The men in this town
Live and die and are forgotten,
And it doesn't seem to scare 'em.
I can't wait to get away –
Away from the drought,
And the homeless and the hungry,
Where they talk about foreclosures
Every hot and dusty day.

I don't intend to
Waste my life 'round here.
I got it all mapped out –
If I can pull just three jobs a year,
I'll be rich, I'll have wealth and fame,
Everyone'll know my name!
          — Clyde Barrow, Bonnie & Clyde

New Line opened its 24th season with the regional premiere of the Broadway musical BONNIE & CLYDE, a kind of horror Romeo and Juliet story, exploring the culture that created this infamous couple and their two-year murder spree, the moral ambiguity of Prohibition, the Great Depression, and a national cult of celebrity that turned these damaged, dangerous kids into national folk heroes, in their twisted quest for dignity in a time of national humiliation. Here today, in this time of economic distress in America, this story seems more relevant than ever. Not only could it happen again; it does.

With music by Frank Wildhorn (Jekyll & Hyde, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Wonderland), lyrics by Don Black (Tell Me on a Sunday, Aspects of Love, Sunset Blvd.) and a script by Ivan Menchell, the show follows Bonnie and Clyde's brutal, two-year crime-spree, capturing vividly this lost society in which kids like these could imagine only one path to security and dignity, and that was celebrity, at the point of a gun. Clyde sees in Al Capone and Billy the Kid the only role models who haven't been humiliated by the Depression. Bonnie sees in Clara Bow the freedom, privilege, and escape she craves. As Clyde says in the show, “I am never going to be set free. Freedom is something I gotta steal.” When all America's institutions were failing, Bonnie and Clyde made their own rules, and that made them heroes to millions of ordinary Americans struggling themselves under the weight of poverty and hopelessness. In a time when the law itself was an object of ridicule, thanks to the failed experiment of Prohibition (and its widespread violation), Bonnie and Clyde stood in for "a nation of scofflaws" who no longer respected the law or even recognized it as legitimate.

The New Line cast included Matt Pentecost (Clyde), Larissa White (Bonnie), Brendan Ochs (Buck), Sarah Porter (Blanche), Reynaldo Arceno (Ted Hinton), Zachary Allen Farmer (Preacher), Christopher “Zany” Clark (Sheriff Schmid), Mara Bollini, Kent Coffel, Joel Hackbarth, Alison Helmer, Ann Hier, Marshall Jennings, Nellie Mitchell, Kimi Short, and Christopher Strawhun. Scott Miller and Mike Dowdy directed, with music direction by Jeffrey Carter, scenic and lighting design by Rob Lippert, and costume design by Sarah Porter and Marcy Wiegert.

The musical made its world premiere at the La Jolla Playhouse in 2009. It was then heavily revised, and it opened on Broadway in 2011. Despite a short run, it was nominated for three Outer Critics Circle Awards and five Drama Desk Awards, both including Best New Musical, as well as two nominations for the 2012 Tony Awards, including Best Score.