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Video: Jeremy Jordan on Raisin' Hell Again in BONNIE & CLYDE
Jun 21, 2024
Barrow's back! As BroadwayWorld previously reported, Bonnie andamp; Clyde, filmed live at Theatre Royal Drury Lane in January 2022, will be available to stream later this month. In this video, watch as Jeremy Jordan talks all things Clyde Barrow!
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Hello, I'm Richard Ridge for Broadway World
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Frank Wildhorn's beloved musical, Bonnie and Clive, was filmed live from London's Theater Royal Jury Lane
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starring Jeremy Jordan and Francis May Lee McCann. It'll start streaming on June 24th, and I caught up with Jeremy here at the legendary Algonquin Hotel
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I fell in love with this show when it first was on Broadway a few years ago
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2011. Was it 2011? 2011, yeah. So what was it like for you going back to revisit
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visit this wonderful show. It was great. I mean, it was, it was wild
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I mean, it was a little bit crazy because I was kind of thrown in to this, what I thought
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was going to be a concert and became like just underneath what a full performance is
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like a step up from on course, basically. And so it was just, I didn't really have time to overthink it or anything
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I just was like get the lines, figure out the staging, what are you going to do with your costume, and go
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And then it was over. You know, it was just like this mad dash through it all
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But what was great is that it all just sort of came rushing back to me
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And it's always fun, you know, revisiting characters that you've played before, which I've gotten to do a couple times now
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More than a couple times, you hear the old line reading in your head, and they're like
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like, oh, maybe I should do that a little bit differently. And so you can kind of like reevaluate things
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but you always have that like that muscle memory you fall back on
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So you don't, it's not like a whole new process. And then you get to sort of fall back in love with that character again
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So what was like, was the rehearsal process long or what did you have over there? I had, I think, I mean, this is two and a half years ago
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but I think I had five days. The cast is all UK-based
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and I came in and, you know, my reps and all that stuff were like, okay, well, it's a concert
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Like, he knows the material who come in prepared. I think I had, like, some other gig before that
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So I came in a little bit later and they had already been, you know, rehearsing
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And I was like, well, it's a concert. I'm going to come in. I'll just get in. It'll be fine. Like, and then I get there
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It's all staged and off book. I was like, well, I guess I should have shown up a little bit earlier
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But no, it was, it was. I think I had about five days, and then we, like, on the sixth day, teched
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and did a run through at the same time. And then that night we did our first show, and they did another show the next day
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and they filmed it all, apparently. And here we are two and a half years later
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Because I had friends go over there to see you in this, and they had the best time watching this
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I know your perception of this is totally different than what the audience took away from this Yeah well you know you do all that crazy work and then the goal is to go on stage and make it look effortless And so I think we accomplished that
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It always feels like a miracle when you pull off something like that, you know. But it was at the Royal Theater Royal Drury Lane
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which is like this massive, gorgeous theater in London, and every seat was packed
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And so, and everybody was just so incredibly happy. being excited and out of their mind to be there. So it was a pretty awesome atmosphere
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We all fell in love with this show in New York. What are your favorite memories of the original
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Broadway production? Oh man. We used to do like a bunch of backstage antics all the time and
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we would try to like scare each other and goof off on each other and me and Lauren and Clay and
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Melissa were the kind of core. We were the Barrow gang. And, you know, we had like little walkie-talkies and we would all chat with each other
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It was just like a really tight group. It was sort of a family backstage
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And, you know, one of the other really cool memories is that we realized really early on that the show wasn't doing well
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And we didn't know what to do about it because we were just in the cast, but we really love the show
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And I remember one of the actors in the ensemble had this idea to, like, print out all these wanted posters
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So we made Wounded posters of me and Laura, and we literally scattered them all over Times Square
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which apparently is not legal. And we got in trouble for that
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But, like, you know, we tried to save the show. You know, it was fun, but bittersweet at the same time
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And now those posters are on eBay. Are they? Yeah, totally. There's got to be one somewhere
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Everybody wanted one of those. I know. I remember, like, weeks later
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I'd see, like, one crumbled up in a corner or like, you know, half disintegrated in the puddle
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Yeah. Let's talk about this incredible score you got to sing all over again
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Living in the songs of Frank Wildhorn, what is that like? It's really fun
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I mean, what's cool about this score is that it's based in a sort of like rock and roll rockabilly kind of vibe
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And within that, like, there's a lot of freedom. And so, you know, when I first did the show
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it was all laid out pretty, you know, bare bones, and, like, I got to really put my spin
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and my voice and my character onto it. So getting to sort of revisit all that
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and getting to tweak little things here and there was also really fun
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And, you know, just what's fun about doing a show that only does for two performances
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is I don't really have to worry about maintaining my vocal health eight shows a week
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So I just, like, went off a couple times, which is really fun and probably paid for it the next couple days But it fine Yeah it cool because like you see you know kids that are growing up in theater and they listen to soundtrack or
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something like that and they're doing all the riffs that you made up and all that sort of stuff
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And it's really cool. Talk about your new leading lady. Oh, yes, Frances Mailey McCann. She's amazing. I call her Frankie, so I have to look because
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I was like, oh, I'm supposed to call her Francis. Am I supposed to call her Frances? I don't know
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She's a dear friend of yours. I know. I love her. But I don't know what she's supposed to be called
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Yeah. But I'm excited to see her. She's going to be here for the premiere
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But she's amazing. I didn't know her. I mean, I didn't know pretty much any of these guys out there
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I've never worked in the UK, except for doing my own solo concerts
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So, yeah, it was a real joy. And they were just incredibly professional and all super talented and really receptive
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and giving and everything you would sort of expect. Yeah. Now this is going to start streaming around the world on June 24th
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I mean, you have fans all over the world. And, you know, many people..
