A Fatal Romance: 'Bonnie and Clyde' Covers New Ground at Bay Street Theater

On the surface, the names “Bonnie” and “Clyde” need no further introduction.

They represent passion, danger and excitement. She dreamed of Hollywood and celebrity. He craved a life beyond the law. Together, they were a notorious, bank robbing duo. But there is more to their tempestuous tale than meets the eye, or the film or even the award-winning Broadway show.

And that story is now playing out on the stage at Bay Street Theater.

“It’s complicated,” explained Bay Street’s artistic director Scott Schwartz who is directing this production, “because Bonnie and Clyde are these folk heroes, but they also killed people. They started by trying to stick it to the man and make a better life for themselves, and then it really got out of control.”

“Bonnie and Clyde: The Musical” follows the fiery romance of the two infamous young outlaws in a stripped down, intimate version of the full-blown production, with original music by Frank Wildhorn, lyrics by Don Black and a book by Ivan Menchell.

“It has an amazing score,” Schwartz said. “The songs are just so much fun. They’re beautiful, they’re romantic, they’re melodic. They have this country feel, but also this real pop feel, but also a period feel of the 1930s. It’s a great theatrical score, and that’s one of the things we prize at Bay Street.”

But it was the story itself that enraptured him — and the primary reason he wanted to not only bring it to the theater, but also direct it.

“It’s about these youthful iconoclasts who break the law and do some pretty terrible things, but all in the quest to be seen, to be recognized, to be known by the country,” he said. “And I felt like, well, a story about people who are unseen and who are working to use all the tools at their disposal and to make new tools to become celebrities feels very much of today.”

Lyda Jade Harlan wasn’t sure what to expect before auditioning for the musical. She, like countless others, had a rudimentary understanding of the larger-than-life legends, but she needed to go deeper — particularly into her character, Bonnie Parker.

During a four-day workshop prior to rehearsals, Menchell said that one book in particular, “Fugitives; The Story of Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker” — originally published in 1934 by Barrow’s sister, Nell Barrow Cowan, and Parker’s mother, Emma, just three months after the couple was killed by police — tremendously informed his writing process.

And so, she read it, too.

“I just learned so, so much about her — putting Clyde aside — just who Bonnie was and what her dreams were, and how she was so different to all the women she was surrounded by in that era,” she said. “And that told me everything I needed to know.”

Growing up, Harlan felt different, too. She was a self-described tomboy by nature — “I hated wearing dresses, I wanted to do sports,” she said — but she also craved the spotlight as a young girl, just as Parker did for her entire life. They both rejected more conservative, womanly values of their respective eras, and embraced their fire and impulsivity, she said.

“A lot of the time, when I do tell people I’m doing ‘Bonnie and Clyde,’ they’re like, ‘Oh my God, that movie,’” she said, referring to the 1967 Academy Award-nominated film starring Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway. “And that movie is very far off from the truth, I would say, in a lot of places. So I think it’s exciting that this vision and this approach for the specific rendition is very raw and real to the truth.”

Charlie Webb is no stranger to Clyde Barrow. At age 17, the actor became extremely well acquainted with him as the lead of his high school’s rendition of the Broadway musical.

“We probably were way too young to be doing a show like this at that age,” he said with a laugh, “but it was so fun, and I got to jump into Clyde and learn the songs then.”

Nearly six years later, Webb’s Clyde Barrow is a different man — both because his experience as an actor has since grown, and because the musical itself has changed.

“As soon as I got the audition, when I was pitched this brand-new idea of what it was going to be by Scott — he bought me a coffee, we sat down and he just told me his full vision — I was just obsessed,” Webb said.

There’s new writing and new dialogue, he explained. Some scenes have been cut and others have been added, with the majority of the 10 cast members playing more than one character.

“We’re taking some big swings with this production,” Schwartz said. “The physical production is hopefully going to be very dazzling, but it is not naturalistic. The set is all made up of hundreds and hundreds of light bulbs that represent the movie theater marquees of the era.

“It is a lot of fun,” he continued. “It’s a passionate, wild ride — and it’s dark. I don’t want to shy away from that, but I think dark in the way a crime movie is dark. It’s exciting and dangerous. And hopefully the audience will feel like they’ve gone on a bit of a thrill ride by the end.”

“Bonnie and Clyde: The Musical” will stage through August 24 at Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor. Previews run through Friday, August 1, with the opening night performance on Saturday, August 2. For showtimes and ticket information, visit baystreet.org. Bay Street Theater is on Long Wharf in Sag Harbor.