Blood, Fame and the American Dream: ‘Bonnie and Clyde’ Shines at Bay Street

It’s a timeless question. What lengths would you go to in order to achieve fame? What price are you willing to pay for celebrityhood?

In this era of TikTok, Instagram and a phone in every pocket, clicks equal status, money and recognition. And just as there are many questionable talents turning people into “stars” in this digital age, so, too does Bay Street Theater’s current production examine the appeal and high cost of being well-known.

In this case, celebrity comes not by amassing clicks, but rather front-page headlines anchored by grainy photographs of a couple of kids working their way through middle America with criminal intent, an arsenal of guns and the tendency to murder anyone who tries to stop them.

Fame and the high price it commands is front and center in “Bonnie and Clyde,” the musical which opened at Bay Street last Saturday and runs through August 24. In the capable hands of director Scott Schwartz (the theater’s artistic director) and with music by Frank Wildhorn, lyrics by Don Black and a book by Ivan Menchell, “Bonnie and Clyde” has a lot of important things to say — even if everyone knows how it ends.

And that’s exactly where this well-honed production begins — with 23-year-old Bonnie Parker (played by the talented Lyda Jade Harlan) and 25-year-old Clyde Barrow (Charlie Webb) both dead in their car, having met their end on a country road in rural Louisiana in May 1934. In exchange for murdering 14 people (many of them cops) the couple received 167 bullets, courtesy of a police ambush, that were more than adequate for the task.

From there, the play takes audiences back to the beginning, when Clyde, fresh from a jail break, meets Bonnie, a waitress with a broken-down car on the side of the road outside Dallas. They bond quickly as they compare their respective hopes and dreams — she wants to be on the stage and eventually, a Hollywood star. He wants a fast car and a life free from money woes.

Together, they set out to pursue their goals. But Clyde is cagey about his past, and soon we learn that he has a brother. Marvin “Buck” Barrow (Nick Bailey) has busted out of prison too and is also on the lam. His wife, Blanche (Ashley Alexandra), who owns a local beauty salon, is not thrilled when Buck shows up with the cops hot on his tail. She urges Buck to turn himself in, complete his sentence and pay his debt to society so they can start fresh somewhere else. Maybe New Mexico.

Soon, both brothers are back in prison. Buck takes Blanche’s advice and turns himself in to authorities, while Clyde is caught by Ted Hinton (Anargha Pal), a local police officer and Bonnie’s childhood friend who is still smitten by her. Because he turned himself in, Buck serves his reduced sentence and is quickly released. But Clyde is given a much longer sentence. After enduring horrible abuse at the hands of another prisoner, Clyde breaks out again, this time killing a deputy in the process.

With both brothers free, Bonnie, Clyde, Blanche and Buck transform themselves into the Barrow Gang and make a name for themselves as they commit robberies across several states. While initially, Bonnie is not an eager outlaw, she soon proves to be a daring and fearless one — dazzled by the acclaim that their exploits bring in the court of public opinion. Bonnie and Clyde attract a sizable fan base as their photos get published in the papers and editorial pages run her poetry. To hardworking people struggling to survive the depression, their exploits are the stuff of legend and Bonnie happily gives autographs to customers at the banks they rob.

While at first glance, the story of Bonnie and Clyde may seem like an odd subject for a musical, it actually makes for very compelling theater. After all, the plot is full of drama, and Bay Street’s version is a classic tale told with heart, emotion and a lively score.

Credit Wildhorn’s music, which evokes both gospel and ragtime of the era, for doing a lot of the heavy lifting here. While there’s not much dancing in this show, there is some mighty fine singing and a good deal of humor — particularly in Act I. But all that fades as the playful young outlaws start to feel the repercussions of their bad choices and resulting actions. As Bonnie and Clyde sing at the end of Act I, “This World Will Remember Us.” That certainly will turn out to be true.

This talented cast brings their A-game — and their Tommy guns — to the stage. The most fascinating character in this fine group of actors is, without a doubt, Bonnie as portrayed by the immensely talented Lyda Jade Harlan. Her soft Texas drawl, her charming mannerisms and incredible singing voice knocks it out of the park. She portrays Bonnie with a complexity and finesse that reveals conflicting desires — a desperation to escape a stifling life, find some excitement and become a star with the man she loves, contrasted by a yearning to settle down to a stable and comfortable life (ironically, something she could have had with Ted Hinton).

This production is a signature Bay Street musical — that is, a pared down production with a cast of 10 who do double or triple duty as the need arises. In addition to the main players, the cast is rounded out by Vishal Vaidya (who plays Captain Frank Hamer, the retired Texas Ranger who pursued Bonnie and Clyde with dogged determination), Amy Bodnar, Jeremy Webb, Gisela Aduisa, and Kathy Deitch.

Also pared down is the set by Anna Louizos. It’s suggestive, rather than literal, and admittedly a little puzzling, given the play’s setting in rural America. The stage, painted black with flecks of white, is dominated by a series of steel girders embedded with bright lights, making it reminiscent of a subway station or the subterranean streets that run beneath Chicago’s Michigan Avenue. Given the references to Al Capone in the play, perhaps that is by design.

A movable oblong box-like structure with industrial metal handles is the only multi-functioning set piece and, through a series of hidden doors and concealed slots, it doubles as a bed, a car, a courtroom stage or a stash for long guns. There are no soft surfaces to be found, and perhaps that, too, is by design.

More successful is Mike Billing’s lighting and Michael Salvatore Commendatore’s projection design, which turn the set into something far more dazzling and evocative of the era. Rounding out the creative team is sound designer Jon Weston, costume designer Ashley Soliman, choreographer Emily Maltby, and music supervisor Patrick Sulken.

As we all know, in the end, the Barrow Gang runs out of luck and time. Bullets fly, lives are lost and the public sours on Bonnie and Clyde’s propensity for murder. The choices they make finally converge on that rural road in Louisiana where an inevitable fate awaits.

A postscript not in the play. After their deaths, crowds arrived to see the bodies of Bonnie and Clyde still in the bullet-ridden car. The police guarding the scene lost control and locks of Parker’s hair and pieces of her dress were cut off and subsequently sold as souvenirs. Others purportedly collected pieces of glass, shell casings and bloody clothing. It’s said one man tried to saw off Clyde’s trigger finger, while another with a pocketknife was reaching into the car to cut off Clyde’s left ear before he was stopped.

It’s a stark reminder of the price of fame.

“Bonnie and Clyde” runs through August 24 at Bay Street Theater on Long Wharf in Sag Harbor. Tickets for the show are available at baystreet.org, 631-725-9500 or at the theater’s box office.