The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Arts
Tuesday, January 13, 2015 — 5

‘Bonnie & Clyde’
to steal the show

Famous crime duo

make their way
to Mendelssohn

Theatre.

By ALEX BERNARD

Daily Community Culture Editor

Through ice and snow and a

wind that gives frostbite in the
same way my mom texts me
about getting a job (a lot), the
cast and crew
of “Bonnie &
Clyde” lumber
into rehearsal,
shake
off

the cold, hug
each other for
warmth
and

settle
in
for

a
long
night

of practice –
the final run-
through before
they
move

into the Lydia
Mendelssohn
Theatre.

The
space
buzzes
with

movement
and
final

preparations.

The
assistant
director

tightens
a
screw
in
their

trapdoor. An actor puts on a
cowboy hat and clips a sheriff’s
badge to his zip-up sweater.
The whole cast pins numbers
to
themselves
–
makeshift

microphones until they rehearse
in a space that isn’t half the
size of the Mendelssohn. The
music director calls everyone
together for warm-ups.

And then “Bonnie & Clyde” is

off and running.

The musical tells the story

of Bonnie Parker and Clyde
Barrow, the infamous lovers
and robbers who spent the
Great Depression plundering
and thieving in the central
United States. Composed by
Frank Wildhorn, “Bonnie &
Clyde” opened on Broadway
in December 2011, and starred
Laura
Osnes
and
Jeremy

Jordan.

This
time
around,
Ann

Arbor Civic Theatre brings
“Bonnie & Clyde” to the Lydia
Mendelssohn
Theatre
from

Thursday, January 15th to the
18th. Though the Broadway
version closed after just four
weeks (much to the chagrin of
delighted audience members),
Civic director Ron Baumanis,
an Ann Arbor Civic Theatre
veteran, believes crowds will
be surprised by the musical’s
unapologetic authenticity.

In the opening moments of

“Bonnie & Clyde,” the audience
sees what a few bullets can do
to a car door, a windshield and
two kids. You might worry that
this could deprive the play of its
uncertainty and suspense, but
Baumanis says the opposite is
true.

“The fun of a show like this

is that the audience knows how
it ends, even though the cast
members
don’t,”
Baumanis

said. “So the audience sees it
coming from a mile away and it
adds to some of the suspense.”

Baumanis is the first to

admit that Bonnie & Clyde
were
anything
but
the

idealized,
front-page
news,

super criminals that history
remembers them as.

“They were two dumb kids.

When they died, they were
25 and 23 ... They were kids.
Imagine people at U of M
graduating and suddenly going
on a killing spree for the next
two years. And (the police) shot
‘em down.”

As I watched the cast – out

of costume, off set – I found
myself incapable of focusing
on the notes I was taking for,
well, this article. After all, how
can you expect to write if you
keep tapping your pen to the
music?
Stuck-in-your-head

country numbers like “You’re
Going Back to Jail” and “When
I Drive” the gospel punch of
“God’s Arms Are Always Open”
Bonnie’s heartbreaking point
that “Dyin’ Ain’t So Bad.”

Whatever number it was, I

had to wait until its end before
returning to my notes to add
checks and stars next to the
song titles: Remember this one
too.

The show is a credit to Civic’s

cast, who range in age from
over-70s to in eighth grade and
who will make you forget that
they’re not earning a paycheck
for this show.

“These people are not ‘24/7

theater.’ They all have jobs
during the day so they come in
from whatever they’re doing.
We
have
a
neurophysicist,

and we’ve got a doctor and
we’ve got accountants ... but
they all have musical theater
backgrounds,” Baumanis said.

You
wouldn’t
know
it

watching Baumanis’s cast. As
Clyde Barrow, Dan Clair leads
the show with an immensely
entertaining,
vein-popping

vocal performance and an even
better acting job. There’s no
pretense or romanticization
here. Clair’s Barrow is no hero,
just a kid in way over his head.

Meanwhile,
his
Bonnie

Parker, played by Kimberly
Elliott, is charged with both
reviving an American icon
and not disappearing next to

Clyde’s massive shadow and
charisma. Where one might
strive to outperform, even
upstage her fellow lead, Elliott
delivers a considered, cautious
performance that stands tall
against
Clair’s
electricity,

setting a key foundation for
Parker and Barrow’s obsession
and moral degradation.

But
talent
isn’t
limited

to Baumanis’s leads. Kyrie
Bristle – who plays Blanche
Barrow, Clyde’s sister-in-law
– delivers heavy, emotional
vocals with a nuance and touch
that makes one wish she had
her own musical, maybe called,
“Blanche & Blanche”? I’d see it.

