Photo: Bonnie (Emma Skaggs) and Clyde (Kevin Ludwig) in their getaway car. Photo by Lad Strayer.
Continuing with the love theme of their 2025 season’s playbill, Adrian’s Croswell Opera House opened Bonnie & Clyde Friday evening to a mostly full house. The show premiered on Broadway in December 2011, with the script by Ivan Menchall, music by Frank Wildhorn and lyrics by Don Black. The musical details the true story of Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker, and their life of love, crime and notoriety in the 1930s depression era.
Under the direction of Debra Ross Calabrese, with music direction by David Rains, Croswell’s production of Bonnie & Clyde proved once again that good girls seem to go for the bad boys. There is much to like about Croswell’s production. Leading ladies Emma Skaggs as Bonnie and Nicole Merchant, playing Blanche, have voices you could listen to for hours. Their rendition of “You Love Who You Love” was of Tony Award winning quality and was one of the highlights of the show.
The writing of Bonnie & Clyde gave the actors chances to show the audience the depths of their character and the emotional conflict within each. In this story, love forces the main characters to choose between the wild side of love and the safer choice of living within the rules. And in this story, love, with a life of crime, wins out.
All the voices in this musical are outstanding. The sets were understated but effective. The orchestra consisted of ten musicians who filled the theatre with music. The acting was good and got better as the plot unfolded.
Calabrese’s direction created moments that left the audience overwhelmed, not knowing how to react. One of those moments occurred when Skaggs and Merchant delivered a dramatic and emotional “You Love Who You Love.” It left the audience in a stunned silence for a few moments before erupting in a loud and sustained applause. Skaggs has been in several Croswell productions, including most recently seen as Grace in Annie. Merchant was making her debut on the Croswell stage.
Kevin Ludwig portrayed Clyde Barrow and Maxwell Lam played his brother Buck. The pair made criminals likeable, making them perfect bad boys. Both portrayed charismatic characters, who were polite when robbing banks, until they weren’t. Both Ludwig and Lam have strong voices. Ludwig demonstrated that he could manage an emotional scene as he detailed the abuses he suffered while imprisoned and singing “Raise a Little Hell,” asking Bonnie to help him escape.
Raymond Collins made his Croswell debut as The Preacher and what a debut it was. His singing and acting brought this character to life. His songs, “God’s Arms Are Always Open” in Act I and “Made In America” in Act II gave the audience a peek into an old-time Southern Baptist church service, which the audience loved. Bonnie & Clyde represented only the third production that Collins has ever performed.
James Fischer played Ted Hinton, a local sheriff deputy, who is in love with Bonnie. Recognizing that Bonnie is in love with the “bad boy,” he struggles as he confronts his duty as a law enforcement officer to take Bonnie & Clyde – dead or alive – with his secret feelings of love for Bonnie. Rivals in love, as well in the law, Ludwig and Fischer sing “You Can Do Better Than Him.” The song represents each man making the case why Bonnie should love him and not the other guy.
Colbie Baer (Young Bonnie) and Zarek Devlin (Young Clyde) provide a glimpse into the character’s early life that contributed to the paths they chose later in life. Baer and Devlin sing “Picture Show” to introduce the main characters. It was an effective transition when the young characters transformed into their adult versions.
Director Calabrese used the Croswell stage to great effect. Scene changes were quick and smooth. The lighting highlighted the moods of the action as did the smoky haze that filled the stage at times.
The show begins with the end. You might not realize that until you reach the end. The show begins with a massive gun fight, then photos of Bonnie & Clyde, dead, are projected on the downstage screen. The play ends with Bonnie & Clyde singing the reprise of “Dyin’ Ain’t So Bad” in their car, while the same photos appear, as the lights fade to black.
The Croswell just knows how to leave an audience wanting more.
Bonnie & Clyde runs through Sunday, 10/26. Tickets can be purchased by calling (517) 264-7469 or online at www.croswell.org.
8123 Main St Suite 200 Dexter, MI 48130
