About the work
Bonnie & Clyde is a musical by Frank Wildhorn (music) with lyrics by Don Black and a book by Ivan Menchell, premiered in San Diego in 2009 and on Broadway in 2011. It tells the story of the notorious American outlaw couple of the Great Depression and is especially successful in the German-speaking world.
Plot
In Depression-era Texas, the young waitress Bonnie Parker dreams of fame as an actress and the petty criminal Clyde Barrow of a grand life beyond poverty. Their passionate love turns into a shared career in crime: robberies, shoot-outs, and an ever more brutal flight from the law make the two media stars. Celebrated by a destitute public and hunted by the police, Bonnie and Clyde move inexorably toward their violent end in a hail of bullets.
Cultural significance
Bonnie & Clyde combines Wildhorn's melodic style with echoes of 1930s country, rockabilly, gospel, and blues. Although the Broadway run was short, the work became a great success in the German-speaking world—in Hamburg, Vienna, and at numerous municipal theatres. It explores the fascination and myth of criminal outsiders and the hunger for fame in times of social hardship.