Filmed at Theatre Royal Drury Lane in Jan 2022, it’s a surprise to see a masked audience. How soon we forget. But Bonnie & Clyde has had a long life before, and after, this concert staging.
Written by Frank Wildhorn (music) and Don Black (lyrics), this musical focuses on the legend of young outlaws Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, working backwards from the shootout which caused their deaths.
Jeremy Jordan is Clyde, and he’s terrific. Cocky, vulnerable, damaged, and in great voice. Frances Mayli McCann is Bonnie, a dreamer who becomes a hard-boiled killer. She matches him at every turn.
Jordan played the role on Broadway; McCann went on to star in the Arts Theatre production in the West End (alongside Jordan Luke Gage). They have a sizzling chemistry as their fantasies build to a bloody climax.
Aside from the main pair we have brother Buck Barrow (George Maguire) and his religious wife Blanche (Natalie McQueen). There’s a preacher (Trevor Dion Nicholas), and a lawman, Ted Hinton (Liam Tamne).
I can’t think of better casting, and this filmed version captures the sense of scale while capturing the up-close moments often missed in a big venue. Here, everyone can experience the view from the best seats in the house.
The story of Bonnie & Clyde first achieved prominence when the pair were on the run. Seen as celebrities and folk heroes, they achieved the immortality the songs for each speak of.
Bonnie Parker wanted her face to be in the movies, but on the newsreels was the next best thing. For Clyde Barrow, who came to hate the world and most people in it, he strove to be remembered in infamy.
Most people these days will know the duo from the 1967 film with Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway, a film which led with fashion rather than he flash of bullets, but ended with slow-mo violence as the pair meet their end.
The stage musical draws back from the reality of the violence, instead focusing on the twisted love story within it. It has all the energy within the score to make this a cult hit.
Sadly, the UK tour was curtailed due to ticket sales, but Bonnie & Clyde can and will come out all guns blazing once more. Nick Winston’s staging is too good not to have one last shootout.
Highly recommended.
Bonnie & Clyde is now available for purchase at https://bonnieclydelive.com/.
“””””
Image credit: The Other Richard