Bonnie & Clyde

The show was staged at Hyde Festival Theatre with the band upstairs and piped into the auditorium by speakers. Paul Lawton did a great job overcoming this difficulty and the band balance with the cast was superb. The score is fantastic on this show and the harmonies with the cast were tremendous with stunning vocals throughout   which had clearly been drilled to perfection by Paul.

The set looked great with a small car that was used well. There were a few hold ups in staging but there are so many scene changes in this production that it was difficult to see how else on this stage you can speed that up. Nigel had worked the scene changes well in the main but the stage crew on stage at the same time as the cast was distracting in some scenes. Perhaps if they had been in costume this may have looked better. However that said the direction was very good and good use was made of furniture to create scenes and the casting was so strong and the characters so well rounded that I can accept the scene change issues.

The lighting plot was great, working well and enhancing the scenes. The sound was faultless and the balance was great with band and cast. The choreography was wonderful with many movement numbers too. Jean had worked routines for all the ensemble numbers which looked wonderful and very effective. The costumes were fantastic and suited the period and characters beautifully. Props were fabulous again suiting the period.

 

The cast were quite simply wonderful. Sophie Lord as Bonnie and Nick Ward as Clyde were faultless. Their chemistry was tangible and Nick played the cheeky comedy with perfect timing too. The many sides of Clyde’s character were acted with a great realness by Nick. Sophie looked amazing and again acted with an authenticity that drew me in, trying to work out why she wanted Clyde and all his faults so much. Both played their character flaws with an endearing quality. Vocally both of these performers are stunning and the score was in safe hands with these two. The variety on numbers is a real plus to this show with cheery upbeat numbers followed by soulful gospel songs and dramatic ballads and the blues thrown into the mix. Every song in the whole show was beautifully delivered but never more so than by the two leads.

 

Natalia Jacques and Alex Lythe were super as Young Bonnie and Clyde. Natalia gave an amazingly assured performance with fabulous vocals and Alex acted the part of the young ruffian with ease with lovely vocals to match. These two are stars of the future for sure.

The equally interesting characters were that of Buck and Blanche Barrow superbly played by Ben Mackenzie and Helen Claire Rose respectively. Their characters were more multi faceted with shame, redemption and atonement at times thrown into their characters which both showed brilliantly. Ben was utterly fabulous in his role and had beautiful vocals to complement the part. Helen gave a beautiful interpretation to the role of Blanche with gorgeous vocals thrown in. I loved her relationship with Bonnie which was complicated and touching all at the same time.

The supporting roles played by Alison Foy Thackwell, Gavin Chadwick, Kathryn Gorton, Catherine Stockman Kira Richardson, Mary Platts, Scott Lees, Lisa Kay and Rob Haslam were characterised and acted well with touching scenes and good diction from them all allowing the story to be told.

The two main singing supporting actors played by Zac Grenier as Ted Hinton and Matthew Rigby in various guises but particularly notable as the Minister were fabulous. Great acting from Zac in addition to his vocals and Matthew played each part with ease but I particularly loved his vocals on “Gods Arms are Always Open” and the reprise with Helen as Blanche.

The score in this show is stunning with such varied numbers. “Picture Show” set the scene beautifully with young Bonnie and Clyde plus the adult leads. “You’re Going Back to Jail” and “When I Drive” were fun numbers and gorgeously portrayed and sung. “You Can Do Better Than Him” and “You Love Who You Love” were gorgeous duets by Zac and Nick and Helen and Sophie respectively. Both numbers sent serious goosebumps down my spine so beautiful were the harmonies. There isn’t a bad number in this show in my opinion and this cast delivered on every single number, both vocally, movement and acting wise too. In Act 2 my favourites were “Made in America”, “That’s What You Call A Dream”, “Bonnie” and “Dyin Aint So Bad”.

The programme in Newspaper form for the show was also stunning and was a great read when I got home. Thank you all for a fabulous evening which will stay with me for a very long time.

 

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