There is no other place to start than with this summation of the depression set era musical about two outlaws Bonnie & Clyde other than saying: this is a fantastic cast album, with very strong, haunting, melodic and passionate tunes. I didn't get to see it on Broadway, in fact, very few people did, closing after a month, which is a real pity. It's one that got away.
Frank Wildhorn has always showed us his two ears for writing hummable tunes that sound great, and he does it once again, but with a lot of control, taking us through a bluesy, jazzy, blue grass, country, even gospel feel, while keeping us in period. In fact, the big ballad isn't really visible in this show. Don Black is the lyrics man on this, and as always, he does a great job, as he did with Wildhorn on another ill fated musical, Dracula (again, it has some great songs and made me wonder why it closed?). What the cast album shows is a set of songs telling the story coherently, that you want to hum, sing and listen to all over again.
There are a number of standout songs such as Picture Show, the wonderful How 'bout a Dance, which is evocative and so reminisent of the period, This World Will Remember Me, You Love Who You Love which is a soft and haunting duet between Bonnie and Blanch, Dyin' Ain't So Bad, and the comic song You're Going Back to Jail and a whole lot more. It would probably be easier to give the full track listing. The performances by all are perfect, with everything and everyone in harmony, knowing what they want to deliver and doing just that.
This is a very solid musical score that tells the story the best way it can, with strong songs, that can stand up to repeated listening, and will stand the test of time, being looked on in a better light in times to come than today. How it only lasted a few weeks is one of those things, but then, a musical not working is based on many things, and not having seen the show itself, I'll pass on that judgement. But this set of songs is easily one of the best scores Frank Wildhorn has written - taking back my own words after seeing Dracula in Europe, which is saying something.
Go buy it, you won't be dissappointed.
No comments:
Post a Comment