The winner of Best New Musical at the What’sOnStage Awards 2023, the brilliant Bonnie and Clyde opened at the Wolverhampton Grand Theatre last night and instantly showed why it is so highly acclaimed. From the explosive opening showing the pair in death (including real police archive photos) to the sombre ending, this is a musical like no other, it grabs you by the throat and doesn’t let go. It is brutal, it is brilliant, and it is unmissable.

Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow are young and in love, but loves young dream they’re not. Living in depression era America, Clyde is already a career petty criminal by the time he is 20, infatuated by the likes of Jesse James, Billy the Kid and Al Capone. Pretty Bonnie has dreams to be a movie star, and has a steady young man Ted who is clearly in love with her, but fate has another ending for Bonnie, one that is cemented by a chance meeting with Clyde when her car won’t start. Clyde, along with his brother Buck, has escaped from prison and is on the run, but whereas Buck, with persuading from God fearing wife Blanche returns to prison to complete his sentence, Clyde goes on a mini crime spree which sees him jailed for 16 years. Bonnie, helps him escape, but there is no going on the straight and narrow for Bonnie and Clyde, and when one of their robberies turns bloody, the fatal denouement is set.

This is a brilliantly staged musical that is pretty note perfect in every way. The four leads are incredible, with Alex James-Hatton and Katie Tonkinson fantastic as the lovestruck duo. They bring real pathos to their roles and elevate the characters way above the cartoon ‘badies’ turned folk heroes that they could have been in lesser hands. Their vocals are perfect and they have a real chemistry, particularly in the steamier scenes. They are matched perfectly by Catherine Tyldesley and Sam Ferriday as Buck and wife Blanche, with Blanche as the decent heart of the piece, the voice of reason who somehow isn’t loud enough. Catherine Tyldesley is fantastic in this role, as his Ferriday as husband Buck, who you always feel would have a chance with a different brother. Mentions must also go to Jaz Ellington as the preacher who brings a real gospel feel to the church scenes – his vocals are incredible, and Daniel Reid-Walters as Ted, whose calm, gentle presence makes you wish history could be rewritten.

The score is incredible, ranging from the early, ragtime style Jazz, to Blanche’s ‘You’re going back to jail’ which bought to mind the country and western of Dolly Parton. There is church style gospel, and incredible plaintive ballads like the beautiful, heartbreaking ‘You love who you love’, and there is the song ‘raise a little hell’, which does what it says on the tin. Every song is brilliantly memorable, it is a stand out score.

Bonnie and Clyde is that elusive creature, musical theatre that truly makes you think and feel. I left the theatre feeling bereft for the characters I had just met, and the real people they represented. This is one show that deserves every single award.

BONNIE & CLYDE

06 Mar–09 Mar 2024

Click here for ticket information

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