Bonnie & Clyde (musical)

Bonnie & Clyde
Original Broadway poster
Music	Frank Wildhorn
Lyrics	Don Black
Book	Ivan Menchell
Basis	The lives of Bonnie and Clyde
Productions	2009 La Jolla Playhouse 2010 Sarasota 2011 Tokyo 2011 Broadway 2013 Seoul 2014 St. Louis 2016 Prague

Bonnie & Clyde is a musical with music by Frank Wildhorn, lyrics by Don Black and a book by Ivan Menchell. The world premiere took place in La Jolla, California in November 2009. The musical centers on Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, the ill-fated lovers and outlaws whose story has been infamous since they achieved folk hero status during the Great Depression. Wildhorn described the music as a "non-traditional score, combining rockabilly, blues and gospel music". The La Jolla run was followed by a Sarasota, Florida engagement in 2010.

The musical debuted on Broadway in December 2011, where it failed to impress the critics. Ticket sales were poor, and it closed after just four weeks. It was nominated for 3 Outer Critics Circle Awards and 5 Drama Desk Awards, both including Best New Musical, as well as two nominations for the 2012 Tony Awards. Subsequent productions have since been staged internationally following the submission of the work to Music Theater International, including productions in Japan, Korea and the U.K.

Previously, Black and Wildhorn collaborated on Dracula, the Musical, which also had its world premiere in La Jolla. Wildhorn got in touch with Black about the possibility of writing a song cycle based on the story of Bonnie and Clyde. They released a 13-track demo recording (5 of which are still in the present musical but altered considerably) for Atlantic Records with Michael Lanning, Rob Evan, Brandi Burkhardt and Linda Eder sharing the principal roles. The music contains elements of country and western, Blues and Broadway pop. In February 2009, the show held an industry-only reading at Roundabout Theatre Company, starring Laura Osnes as Bonnie and Stark Sands as Clyde.