Assassins (musical)
Encyclopedia
Assassins is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
and book
by John Weidman
, based on an idea by Charles Gilbert, Jr. It uses the premise of a murderous carnival game to produce a revue
-style portrayal of men and women who attempted (successfully or otherwise) to assassinate Presidents of the United States
. The music varies to reflect the popular music of the eras depicted.
The musical first opened Off-Broadway
in 1990, and the 2004 Broadway
production won five Tony Awards.
's Musical Theater Lab, Sondheim read a script by playwright Charles Gilbert. Sondheim asked Gilbert for permission to use his idea. Gilbert consented and offered to write the book; but Sondheim declined, having already had collaborator John Weidman in mind. Weidman had written the book for Pacific Overtures
and would work with Sondheim again on Road Show.
Assassins opened Off-Broadway
at Playwrights Horizons
on December 18, 1990, and closed on February 16, 1991 after 73 performances. Directed by Jerry Zaks
the cast included Victor Garber
, Terrence Mann
, Patrick Cassidy
, Debra Monk
, Greg Germann
, and Annie Golden
. According to the Los Angeles Times, "The show has been sold out since previews began, reflecting the strong appeal of Sondheim's work among the theater crowd." Frank Rich
in his New York Times review wrote "Assassins will have to fire with sharper aim and fewer blanks if it is to shoot to kill."
On October 29, 1992, Assassins opened in London at the Donmar Warehouse
with direction by Sam Mendes
and a cast that included Henry Goodman
as Charles Guiteau and Louise Gold
as Sara Jane Moore. The show ran for 76 performances, closing on January 9, 1993.
Roundabout Theater Company's Broadway
production was originally scheduled for 2001 but was postponed to April 22, 2004, because the content was sensitive in light of the events of September 11, 2001
. After 101 performances at Studio 54
, Assassins closed on July 18, 2004. Directed by Joe Mantello
, with musical staging by Jonathan Butterell
, Neil Patrick Harris
starred in the roles of The Balladeer and Lee Harvey Oswald, with Marc Kudisch
in an extended role as The Proprietor. Michael Cerveris
played John Wilkes Booth
, for which he received a Tony Award
. The 2004 production was noted for a coup de théâtre: the Zapruder film
of the death of John F. Kennedy
projected onto Lee Harvey Oswald
's t-shirt.
Other professional productions have included a 2006 production at Crucible Theatre
, Sheffield
, a 2008 production which ran from January 23 to February 2, 2008, at the Landor Theatre, London, and a production at the Union Theatre
in Southwark, London, in July 2010. The South African premiere opened in December 2008 as the inaugural production of the NewSpace Theatre in Cape Town. This production was directed by Fred Abrahamse with a South African cast including Marcel Meyer as John Wilkes Booth
, Riaan Norval as Lee Harvey Oswald
, David Dennis as Charles J. Guiteau
and Anthea Thompson as Sara Jane Moore
. The Los Angeles premiere opened in 1994 at the Los Angeles Theatre Center and included Patrick Cassidy
(the original Balladeer) playing Booth, and Alan Safier
as Guiteau. A 2010 production in Toronto by BirdLand Theatre
and Talk is Free Theatre won the Dora Mavor Moore Award
for Outstanding Production in the Musical Theatre Division.
Historical:
The play opens in a fairground shooting gallery where, amid flashing lights, human figures trundle past on a conveyor belt. One by one, a collection of misfits enter the stage, where the Proprietor of the game entices them to play, promising that their problems will be solved by killing a President. ("Everybody’s Got the Right"). Leon Czolgosz
, John Hinckley
, Charles Guiteau
, Giuseppe Zangara
, Samuel Byck
, Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme
, and Sara Jane Moore
are given their guns one by one. John Wilkes Booth
enters last and The Proprietor introduces him to the others as their pioneer before he begins distributing ammunition. The assassins take aim as "Hail to the Chief
" heralds Abraham Lincoln
's offstage arrival. Booth excuses himself, a shot rings out and Booth shouts, "Sic semper tyrannis
!"
The Balladeer, a personification of the American Dream, appears and begins to tell John Wilkes Booth's story ("The Ballad of Booth"). The scene changes to Richard H. Garrett's barn in 1865. Booth, mud-stained and with a broken leg, is attempting to write his reasons for killing Lincoln in his diary but cannot hold the pen. He forces his associate David Herold
to write for him at gunpoint. As Booth dictates, blaming Lincoln for the Civil War and for destroying the South, the Balladeer interjects that Booth's motives really had more to do with his personal problems. When a Union soldier calls for Booth's surrender, Herold abandons him and surrenders. In desperation, Booth throws the Balladeer his diary so that he can tell his story to the world. The Balladeer reads out Booth’s justifications, and Booth laments that the act for which he has given up his life will not be enough to heal the country. As the Union soldiers set fire to the barn, Booth commits suicide and the Balladeer concludes that Booth was a madman whose treacherous legacy only served as inspiration for other madmen like him to damage the country. The Balladeer rips Booth's rationale from his diary and burns the pages.
