It’s a saga that has fascinated Americans for generations.
Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow were two murderous outlaws who became American folk heroes.
Their story comes to the Mill Town Players stage as the Pelzer theater company presents Frank Wildhorn’s musical “Bonnie & Clyde,” running Aug. 2-11.
The show traces the two bandits from their starry-eyed youth in the early 1930s. Clyde idolizes Al Capone and Billy the Kid. Bonnie more innocently longs to be movie star Clara Bow, the “It Girl” of the silent-film era.
For both Bonnie and Clyde, infamy is their ticket out of dirt-poor drudgery. With guns blazing, they rob banks, restaurants and gas stations. When cornered, they lash out with deadly accuracy.
The show at the Historic Pelzer Auditorium spotlights a range of musical styles, including country, rockabilly, gospel, blues and Broadway-style power ballads.
“It’s the kind of music that will appeal to our audience,” said Will Ragland, who is co-directing the musical with Cameron Woodson. “It speaks to this area of the country. And these songs stay with you, like the songs in the classic musicals.”
In their time, Bonnie and Clyde were seen by some Americans as symbols of resistance to an American system — government and big business — that had abandoned a desperate, starving populace during the Great Depression.
But Ragland, the Mill Town Players’ founder and executive artistic director, said the show doesn’t take a side.
“It doesn’t really make a judgement or offer a conclusion,” Ragland said. “The audience will be like a jury. They get to decide.”
Glamor and destruction
The Mill Town Players’ production, concluding the theater’s 10th season, is set in a burned-down silent-movie theater, Ragland said.
“It signifies the glamor but also the destruction of Bonnie and Clyde,” Ragland said. “It becomes a black canvas on which we can isolate scenes with light.”
The story has several connections to silent-film theaters, such as Bonnie’s love of the actress Clara Bow. In the grueling Great Depression, movie theaters were a consoling place of escapism and air conditioning.
Ragland said a Clara Bow silent film will be screened before every performance.
An eight-piece band will provide live music. Julie Florin serves as music director.
“Bonnie & Clyde” premiered in 2009 in San Diego and ran on Broadway in 2011.
The Mill Town Players’ cast of 21 includes a real-life couple, Kelsey Olivia as Bonnie and Drake King as Clyde.
“All the actors in this show are giving 100%,” Ragland said. “It’s going to be a blast.”
Want to Go?
What: “Bonne & Clyde,” The Musical
When: Aug. 2-11
Where: Historic Pelzer Auditorium, 214 Lebby St., Pelzer
Tickets: $12-$15
Info: 864-947-8000, milltownplayers.org
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