Dying Ain't So Bad

Bonnie and Clyde are the Tinker Bell and Peter Pan of Crime

Sounds crazy, no?  But here, in our little village of West Dallas.....
Sorry, wrong show (though Stages St. Louis is doing Fiddler on the Roof right now)

We attempted our first full run-thru the other night, and though there is still room for improvement, no one died that wasn't supposed to.  Therefore, it was a success.  Plus, I didn't hurt myself, which I always consider a plus.

Anyway, back to my initial statement: I was sitting in the audience during the beginning of Act 1, and for the first time I just watched Larissa and Matt do their meeting scenes.  They have been doing wonderfully, but it was a different show than what I had been listening to for the past month.  Without scripts in their hands, they had to rely on each other more.  There were some great moments between them, and a remarkable childishness seemed to evolve.  You could see in his eyes just how much she mattered to him, and it was apparent just how much she wanted his approval during her poem.  It was similar to watching two kids meeting on a playground and innocently flirting.

Now, I'm not saying that Bonnie and Clyde were innocent by any means, but they were incredibly young; Clyde was twenty-four and Bonnie was twenty-three when they were gunned down.  They had no problem laughing in the face of adult society.  They even had their own group of "lost boys", fellow criminals aiding the fearless couple in crime sprees.

I realize this entire idea may be far-fetched, and I could potentially be grasping for connections, but after reading about Bonnie and Clyde, you get under the impression that these two were ready to die at any time.  Hell, Bonnie has a song called "Dying Ain't So Bad" in the show where she remarks that the only problem she would have with dying is if Clyde died before her; she would rather go first so that she wouldn't have to live without him.

In Peter Pan, when facing imminent death at the hands of Captain Jas. Hook, Peter spits in his face "To die would be an awfully big adventure."  Pan is not afraid to die.  To him, death is just the next great thing that he can conquer.  He has no true sense of right or wrong, and was prone to killing off the Lost Boys whenever he felt that they had grown too old.

In other news, we open in two weeks.  The show is looking good, but I'm so glad that we have several more run-thru rehearsals.  I am facing my eternal problem: not being big enough.  I always think I'm making a strong difference between the characters I play, but I never make the differences big enough.  I am prone to feeling awkward about going over the top (BAD ACTOR!).  Oh well, it just means I have to lose myself in the show a bit more.

Two weeks to go!  Make sure to check out Bonnie & Clyde at New Line Theatre!

StrawPun Out