Andrew MCINTOSH and Melinda RICE: Bonnie and Clyde

SECOND TAKE | Wild Up and the Industry
A follow up on the new opera workshop FIRST TAKE, we partnered with The Industry opera company again, to present the full length concert premiere of Bonnie and Clyde, by Andrew McIntosh and Melinda Rice. In this vignette series of memories from family journals Rice and McIntosh weave a picture, not of rogue anti-heroes, but rather people, in a family, who’ve caused their closest relationships to be stressed beyond belief. In a way they had intended to leave Bonnie and Clyde themselves entirely out of the piece.

At first we hear gunshots, and then they ring over a single chorale duet, maybe wafting out of a church. There’s loss and dryness in the sound. At moments, it is brittle, and tumbleweeds roll by. At others, the rain pours and lines blur one on top of another, like water running down glass. There’s plain clarity in moments, and then, without so much as a warning, a jump-cut causes brilliant sound to blind the audience, whiting out the senses. Working closely with Andrew and Melinda like this was such an incredible joy. They’re good friends that we’ve made music with for years, they’re founding members of the band, and experienced solo creators in their own right. Hearing our friends make choices in shaping a story like this one, and watching them uncover every bit of the narrative — finding self-similarity in disparate true stories, eventually uncovering something that communicates an immersive effect, a feeling of space and locale, rather than a simple narrative — was incredibly beautiful.