Original Broadway Cast, 2012 (Broadway Records) (1.5 / 5) This musical based on the real-life story of Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, those infamous outlaws of the 1930s, has a book by Ivan Menchell, music by Frank Wildhorn, and lyrics by Don Black. The show opened on Broadway on December 1, 2011 and closed after only 36 performances. The cast recording starts out pleasantly by introducing us to Laura Osnes as Bonnie and Jeremy Jordan as Clyde. Jordan’s first song is a strong ballad, “The World Will Remember Me,” while Osnes croons a sweet-sounding ballad of her own, with the score’s catchiest tune: “How ’Bout a Dance.” Wildhorn has composed some praiseworthy music using jazz, blues, and gospel elements, but the score also includes several songs written in a nebulous pop style that makes no attempt to represent the time period. On the rare occasion when Wildhorn avoids the first-person ballad, we get misfires such as “God’s Arms Are Always Open,” a tonal mess in which the couple’s villainous deeds are underscored by a preacher’s fiery sermon. The song “Made in America” does delve into some of the deeper themes of the story and motivations of the characters, but it’s quickly followed and counteracted by multiple anemic ballads. Making matters worse, Black’s lyrics are bland and rarely more than skin-deep, resulting in stagnant songs that don’t push the story forward. Certain individual numbers might be enjoyable when extracted from the show; for example, Clyde’s love song, “Bonnie,” and Bonnie’s 11 o’clock number, “Dyin’ Ain’t So Bad” are particularly memorable and could perhaps serve as fine cabaret material. But listening to this album from start to finish may well prove to be an unsatisfying experience for those expecting a cohesive musical theatre score. The recording’s major recommendations are the performances of Osnes, Jordan, and Melissa Van Der Schyff a s Clyde’s long-suffering sister-in-law. All three are given ample opportunity to show off their vocal dexterity. — Forrest Hutchinson

Original London Cast, 2023 (Broadway Records) (2 / 5) While this recording does not reflect any major fix of the flaws in the original material, some of the wrinkles have been smoothed out. As was the case with the Broadway album, the cast is the most laudable element here. Frances Mayli McCann in the role of Bonnie is alluring as she belts through the Wildhorn ballads; her overall performance is equal in quality to that of Laura Osnes, with the exception of “Dyin’ Ain’t So Bad,” in which McCann doesn’t quite manage to match the excitement conjured up by that number on the previous recording. She is joined by Jordan Luke Gage, an appropriately youthful and unstable Clyde whose singing has an edge that truly fits the score and the character. All of the other soloists in featured roles sing well, but the score still largely fails to justify the existence of those characters as part of the story. The most noticeable difference between this recording and the Broadway original is the inclusion here of bits of the show’s dialogue, especially at the beginning. This was presumably intended to help bind the disjointed songs together, but unfortunately, the delivery of the dialogue only highlights the performers’ stilted attempts to take on American accents. The orchestrations have been altered slightly; for example, “Raise A Little Hell” is here drowned in electric guitar, and the rock-concert quality feels completely out of step with the rest of the score. It seems that, instead of making meaningful changes to the material, the creative team for this production simply leaned into the show’s pop style. On that note, an alternate version of “Dyin’ Ain’t So Bad” is included as a bonus track, arranged as a riff-filled duet for Bonnie and Clyde and sung by the show’s alternates, Barnie Wilkinson and Lauren Jones. — F.H.