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No, you do. We all know that. You have fans all over the world. All right, cool. So, I mean, people who heard the cast album
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can now actually see you do what you do in their home, on their iPads or anything
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How exciting is that for you knowing that this is going to reach such a broad audience
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Yeah, it's always really cool when theater can sort of reach a broader audience that way, you know
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And you hope that it's on, that it's captured in a way that sort of, you know
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maintains the feeling of being there alive, which I think this does a really good job of
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mainly because we were all just like going by the seat of our pants
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And so you really feel that. And that, and the show really lends itself to that, to that energy
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And this is such a beloved show across the world. And, you know, we struggled a little bit on Broadway
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it's become this cult classic. It's been done everywhere all over the place and to tremendous success
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And so getting to like be a part of it again after it's sort of gotten its due was really special
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And I'm excited to share with people. I didn't know what it was going to turn out like, but I was really happy with it
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And yeah. Because you're living in the moment when you're doing it. Yeah
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Yeah, there's no, there was no pretext. There was no, like, over-rehearsed
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There was no, I wasn't in my head. I was just going. And, you know, which really suits, at least for Clyde
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sort of suits his mentality. You know, he didn't think about the next day
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He was just living and trying to get to the next place and stay live
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Yeah. You know, you leave us sometimes to do TV and film, but you always come back to the theater
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Oh yeah Tell me why Well you know there are always willing to give me a job Thankfully I don know that I broken into TV and film quite big enough yet to live there eternally
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But even if I was, I would always come back. I mean, this is definitely my first love and the thing I'm most passionate about
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and performing in front of live audiences and getting to, you know, tell the story from beginning to end
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and be that sort of vessel that's out there. It's exhilarating. There's nothing like it
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And I will absolutely always come back as long as I am able. Yeah. But knowing that you introducing people that know you from TV
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Yeah. And they're coming to like a show now, like, oh my God, he does this live. You know, we were introduced to somebody that we saw on TV and film
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What that means to you? Well, you know, what's really interesting to me is that that was, it was like that for a while after I did
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I did this show called Supergirl, and I did Smash. But those, you know, those are six, seven years old now
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And I still, the most people that come up to talk to me know me from Newsies or from Bonnie and Clyde
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And it's like, what's really cool is that when things like this get taped, you know, like, for instance, Newsies is available on Disney
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Plus, and so all these kids that are now coming up in theater. and, you know, doing shows of their school
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Newsies, like, the most produced show for little kids. And so, the kids, of all ages
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And it's wild that I'm, like, still popular for this thing I did, you know, over 10 years ago
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And it's because it's lived on in film form. And I think that's, it's been great for me because sometimes I, you know
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when you're not working for a minute and I'm very lucky to be working now
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sometimes you're like, am I still relevant? And then these kids are like, oh, I just watch newsies
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And I was like, oh, it's like they saw it for the first time, you know. Finally, what do you look, sorry, I mean, what are you looking forward to the most about the June 23rd, New York premier here in New York City
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Oh, gosh. Well, I'm excited to see my girl, Francis. And I'm excited to see it on a big screen, you know
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It's, it's really, I mean, I watched it on my phone. You know, they gave me like a little screener on my phone
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And I'm excited to share it with friends that are going to come. And that's always the best thing about those things is get to share it with people that you care about and know, you know, are going to be super supportive no matter what
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And, you know, I'm not a big partier, but maybe I'll hang out for a minute afterwards
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Well, I'll be there that night on the 23rd. All right. And streaming begins on the 24. Perfect
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Always a pleasure, Jeremy. Good to see you, my friend
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