To prepare their cast and

the show, Baumanis and his
music director Tyler Driskill
received
some
first-hand

advice from the writers of
the show, including Frank
Wildhorn.

“Our music director talked

to Frank Wildhorn and said,
‘What about this?’ and ‘Why
this?’ and ‘Why is this harmony
here?’ And they are super,
super enthused about making
their production work, because
they love this piece of work.”

As though input from the

director, writers and composer
wasn’t enough, the cast also
had a special visit to prepare
them for the show’s passionate,
often complicated, material.

“We had one of the cast

members (Daniel Cooney) from
the (Broadway) show come in
and talk about the show and
what it was like to do it in
New York. It let the cast ask
questions about characters ...
and how people made choices
about
how
they
present

certain scenes and songs.”

In their cramped rehearsal

space, the leads danced two
feet from my sneakers and
about three feet from my lap,
as I remembered something
Baumanis told me earlier:

“It’s
a
more
intimate

musical than people are going
to expect. You get to know
these characters pretty well.”

The
show
will
use

projections
and
firearms,

death and country, robbery
and gospel music. But more
than anything, Civic’s “Bonnie
& Clyde” is a story about
dedication and loyalty ... to a
fault.

“These are kids that were

very much in love,” Baumanis
said. “Despite the fact they
were both idiots.”

Theater is just fancy lying;

but these kids are real. Stupid.
Hopeful. Doomed. But real.

After rehearsal, I opened

the backstage door, stepped
knee-high into what I imagine
Greenland feels like, and began
the long walk home, warmed
by the fact that I’d be seeing
these idiots again on Thursday.
The show starts at 8 p.m. See
you there.

‘Gambler’ still leaves
chips on the table

Bonnie
and Clyde

Thursday,
Friday and
Saturday at 8
p.m., Sunday
at 2 p.m.

Lydia Mendelssohn

Theatre

$13-25

By CONRAD FOREMAN

Daily Arts Writer

Expectations for “The Gam-

bler” may be
for something
along the lines
of “21” — a fast-
paced
thriller

about
genius

gamblers that
easily make for-
tunes in single
nights. Instead,
“The Gambler,”
a remake of the
1974 film of the same name, is a study
of gambling addiction, personal ful-
fillment and self-destruction.

In addition to working as litera-

ture professor at a fictional univer-
sity, Jim Bennett (Mark Wahlberg,
“The Departed”) leads a double-
life as a high-stakes gambler. Pos-
sessing an affluent background
and
high
intellect,
Bennett’s

potential is obvious – except that
he can’t walk away from the table
when he’s up big. Despite many
advantages and having a desirable
career, Bennett feels inadequate as
a writer, leads an apparently empty
personal life and has a tumultu-
ous relationship with his mother.
When these problems come to
a head, Bennett finds himself in

steep debt to three vicious loan
sharks – with only seven days to
pay off the balance.

Surprisingly,
gambling
itself

takes somewhat of a backseat in
the film’s plot. Bennett’s addiction
catalyzes the entire story, but little
screen-time is allotted for actual
gambling. Unlike the 1974 version,
the film includes a romance between
Bennett and one of his students
(Brie Larson, “21 Jump Street”), a
prodigious writer whom he openly
gushes over in front of a large lec-
ture hall. Needless to say, Bennett’s
teaching methods are unorthodox if
not downright inappropriate.

Bennett’s profession plays into

the plot with another student of
his, a university basketball star and
non-stop in-class texter, whom
Bennett approaches about fixing a
game. The film minimally explores
this topic, though it raises complex
questions about the morality of
cheating for the sake of one’s fam-
ily and the value of sportsmanship.

The film would benefit from

greater depth to the nature of Ben-
nett’s relationships with his stu-
dents, especially his love interest
and the basketball star. Apparently
without any previous history, Ben-
nett feels comfortable approach-
ing both students in remarkably
forward manners. While this can

be chalked up to a character trait,
more development and build-up
to Bennett’s interactions with his
students would add to the weight
they carry.

The most entertaining character

is Frank (John Goodman, “Flight”),
one of the loan sharks. Bald and goa-
teed, Frank doesn’t simply resemble
a fattened Heisenberg, but possess-
es the same crucial characteristic of
a fierce underground businessman:
a fuck-you attitude. Though he
causes trouble for the protagonist,
Frank also sees Bennett’s potential
and pushes him to aspire for free-
dom — not only from his debts, but
also from his own self-destructive
tendencies.

Director Rupert Wyatt (“Rise of

the Planet of the Apes”) and editor
Pete Beaudreau (“All is Lost”) shine
as bright spots for the film, from the
opening car sequence to the quick,
tense cuts during gambling scenes.
The film also visually makes a nice
point about students’ texting habits
during class, with subtle inserts dur-
ing Bennett’s lectures.

