McCallum Arts Center Opens BONNIE & CLYDE: A NEW MUSICAL Tonight

MacTheatre at McCallum Fine Arts Academy has announced that they have been granted special permission to produce this thrilling new show before it goes on national tour! Direct from Broadway BONNIE AND CLYDE is a thrilling, edgy, biographical musical account of Texas' most infamous couple.

At the height of the Great Depression two small-town nobodies in West Texas become America's most renowned folk heroes and the Texas law enforcement's worst nightmares. Fearless, shameless, and alluring, their electrifying story of love, adventure and crime captured the excited attention of an entire country. Now, the most notorious couple of the twentieth century takes on a whole new adventure: the stage.

When BONNIE AND CLYDE meet, their mutual cravings for excitement and fame immediately set them on a mission to chase their dreams. Their bold and reckless behavior turns the young lovers' thrilling adventure into a downward spiral, putting themselves and their loved ones in trouble with the law. Forced to stay on the run from every southern state's police force, the lovers resort to robbery and murder to survive. As the infamous duo's fame grows bigger, their inevitable end draws nearer.

BONNIE AND CLYDE is an exciting, cutting-edge musical with a non-traditional score, combining blues, gospel, bluegrass and rockabilly music. Our production will feature a large ensemble cast, spectacular scenic design, rocking live orchestra, and a recreation of the infamous Bonnie & Clyde 1934 Ford V8 death car. Please be advised that this production, based on true events, does depict some instances of violence.

The cast and crew has been hard at work since the beginning of August to bring this intimate biographical musical to life. In addition to learning the challenging score, perfecting the scene work, and learning stylized dance sequences the cast and crew have also been very involved in researching the actual lives of the anti-hero and anti-heroine. The events and characters depicted in the musical are very nearly historically accurate with some theatrical license given to a love triangle between Bonnie, Clyde and Ted Hinton, a childhood friend of Bonnie's who indeed had romantic feelings for her and was ultimately a part of the law enforcement team that led to her demise.

"The students love this show." says, Joshua Denning, the troupe's director. "It's the fact that Bonnie & Clyde themselves were not much older than the students we have playing them and also from Texas that allows our actor's to so easily connect to the material and the characters. We met with a local Bonnie & Clyde aficionado, created historical image boards, watched documentaries on the real-life pair- the kid's hearts are really behind this piece. Those historical image boards even figure into the scenic design and as the story unfolds live onstage we interject actual historical photos connected to the infamous pair. Even the time period that we are set in, The Great Depression, is so relevant today and it was those circumstances that gave rise to our main characters and their plight. "

BONNIE & CLYDE: A NEW MUSICAL runs tonight, September 18th-22nd 2013 at the McCallum Arts Center Mainstage- 5600 Sunshine Dr. Austin TX 78756. For more information and to to purchase tickets visit www.mactheatre.com

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