the current script was changed through improv during rehearsals.

- It is my understanding that Act I used to end with Clyde killing a police officer character who had been peppered throughout the act, and that his body was left on stage bleeding during intermission. That death now happens during Act II, and is a much smaller event than it was previously. Also the staging of the end scene has changed significantly. Also, the characters of "Young Bonnie" and "Young Clyde" have been added (and are played by two terrific kids).

[sbflyfan]

Posted: 12/3/10 at 8:39am

FloweryFriend, any spoilers as to how the end scene has been changed? I found it to be an interesting artistic choice, but ultimately anti-climactic in La Jolla.

[Patash]

Posted: 12/3/10 at 11:33pm

MAJOR SPOILER ALERT:

I don't know how it used to be. But the show now opens with B&C sitting in the car spattered with blood from being shot. Then the young versions of B&C come out and sing about their desires for when they grow up. I found it amazingly effective. Later the kids appear again -- young Bonnie appears when her mother is singing what happened to the girl she raised. Young Clyde appears with his toy gun in a scene when Clyde is shooting a lot of people. Again, surprisingly less "corny" that it sounds.

At the end, there is much foreshadowing that B&C know they will be killed -- particularly Bonnie knows that. And the show ends with them getting into the car and going forward. I was sitting there saying to myself "please God, let it end right now and not with them getting shot" and indeed it did end there. Again. A very effective ending.

So it sounds like Act I is now longer that it was at La Jolla -- that to us was the problem with the show -- it just seemed to be too much back and forth of background material and not moving the story forward enough.

[sbflyfan]

Posted: 12/4/10 at 12:44am

Thanks, Patash.

SPOILER ALERT:

In La Jolla it started with Bonnie in her room writing, and her mother came in and talked to her and from there it launched right into "Short Order World."

The 2nd to last scene had the car in the background and I was hoping they'd get into it, but instead they got all dressed up, got their belongings together, reprised "This World Will Remember Us," and moved stage right. Then they held each other and did a slow waltz-like dance while real newspaper headlines, photos and footage of Bonnie & Clyde were projected on the wood panel backdrop, and the rest of the cast each repeated their pivotal line from the show. It ended with the lighting dropping to just a spotlight on Bonnie & Clyde, and a "happy" photo of the real Bonnie & Clyde on the backdrop.

Part of me wanted a bloodbath ending, but part of me understood why the artistic decision was made to spare the audience that, and also avoid re-creating the movie. It still felt anti-climactic, somehow and I remember thinking "They REALLY need to re-work this ending!" Now it sounds a bit better, with them getting in the car, at least. Hope to see it on Broadway!

Updated On: 12/4/10 at 12:44 AM

[theatregirl2]

Posted: 12/10/10 at 9:45am

Just saw B&C last night. I really thought it was terrific - and no, I'm not a Wildhorn shill. Having been in his shows before, having seen Wonderland and having been in the business for 15+ years, I'm critical of most shows. There were some parts that need to be cut/shortened/re-written, but they were minor and won't affect the story if altered.

I have to say this is probably the most consistent show he's done that fits a reality we all can relate to. It's a true American story, you know what they are doing is wrong but you can't help but feel for them and hope they make it (though you already know the ending). The music, while simple, fits the time period, doesn't go all over the place (like in Wonderland) and doesn't rely on the huge, sweeping orchestrations as his older shows seemed to. It relys on the voices and the acting, which made the show work.

I thought Laura & Jeremy did a great job and they worked well together. Laura's voice is perfect for the songs she's given and Jeremy seems to have a blast with his. BTW- I did happen to see Jeremy's behind as he jumped out of the tub! If he was wearing shorts, it didn't look like it as I swear I saw each cheek very clearly- I think his towel didn't wrap as easily as he expected it to. He seemed to be in a rush (which of course he has to run stg rt and be ready for his next line, but it seemed even more so last night) and misfired on grabbing the end of the towel.

I liked the set and the projections, and the opening staging was very effective. I did feel there were times they overused the projection as if to "fill in" sections where not much was going on. But that is being nit-picky.

The rest of the cast was good, and I especially liked Melissa Van Der Schyff. Though the role of Ted adds to the opportunity that Bonnie had, I feel that is one subplot that isn't necessary since it's quite clear to all of us which road she took. There's a song "The Devil" by Bonnie's mom towards the end - though I like what the moment was telling us, I feel that the full song wasn't necessary. They could have made a reprise of an earlier song and altered the mood and lyrics to fit this moment to keep it short and sweet. Same with "When I Drive" in Act 1 - I love watching the relationship between the brothers, but it's another song that could be altered. Many people are saying "You can do better than him" should be cut - but maybe if they keep the Ted subplot it should be altered to mash up with "You love who you love" since they bother are basically the same ideas and could turn into quite a quartet.

Overall, I think that after minimal tweaking that it could be on B'way. It's not the typical Wildhorn show and I think that it could be his biggest hit.

[goldenboy]

Posted: 12/11/10 at 2:50am

Went to Bonnie and Clyde tonight. Overall the show was quite good! Very involving and very tuneful. It is indeed Frank Wildhorn's best show. The score is great. Kudos to the book writer ivan Menchell. Best book of a musical in a long time. Intelligent sets and crisp direction.

Jeremy Jordon is perfect as Clyde- sexy, sneery, charming, dangerous and sings
great. Wonderful stage presence. Totally see why Bonnie fell for him.This show is a much better fit for Laura Osnes than was Nelly Forbush in South Pacific. Much more age appropriate. Really enjoyed Mellissa Van Der Schyff as Blanche Barrow.


I agree totally with theatregirl so I won't rehash too much.

The only criticism is that the show needs to lose 10-15 minutes and 2-3 songs. This is going to sound crazy but there is too much music in Act Two. I felt there were great dramatic moments in Act Two but I found myself saying "Oh my gosh are they going to spoil the moment by singing?" and of course they did. The drama would have been helped by absolutely not singing.. having the singing slow down.... as if their song and dance bandit days were coming to an end. I had this feeling 2 or 3 times in Act Two where I felt they spoilt the moment by singing. Trust the silence.

My recommendation would be to lose two songs in act two and possibly one song in act one and they will have a great show. Right now they have a very good one!!

And to trust that maybe silence is sometimes better than a song to make the drama work.