& A flashback drama, Bonnie & Clyde: The Musical begins with a blazing shootout and the titled pair slumped in their car in the center of three paneled lit upstage spaces. The suspense-lacking plot tries to explain the couple's motivations and even justify the actions that brought them to such an end. It fails.
With help from Asolo Rep's director Edwards, the show, which began in La Jolla, has added backgrounds for the killers. In the top-notch projections, their era is presented with all the socio-economic problems that plagued the country and especially their families. Personally, they now appear also as children, forming images of what they dream to be from actors and their roles in "Picture Shows" they see. Bonnie yearns to be an It Girl like the projected, enchanting Clara Bow. Like her, Clyde determines "This World Will Remember Me"--
in his case, as a Billy the Kid or movie gangster type.
Clyde's shooting it up and driving cars fast long before the motivation for crime and killing that playwright Ivan Menchell offers (i.e., being thrown at age 12 into the same jail from which his brother Buck had recently been paroled). In prison, Clyde is mistreated by jailers and raped by another prisoner. But that hasn't caused his criminal behavior; it intensifies it.
Under Blanche's influence, Buck tries to go straight via religion, which Clyde rejects. One suspects the religious angle is there to justify one of the few memorable musical moments: Preacher leading the congregation offering "God's Arms Are Always Open." At any rate, it's not long before Buck despairs of finding a good job and returns to Clyde, robbing and killing to "Raise a Little Hell."
As for Bonnie, neither her mother's pleas nor a cardboard cop named Tom, who keeps popping up to offer himself as an alternative to Clyde, sways her from being smitten. As such, the lovers' choices of each other remain static.
Bonnie also revels in the publicity she gets from their crimes. Of course, she feels she must disavow any intent to upstage him, explaining for example that her name goes first in her poems because his is easier to find end-rhymes for. She also seems content that Clyde plans to get her to Hollywood, even if their robberies take them more north than west, and they keep returning to Texas.
Laura Osnes and Jeremy Jordan define the leads' excitement, ambitions, mutual admiration and love thoroughly. They make Wildhorn's music seem better than it is, as do Mimi Bessette as Emma Parker and Melissa Van Der Schff as Blanche.
Claybourne Elder wrings pathos from his role as Buck. Michael Lanning sings a mean gospel and uses his voice equally well in other bit parts. Wayne Duvall does the best he can with an undeveloped role as a Sheriff. There's actually not a single mistake in casting, which is worthy of Broadway.
Considering the uneven script, Don Black's lyrics must be looked to not only in their emotional musical context but also to explain and forward the plot. Like Aaron Rhyne's historical projections, they are commendable, and for the same reasons. In total, the superb production values and acting, not story or song, make Bonnie & Clyde worth attending.
