ANDY DRACHENBERG: This is a new age for the story of Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, can you tell us a little bit about what first pulled you to this piece?
DON BLACK: Well the fact that I’ve never written for outlaws before. Jerry Herman, when he’s asked what he looks for in a musical, answers ‘Something I’ve never written.’ I’ve written about many things, but the idea of the 1930s dustbowl, that kind of music that would have been around then… I was actually brought up on gangster movies in England (I saw every James Cagney and Edward G. Robinson movie), and I’ve always been in love with Americana and small town America… diners and liquor stores, etc. It’s was great subject for me.
AD: When did this all first begin?
DB: It started probably eight years ago. Frank said he wanted to work with me, and he had a list of famous couples throughout history – people like Romeo & Juliet, (Richard) Burton & (Elizabeth) Taylor… just an amazing list of people throughout history, and Bonnie & Clyde were on that list. I picked that couple. We started by writing three or four songs, just to get a feel for it, and we were working with David Neumann, the original writer of the screenplay for the film. Unfortunately, David passed and we stopped for a while. One day, Jeff Calhoun heard what we had done, heard the songs we’d written, and got us back on the horse!
AD: What is everyday life for a lyricist when you’re working on a new show?
DB:
It’s a funny thing. It’s a lot of thinking. It’s a lot of walking around parks. It’s a lot of staring out windows. It’s this mind-wandering lunacy that you go through as a lyricist. Funny enough, I’m a very quick writer, of course there’s a lot of thinking. When I sit down to write a song, it may just take a day, but you’ve been thinking about it for weeks. All my life I’ve been on red alert looking for phrases in conversation – something that’s fresh – and I’ll write them down.
AD: The Broadway production of Bonnie & Clyde will be the third production of the musical. How has the work changed over time in your eyes?
DB: It’s gotten much more personal. Before, it was more on the chronological facts and figures of what happened. Ivan dove into the personal angle of it – and it seems everyone has written a book. Blanche’s sister… Clyde’s mother… all the relatives seemed to have something to say.Now, it comes across very heartfelt because you get to know their families as well. That is a big difference.
AD: How did you begin to find how to use lyrics to tell the story in this show?
DB: It’s very much instinctive – it’s hard to interview a songwriter, because everyone expects an anecdote. I always quote Paul McCartney. People would ask him ‘How did you write Yesterday? He answered “I just had a good day at the office.” It’s as simple as that: it’s a business. Julie Stein once said to me “Inspiration is for amateurs.” I sat and thought… what does that mean? Well, it means that it is a business. You don’t wait for inspiration. You soak everything up and get to work. Hopefully, sometimes you get it right!
AD: It seems as though everybody on this show got in sync very quickly. Can you tell me about the collaboration process? What has it been like working with this group of artists?
DB: We did a tremendous amount of talking. Frank and I work very easily together. He sends me CDs, with this happy voice going ‘Hi Don! I’ve written what I think is a great ballad for Clyde,” and then he’ll play it on the piano very clearly. He plays it once as he feels it, then once again so I can make sure I hear the notes and the chords. And that’s it really. I write the lyrics and send it back! I’ve worked with a lot of different collaborators, and it’s pretty amazing how similar they are. Quincy Jones is no different from Andrew Lloyd Webber when at the piano. When they stand up from the piano, they’re different people, but composers are always just looking for the right melodies, the right themes.
AD: How does Bonnie & Clyde fit in with your other works?
DB: Well, the subject matter is very different. It’s a unique subject. I think people have a pre-conceived idea that it’s going to be very violent, and they summarize it very quickly. I think they’ll be surprised, because you’re going to care about these people, their families. You’re going to see where they came from, what motivated them, how it all went wrong, etc. You’re going to be moved, and you’re going to reassess them after this musical.
AD: Did you approach this show any differently than you have other projects?
DB: You have to have fire in your belly to write a musical. You have to monitor it on a minute-by-minute basis. The job of a lyric writer is to match the voice of a book writer, and to get the right vocabulary. It’s the rewriting that’s challenging. You write something, everybody loves it, and then an hour later it’s never quite as fabulous as an hour ago!
AD: Do you have a favorite song in the show?
DB: I think ’How ‘Bout a Dance’ is a lovely song, and I very much like the song ‘Bonnie.’ They’re very much embedded into the piece, they’re not generic songs. They are a part of this story.
AD: What are you most looking forward to about the Broadway run of Bonnie & Clyde?
DB: Well, it’s the most thrilling arena to be in, nothing can compare to it! I think this is my eighth show, so it’s very, very exciting. It’s so hard to get a show to Broadway. It seems harder than ever! And I don’t think you can worry the extra stuff (reviews), you just do the best you can and hope people like it!
Don Black (Lyrics). received two Tony Awards for best book and lyrics of a musical for his work (with Christopher Hampton) on Sunset Boulevard, which marked his third collaboration with Andrew Lloyd Webber. They first joined forces to write the song cycle Tell Me on a Sunday, which developed to form the basis of the stage show Song and Dance. They were reunited for Aspects of Love. He also wrote the lyrics for the Andrew Lloyd Webber-produced Bombay Dreams. Awards include an Oscar for his song “Born Free,” six Academy Award nominations, two Tony Awards and three Tony nominations, five Ivor Novello Awards, a Golden Globe and many platinum, gold and silver discs. Black has written a quintet of James Bond theme songs: “Thunderball,” “Diamonds Are Forever,” “The Man With the Golden Gun,” “Surrender” from Tomorrow Never Dies and “The World Is Not Enough.” He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2008, and recently honored in London with a BMI Icon Award.