America’s most infamous bank-robbing duo are back in business and the Rubicon Theatre has got them in the Ventura treasure’s must-see revival of the Tony-nominated Bonnie & Clyde The Musical.

The larcenous couple in question are heartthrobby sociopath Clyde Barrow (Russell Muzyczka) and glamorous 15-minutes-of-fame seeker Bonnie Parker (Ellie Smith), who not only robbed banks, small stores, and rural gas stations throughout the 1930s, but whose gang is believed to have killed as many as a dozen police officers and civilians along the way before they themselves met their maker in a shootout to end all shootouts.

A stunning opening sequence recreates the moment when police let loose on the couple’s get-away car, riddling it and its two passengers with over 160 bullet holes and warning us in the audience not to expect any kind of happily ever after for the criminal pair, or at least not on this earth.

 We then flash back to Bonnie and Clyde’s preteen selves (child actor charmers Harper Ham as Young Bonnie and Chance Challen as Young Clyde) as they dream of escape from a Depression-era Texas that offered no promise of the future each one longed for.

A decade or so later, 20-year-old Clyde and his older brother Buck (Leland Burnett) have just broken out of jail when the former meets ravishing redhead Bonnie, and though Buck’s born-again wife Blanche (Amanda Dayhoff) manages to convince her husband to turn himself in, Clyde’s return to the slammer is far less voluntary, but fortunately short-lived thanks to his female partner in love, larceny, and jail breaks.

And the rest as they say is history.

Whether you believe that Bonnie & Clyde glamorizes or humanizes its bank-robbing, love-making protagonists, it’s hard to imagine even the fiercest of law-and-order advocates not being torn between condemnation and compassion, and when Bonnie sings that “dyin’ ain’t so bad, not if you both go together” to the most glorious of Frank Wildhorn’s tunes, I defy all but the hardest of hearts not to be moved.

All of this adds up to a Broadway musical that ought to have settled in for a long run, followed by a National Tour and regional productions galore, but for reasons I can’t fathom, Bonnie & Clyde closed in New York after a mere 36 performances (not including previews) and to say that Southland production’s have been few and far between is putting it mildly.

Thank goodness then for the Rubicon, and the stunning, ingeniously scaled-down revival currently packing them in up Ventura way.

Wildhorn’s gorgeous country-western melodies and Don Black’s deft lyrics scored the duo a Best Score Tony nomination while Ivan Menchell’s book manages to compact Bonnie and Clyde’s lives into a two-and-a-half-hour musical that never outstays its welcome.

Under J. Scott Lapp’s electrifying direction, Bonnie & Clyde introduces SoCal audiences to fresh-out-of-college Muzyczka and the equally up-and-coming Smith, and a dazzling couple of West Coast debuts they deliver.

Muzyczka’s boy-next-door-with-a-dangerous-edge (think James Dean or a young Montgomery Clift) makes him the ideal choice to bring Clyde Barrow to captivating life and Smith matches him every way with her gritty, gorgeous turn as Bonnie Parker, and both performers have vocal and acting chops to match.

Burnett and Dayhoff deliver particularly memorable turns as Clyde’s well-intentioned but ultimately complicit brother Buck and his moralistic but ultimately complicit wife Blanche, and Brayden Handwerger Bolivar is terrific as Ted, the lawman suitor whom bad-boy-loving Bonnie finds far too squeaky clean to satisfy her more carnal urges.

Not only do all of the above deliver bang-up performances, by trimming the number of supporting players to less than half the number featured in the original Broadway production, this ingeniously re-thought Bonnie & Clyde is not only a whole lot more affordable for regional theaters to stage, it gives Joseph Fuqua (Sheriff, Charlie, Joe), Louis Pardo (Preacher, Frank, Officer, Archie), Kate Ponzio (Eleanor, Governor), Christanna Rowader (Cumie, Trish), and Sarah Wolter (Emma Parker, Stella) a whole lot more stage time in a variety of roles that showcase their acting/singing gifts to perfection.

Set designer Matthew Herman and his and co-projection designer Mike Billings’ projections recreate the Depression-era Midwest to striking effect as do Pamela J Shaw’s homespun 1930s costumes, Alex Johnston’s props and furniture designs, and Danielle White and Lexi Quolas’s hair and makeup, and Billings’ lighting design is as dazzlingly dramatic as it gets.

Music director Lisa Lemay has not only elicited stellar vocals from her entire cast, she conducts Bonnie & Clyde’s sensational live bluegrass orchestra, with sound designer Danny Fiandaca scoring his own points not only for his mix of vocals and instrumentals but for some explosive effects along the way.

Last but not least, though you could hardly call Bonnie & Clyde a “dancy” show, choreographer Natalie Iscovich’s musical staging adds to the impact of ensemble numbers while fight choreographer-armorer Kevin Matsumoto earns his own kudos for stage violence of multiple sorts.

Bonnie & Clyde is produced by Stephanie Coltrin. Joel Goldes is dialect coach. Hannah Raymond is production stage manager. Julia Donlon is production manager. Jimmy Callahan is technical director. David Elzer is publicist.

Ventura may be farther afield than most L.A. theatergoers would normally want to travel, but mileage and fuel cost be damned, Bonnie & Clyde’s headlines-worthy arrival at the Rubicon is more than worth the drive. Miss it and you’ll be missing out big-time.

Rubicon Theatre, 1006 E. Main Street, Ventura. Through May 18. Wednesdays at 2:00 and 7:00, Thursdays and Fridays at 7:00, Saturdays at 2:00 and 7:00, Sundays at 2:00.
www.rubicontheatre.org

–Steven Stanley
May 4, 2025
Photos: Lore Photography

Visit www.theatreinla.com/nowplayingrs.php for a review roundup of what’s now playing in theaters around Los Angeles.

Tags: Don Black, Frank Wildhorn, Ivan Menchell, Rubicon Theatre, Ventura County Theater Review