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 Paramount FILM REVIEW EVENT PREVIEW FILM NOTEBOOK