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

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?

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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.

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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.

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

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.

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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

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

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...

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!

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).

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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.

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.