Osnes and Sands to Star in Roundabout Reading of Wildhorn's BONNIE & CLYDE February 8 and 10

BroadwayWorld.com has learned that The Roundabout Theatre Company will be presenting a reading of the new Broadway-bound musical BONNIE & CLYDE on February 8 and 10, 2009. The show features a book by Ivan Menchell, music by Frank Wildhorn, lyrics by Don Black, direction by Jeff Calhoun and music direction by John McDaniel. Starring in the reading will be Laura Osnes as Bonnie and Stark Sands as Clyde.

The show covers the tale of Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, who met when they were nineteen. What started out as an adolescent crush lead to the most dangerous love story this country has ever known.

What promises to be a seductive and cinematic new musical will examine how a troubled Texas teen and a love-sick waitress became America's most infamous couple. At this time there is no word on casting for the invite-only reading, or on the schedule for the show, but insiders are buzzing about the show's future prospects, with it's non-traditional score, combining rockabilly, blues and gospell music. 

In 1999 Frank Wildhorn, notably became the first American composer in twenty-two years to have three shows running simultaneously on Broadway: Jekyll & Hyde, Scarlet Pimpernel, and The Civil War, which altogether garnered eight Tony nominations.

Mr. Wildhorn also wrote additional songs for Broadway's Victor/Victoria and was a producer and co-creator of Harlem Song at the legendary Apollo Theater. Most recently in the United States, Wildhorn's For the Glory: The Civil War Musical opened at the Majestic Theater in Gettysgurg, PA. Recently, Wildhorn has enjoyed International success with Never Say Goodbye (written with Shuichiro Koike) performed by Takarazuka Revue in Takarazuka, Japan; Rudolf - The Last Kiss (written with Jack Murphy & Nan Knighton) opening in Budapest, Hungary and in Vienna, Austria and multiple productions of Jekyll & Hyde: In Concert.

Don Black received two Tony awards for best book and lyrics of a musical for his work (with Christopher Hampton) on Sunset Boulevard. This marked his third collaboration with Andrew Lloyd Webber. They first joined forces to write the song cycle Tell Me On A Sunday which developed to form the basis of the stage show Song and Dance. They were reunited with Aspects of Love. He also wrote the lyrics for the Andrew Lloyd Webber produced Bombay Dreams..In a career that has won many glittering prizes (an Oscar for his song Born Free, five Academy Award nominations, two Tony Awards plus three Tony Nominations, five Ivor Novello awards, a Golden Globe and many platinum, gold and silver discs) he has worked with some of the world's leading composers: Jule Styne, Henry Mancini, Quincy Jones, John Barry, Elmer Bernstein, Charles Aznavour, Michel Legrand etc. Don has written a quintet of James Bond theme songs - Thunderball, Diamonds Are Forever, The Man With The Golden Gun, Surrender form Tomorrow Never Dies and The World Is Not Enough. Among his many popoular songs are Michael Jackson's Ben and Lulu's To Sir With Love, both U.S. number one hits. Last year he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

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