Chicago Tribune - Recommended
"...You got a lively, affordable, amped-up, anthemic “Bonnie & Clyde,” given more dignity than was the case on Broadway by an earnest cast and a honest director, and led by an actress whose voice can compare with that of a young Linda Eder."
Chicago Sun Times - Highly Recommended
"...For those who came of age around 1967, when Arthur Penn's iconic film "Bonnie & Clyde" hit movie screens, the sight of Faye Dunaway as Bonnie Parker (looking impossibly chic in a poor-boy sweater and beret), and the easily dashing young Warren Beatty as Clyde Barrow, her outlaw lover, gave crime a dangerously fashionable allure, even if the notorious pair were ultimately gunned down in the most graphically bloody way."
Chicago Reader - Somewhat Recommended
"...he performances crackle (in particular Desiree Gonzalez and Max DeTogne as the titular star-crossed outlaws), the score soars under John Cockerill's musical direction, and the pace moves at a fine clip under director Spencer Neiman. Sadly, however, Wildhorn and company have put some formidable roadblocks in the way of success: some of the ballads slow things to a crawl, and Menchell's book feels unfocused and fragmented at times. Most damning of all, the show can't decide whether it's an eager-to-please entertainment or a pointed commentary on hypocrisy and cruelty in Depression-era America. It tries to do both and fails to do either consistently or well."
Windy City Times - Recommended
"...Wildhorn and Black's lengthy score—drawing sometimes on period string-band arrangements, but just as often reverting to contemporary Broadway melodic tropes—sometimes risks slowing the momentum, but Spencer Neiman and John Cockerill's direction propel the action in this Kokandy production with the urgency of youthful recklessness and the inevitability of tragedy. The intimacy of Theater Wit's smallest studio likewise awakens our empathy for the frustrations of thrill-crazed marauders born of an envious population affirming their birthright in the anthemic "Made In America"—lest we delude ourselves into thinking ill-starred couples confusing notoriety with celebrity is an anomaly restricted to ages long gone."
Stage and Cinema - Somewhat Recommended
"...As the star-crossed slaughterers, DeTogne and Gonzalez convey some chemistry and even charisma. Very much on display if not contagiously convincing, Kokandy's hard work is non-negotiably noble. But by its strangely sentimental end, Bonnie & Clyde has romanticized two sociopathic soulmates and hillbilly hoodlums who deeply and sincerely earned an apotheosis in artillery."
Around The Town Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...The story begins with Bonnie & Clyde being "gunned down" and then flashing back to how it all came to be! The production moves very fast and is filled with music that is designed to tell the story and propel it for the audience to easily follow. It works, but may have not been the right time for the "uppity" New York theater crowd. After all, Chicago audiences are much better!"
Chicago Theatre Review - Recommended
"...For a Frank Wildhorn musical, this one is, surprisingly, a cut above the others. His musical score offers some catchy, melodious tunes, far more variety and often a few unexpected glimmers of brilliance. The performances by this talented cast and the musical accompaniment found in Kokandy’s production truly stand out and help to smooth over the triteness of Ivan Menchell’s mundane book. The playwright’s storytelling, much like his script for “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang,” just doesn’t do this musical any favors; and Don Black’s lyrics, while serviceable, aren’t particularly clever or inventive. However, thanks to some creative direction by Spencer Neiman and outstanding musical support by John Cockerill, this story of two outlaw lovers on the run turns into an entertaining, yet tragic folk tale."
Chicagoland Musical Theatre - Highly Recommended
"...When musical theatre aficionados consider “feel-good” productions, Bonnie and Clyde, the story of the infamous criminal lovers and their fate, is not the show that leaps to mind. However, Kokandy Productions’ version of the under-appreciated musical at The Theater Wit is just that: a fast-paced, clever celebration of living fast and loving hard."
Chicago Theater and Arts - Highly Recommended
"...In the end Bonnie and Clyde is a theatrical performance that explores the need for recognition and love. It explores romantic love, parental love, spiritual love, self-love, lost love and unrequited love."
Picture This Post - Recommended
"...Kokandy Productions’ Bonnie and Clyde will not disappoint musical theater lovers. It’s clear-eyed look at poverty and crime are precious reminders that societies lacking opportunity spawn suffering. It’s not a lesson musical, though. This celebration of music is a tribute to a couple who loved, lived and died together in a way that continues to echo their names — now with more joy than they ever might have hoped for."
