11th Hour Theatre Company Kicks Off The New Year With A Next Step Concert Of BONNIE AND CLYDE

11th Hour Theatre Company kicks off the new year and presents its final Next Step Concert 18-19 season with a Next Step Concert presentation of Frank Wildhorn, Don Black, and Ivan Menchell's look at the infamous American couple, Bonnie and Clyde. This eclectic musical runs January 5-13. Official Media Opening is Sunday, January 6 at 2 p.m. Tickets cost $36 (which includes a $4 service fee). $19 tickets are available online for Students and Industry. Tickets are available online at www.11thhourtheatrecompany.org or by phone 267-987-9865. All performances will take place at The Proscenium Theatre at The Drake, 302 South Hicks Street.

With the Next Step Concert Series, 11th Hour brings concert versions of musicals to the stage featuring a live band, theatrical lighting and sound design. The series is intimate, spontaneous and inventive - everything audiences have come to expect from 11th Hour. Musicals are stripped down to their very essence...good storytelling and incredible music.

This infamous couple blazed a trail in America's crime history and now 11th Hour brings their story to life. With an eclectic score, combining blues, gospel and rockabilly music by legendary musical theatre composer Frank Wildhorn, this electrifying musical tells the story of America's most notorious lovers and bank robbers, and how they took the country by storm. Don Black wrote the lyrics and Ivan Menchell wrote the book.

11th Hour Theatre Company Resident Director Megan Nicole O'Brien directs. Gina Giachero is the Music Director. The cast includes: Rita Castagna as Bonnie. Angel Sigala returns to the Next Step Concert Series as Clyde. He was last seen as Chip in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. 11th Hour favorite Kat Borrelli is Blanche. Bryan Black, who played Leaf in Spelling Bee returns to 11th Hour to play Buck. Hasani Allen is Ted. Mary Fishburne is Emma Parker/Ensemble. Megan Ruggles, who appeared in 11th Hour's Company last year, returns to play Cumie Barrow/Ensemble. Tiara Greene is Governor/Ensemble. Victoria Goins is Stella/Ensemble. Nichalas Parker, last seen at 11th Hour as Barfee in Spelling Bee, plays Sheriff/Judge/Ensemble. Tim Hill is Preacher/Henry/Ensemble. Tyler Ivey is Bud/Ensemble. Zummy Rayan is Archie/Ensemble.

Cara Franz is the Stage Manager. Sarah Gafgen is the Assistant Stage Manager. Amanda Jensen is the Lighting Designer. The Sound Designer/Engineer is Brad Pouliot.

"I love that this show gives me the opportunity to feature some younger, upcoming artists in the community," said O'Brien. "This story is about two people who were in their very early 20s and living in poverty. Out of desperation and ambition they made a choice (not a great one, of course) to go out and take charge of their lives. They gained notoriety so quickly because a lot of other people who were struggling wished they could rebel against the system in the same way. There are shades of this in our current society. Audiences are about to taken on a thrill ride with these iconic and infamous characters."

Performances

Saturday, January 5 @ 8pm

Sunday, January 6 @ 2pm

Sunday, January 6 @ 7pm

Thursday, January 10 @ 7pm

Friday, January 11 @ 8pm

Saturday, January 12 @ 8pm

Sunday, January 13 @ 2pm


At the height of the Great Depression, Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow went from two small-town nobodies in West Texas to America's most renowned folk heroes and Texas law enforcement's worst nightmares. Fearless, shameless and alluring, the Tony-nominated Bonnie & Clyde, from the legendary Frank Wildhorn (Jekyll & Hyde, Civil War, Dracula) is the electrifying story of love, adventure and crime that captured the attention of an entire country.

When Bonnie and Clyde meet, their mutual cravings for excitement and fame immediately set them on a mission to chase their dreams. Their bold and reckless behavior turns the young lovers' thrilling adventure into a downward spiral, putting themselves and their loved ones in trouble with the law. Forced to stay on the run, the lovers resort to robbery and murder to survive. As the infamous duo's fame grows bigger, their inevitable end draws nearer.

Bonnie & Clyde is a thrilling and sexy musical with a non-traditional score, combining blues, gospel and rockabilly music.

Bonnie & Clyde debuted at the La Jolla Playhouse in 2009. It debuted on Broadway in 2011, and it closed after just four weeks. It was nominated for 3 Outer Critics Circle Awards and 5 Drama Desk Awards, both including Best New Musical, as well as two nominations for the 2012 Tony Awards

LGBTQ+ Happy Hour

Miss Elaineous hosts the LGBTQ+ Happy Hour Thursday, January 10. Starting at 5pm, audiences can join the reigning queen of Philly Drag Wars for $5 drink specials, trivia, and more before the 7pm concert performance of Bonnie and Clyde. The Happy Hour will also feature artwork in the lobby by local couple Janine Wyszynski and Melinda Spengler.

About 11th Hour Theatre Company

11th Hour Theatre Company is the only company in Philadelphia dedicated to producing all musicals, all the time. Intimate by design, 11th Hour creates a lasting experience with the audience by producing character-driven musical theatre.

11th Hour produces a broad spectrum of musicals that fill a niche in the diverse Philadelphia theatre landscape: musicals that spark the creativity of artists and the imaginations of audiences. Over the past eleven seasons, they have produced seventeen full-scale musicals, nine of which were Philadelphia premieres. In addition to the World Premiere of their first commission, Field Hockey Hot, the company has contributed to the development of several new musicals beginning with Angst, a ten-minute musical that premiered in the Spark Festival of 2005. 11th Hour produced the American premiere of Austentatious that went on to success at the New York Musical Theatre Festival; and a 29-hour reading of Fantasy Football, the Musical? before its production at New York University. Both Austentatious and Fantasy Football have since been published and are now professionally licensed. In the fall of 2014, 11th Hour partnered with University of the Arts to workshop Persephone Unplugged, a new twist on the classic Greek myth. With support from the Independence Foundation, 11th Hour recently commissioned their second musical from a local writing team, a Civil War-themed project currently titled Something Like a War.

11th Hour has received a total of 55 Barrymore Award nominations. Their work has been recognized with 15 awards, including five recently for Lizzie (including Outstanding Overall Production of a Musical), and several individual awards for their artists. Founding member Steve Pacek was also the proud recipient of the 2012 F. Otto Haas Award for an Emerging Philadelphia Theatre Artist. In 2013, 11th Hour became the first-ever recipient of the June and Steve Wolfson Award for an Evolving Theater.

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