The Straz Center’s Wonderland isn’t the only musical in our region that’s headed for Broadway. At Sarasota’s Asolo Rep, Bonnie & Clyde has recently opened, and the plan is to take it to the Apple as soon as possible. What audiences there will find, if it does make the transit, is a complex but ultimately winning experience.
There are two wonderful actors at the head of a splendid cast directed and choreographed by Broadway vet Jeff Calhoun, an overly eclectic book that can’t decide on a consistent attitude, moments of superb musicality alternating with second-rate, forgettable melodies, and some of the most effective film and slide projections I’ve ever seen on a stage. On balance, the show is more successful than not. But the New York critics can be pitiless. And the musical has some weaknesses.
Its greatest strength is its acting, particularly the performances of Laura Osnes and Jeremy Jordan (right) as the criminal couple that shot and stole its way into American legend.
This article appears in Nov 25 – Dec 1, 2010.