New Line Theatre, "the bad boy of musical theatre," opens its 24th season of adult, alternative musical theatre with the St. Louis premiere of the new musical BONNIE & CLYDE, running tonight, Oct. 2-25, 2014. Tickets are available in advance through Metrotix,314-534-1111 or Metrotix.com.
The New Line season opens in October with the Broadway musical BONNIE & CLYDE, a kind of horror Romeo and Juliet story, exploring the culture that created this infamous couple and their two-year murder spree, the moral ambiguity of Prohibition and the Great Depression, and a national cult of celebrity that turned these damaged, dangerous kids into national folk heroes, in their twisted quest for dignity in a time of national humiliation. Bloomberg News called the show, "a pop romance about the American nightmare." Today, in this time of economic distress in America, this story seems more relevant than ever. Not only could it happen again; it does.
With music by
Frank Wildhorn (Jekyll & Hyde, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Wonderland), lyrics by
Don Black (Tell Me on a Sunday, Aspects of Love, Sunset Blvd.) and a script by
Ivan Menchell, the show follows Bonnie and Clyde's brutal, two-year crime-spree, capturing vividly this lost society in which kids like these could imagine only one path to security and dignity, and that was celebrity, at the point of a gun. Clyde sees in Al Capone and Billy the Kid the only role models who haven't been humiliated by the Depression. Bonnie sees in Clara Bow the freedom, privilege, and escape she craves. As Clyde says in the show, "I am never going to be set free. Freedom is something I gotta steal." When all America's institutions were failing, Bonnie and Clyde made their own rules, and that made them heroes to millions of ordinary Americans struggling themselves under the weight of poverty and hopelessness. In a time when the law itself was an object of ridicule, thanks to the failed experiment of Prohibition, Bonnie and Clyde stood in for "a nation of scofflaws" who no longer respected the law or even recognized it as legitimate.
The New Line cast includes Matt Pentecost (Clyde), Larissa White (Bonnie), Brendan Ochs (Buck), Sarah Porter (Blanche), Reynaldo Arceno (Ted Hinton), Zachary Allen Farmer (Preacher), Christopher "Zany" Clark (Sheriff Schmid), Mara Bollini, Kent Coffel, Joel Hackbarth, Alison Helmer, Ann Hier, Marshall Jennings, Nellie Mitchell, Kimi Short, and Christopher Strawhun. Scott Miller and Mike Dowdy direct the show, with music direction by Jeffrey Carter, scenic and lighting design by Rob Lippert, costume design by Sarah Porter and Marcy Wiegert, and sound design by Josh Stanton.
More information about the show can be found on the New Line website at http://www.newlinetheatre.com/bonniepage.html
This uncompromising musical drama made its world premiere at the
La Jolla Playhouse in 2009. It was then heavily revised and it opened on Broadway in 2011. Despite a short run, it was nominated for three Outer Critics Circle Awards and five Drama Desk Awards, both including Best New Musical, as well as two nominations for the 2012 Tony Awards, including Best Score.
Bonnie & Clyde runs October 2-25, 2014, on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings, at 8:00 p.m., at the Washington University South Campus Theatre (formerly CBC High School), 6501 Clayton Road, just east of Big Bend. Oct. 2 is a preview. Tickets are $25 for adults and $20 for students/seniors on Fridays and Saturdays; and $20 for adults and $15 for students/seniors on Thursdays. Tickets are on sale now through the Fox Theatre Box Office, or by calling 314-534-1111. This show contains adult content and adult language.
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