BONNIE & CLYDE Music by Frank Wildhorn; lyrics by Don Black; book by Ivan Menchell. Musical Director Ben Evans-Clarke Director: Ben Evans-Clarke Musical Director: Alex Williams Choreographer: Becky Brady Together for Theatre Productions This story of Bonnie & Clyde told through the music of Frank Wildhorn and the words of Don Black appeared to have had patchy fortunes on the professional stage. Well, thanks to the fine production I saw in Knutsford tonight, this musical has a new fan. I thoroughly enjoyed it. The show opens somewhat darkly, with the dramatic demise of Bonnie and Clyde. Their story is the stuff of American folklore, so it is not exactly a spoiler. From the spatter of gunshots, we are launched into the story of the criminal pair who rose to infamy during the 1930s. The music is rich and varied from ballad to gospel and the script is funnier than I expected in a story about the murderous duo. It is the balance of humour and tragedy which makes this production so watchable. We laugh, cry, and even sympathise with the characters. Thanks to the press, the public became fascinated by the bandit gang during their reign of crime, with Clyde being seen as the main protagonist. However, life of 1930s America during the depression is woven through the narrative and provides the audience with a backdrop of understanding as to how the couple arrived at their itinerant lifestyle. We are introduced to the young Bonnie (Becky Brady) and Clyde (Jayden Evans) with their differing life plans of becoming a famous movie star and an infamous gunslinger, epitomised by the first rendition of “Picture Show” full of Bonnie’s hopes for the future to the poignant final rendition by them
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