“The Gambler” exudes creativ-

ity and sufficiently navigates deep
themes without attempting to take
on too much or make too grand of a
statement. Though no aspects of the
film are spectacular, every compo-
nent serves its purpose.

AARON WADE

#KillingIt.

Not another sequel!

DISNEY

#KillinItAgain.

By CONRAD FOREMAN

Daily Arts Writer

More is always better when it

comes to pizza, but sadly that’s
not the case for movies.

Hollywood loves to overdo

it with sequels, prequels and
spin-offs. For example, this year
will mark the release of the sev-
enth installment in the “Fast
and Furious” series. There are
many reasons that studios love
franchises, but the most obvious
reason is that no one can really
ever know whether an original,
non-sequel movie will be suc-
cessful.

One genre where franchises

are valued highly is the super-
hero movie. Unless a superhero
movie really sucks (i.e. “Green
Lantern” starring Ryan Reyn-
olds), a sequel will almost cer-
tainly be made. But recently,
franchises have started encom-
passing a wider swath of the
superhero genre. No longer is a
hero limited to solely his or her
own follow-up films: we have
entered the age of the cinematic
universe.

We’ll
begin
with
Marvel

Studios, pioneers of the con-
cept. Marvel’s ever-expanding
universe was created with the
2008 release of “Iron Man,”
a surprisingly successful and
acclaimed project. This Marvel
film was the first to include a
post-credits scene, and boy, was
it prophetic. The short scene
depicts Nick Fury speaking to
Tony Stark. He says, “Mr. Stark,
you’ve become a part of a bigger
universe. You just don’t know it
yet.”

Sure enough, later in sum-

mer 2008, Tony Stark made a
post-credits appearance in “The
Incredible
Hulk,”
promising

audiences that he was “putting
a team together.” Then came

“Iron Man 2,” “Captain Amer-
ica: The First Avenger” and
“Thor,” which all converged in
2012’s “The Avengers.” Except
for “The Incredible Hulk,” each
film has multiple sequels of its
own, in addition to crossover
appearances by many charac-
ters.

So far, the model has been

overwhelmingly successful. The
last two Marvel installments,
“Guardians of the Galaxy” and
“Captain America: The Winter
Soldier,” were some of the most
acclaimed of Marvel’s releases,
and this summer’s “Avengers:
Age of Ultron” is a safe bet to
pull in a billion dollars, if not
more.

Success means these expan-

sive superhero universes aren’t
going away anytime soon. 20th
Century Fox decided it wants a
piece of the action, and is mov-
ing forward in a similar fashion
with the two Marvel franchises
to which it owns the rights:
X-Men and the Fantastic Four.
2014’s “X- Men: Days of Future
Past” attempted to tie together
the story lines of all six previ-
ous X-Men films, at least half
of which were never meant to
exist in an overarching uni-
verse, and indeed, this retroac-
tive merging created continuity
issues. Beyond this, Fox has a
reboot for “The Fantastic Four”
set to hit theaters this August,
and its sequel already has a
release date, (set even before its

predecessor even started shoot-
ing).

DC Entertainment, in compe-

tition with Marvel, has begun
constructing its own cinematic
superhero universe, building on
2013’s “Man of Steel” and the
upcoming “Batman v. Super-
man: Dawn of Justice.” Char-
acters like The Flash, Wonder
Woman and Aquaman will all
get solo films, before ultimate-
ly coming together for a “Jus-
tice League” movie.

My point is that maybe these

studios are biting off a bit more
than they can chew. Marvel
will release 11 more movies
into its universe between now
and 2019, including sequels
for “Captain America,” “Thor”
and “The Avengers,” as well as
outside-the-box choices “Ant-
Man,” “Black Panther” and
“Captain Marvel.” In addition,
Marvel produces the television
series “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,”
which also exists in Marvel’s
movie universe. Only the die-
hardest of die-hard fans can
keep up with every character
and plot, and while that must
certainly be rewarding for a
select few, where does that
leave casual fans?

The real question, though, is

how does it end? What will hap-
pen when Robert Downey Jr.
is too old to play Iron Man, or
when Samuel L. Jackson is sick
of playing Nick Fury? It seems
likely that the films’ canon may
soon become as convoluted as
their source comics, meaning
that finding a conclusion satis-
fying to fans, that also ties up
loose ends, will be virtually
impossible.

Are Marvel Studios and oth-

ers taking the trend of cinematic
universes too far? I don’t know,
but trying to keep up with these
vast stories sure is exhausting.

“It’s a more

intimate

musical than

people expect.”

Hollywood

loves to overdo
it with sequels.

WHAT’SNEW ON

B

The
Gambler

Rave 20 and
Quality 16

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