The male Assassins gather in a bar. Guiteau toasts to the Presidency of the United States, speaking of his ambition to become Ambassador to France
. Zangara complains about his stomach pains and Booth suggests fixing them by shooting Franklin Roosevelt. Hinckley accidentally breaks a bottle and Czolgosz flies into a rage, describing the horrors he sees in the bottle factory he works in, and how many men die or are injured just to make a bottle like the one Hinckley has just broken. After a brief argument between Czolgosz and Guiteau about the reality and context of the American Dream, Czolgosz grabs a bottle and barely stops himself from throwing it across the room. Booth urges Czolgosz to take control of his fate by breaking a bottle himself, but Czolgosz cannot.
A radio broadcast, narrated by the Proprietor, describes Zangara's failed attempt to assassinate Roosevelt. He misses Roosevelt and accidentally kills Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak
instead. Five Bystanders are interviewed in turn, telling the audience their personal versions of the event; each is convinced that he or she personally saved the President ("How I Saved Roosevelt"). From an electric chair Zangara sings his refusal to be afraid and that he hadn't cared who he killed as long as it was one of the men who control the money. Peeved that as an "American Nothing" he has no photographers at his execution, Zangara is electrocuted as the Bystanders preen for the cameras.
American anarchist leader Emma Goldman
gives a lecture from offstage as Leon Czolgosz listens, enraptured. He introduces himself to her and declares his love but she tells him to redirect his passion to the fight for social justice. As she prepares to leave, Czolgosz offers to carry her bag, to which Goldman protests by saying, "They make us servants, Leon. We do not make servants of each other". However Czolgosz, in his first display of assertiveness, still insists.
Fromme and Moore meet on a park bench and share a joint. Fromme speaks of the apocalyptic preachings of mass murderer Charles Manson
, remembering how they met and declaring herself his lover and slave. Juggling her purse, a can of Tab
and a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken, Moore claims she is an informant for the FBI (or used to be), has been a CPA
, and had five husbands and three children. They connect over their shared hatred of their fathers, and using Colonel Sanders
as a graven image, they give the bucket of chicken the evil eye and then shoot it to pieces while laughing hysterically. Moore realizes that she had known Manson in High School and the scene ends as the women scream in delight over their memories of the charismatic killer.
Czolgosz reflects on how many men die in the mines, the steel mills and the factories just to make a gun. Booth, Guiteau and Moore enter one by one and join him in a barbershop quartet in which they honor a single gun's power to change the world ("The Gun Song"). Czolgosz decides his gun will claim one more victim: the President.
Czolgosz arrives at the 1901 Pan American Exposition and sees that McKinley is shaking visitors' hands in the Temple of Music Pavilion. The Balladeer sings "The Ballad of Czolgosz" as Czolgosz joins the receiving line and upon reaching McKinley, he shoots him.
Samuel Byck sits on a park bench in a dirty Santa suit with a picket sign and a shopping bag. He talks into a tape recorder, preparing a message to Leonard Bernstein
telling Bernstein he can save the world by writing more love songs, and that he is going to change things by crashing a 747 into the White House and killing Richard Nixon
. Then he accuses Bernstein of ignoring him, just like the other celebrities he has recorded tapes for, such as Hank Aaron and Jonas Salk
. After flying into an expletive-laden rage, Byck stands up on the bench and angrily sings the chorus to West Side Story
s song "America
" before storming off-stage.
John Hinckley sits in his rumpus room
, aimlessly playing a guitar. Lynette Fromme enters and tries to convince him to play her a song (asking for "Helter Skelter"), but he refuses. Fromme notices a picture of Jodie Foster
, who Hinckley claims is his girlfriend. When Fromme realizes the picture is a publicity photo from a film, she pulls out of a picture of Charles Manson and mocks Hinckley for being in love with a woman he's never met, which makes him throw her out in a fit of rage. Alone, he swears that he will win Foster's love "with one brave, historic act" and sings a love song to her while Fromme individually does the same to Manson ("Unworthy Of Your Love"). An image of Ronald Reagan
appears on a wall in the back of the stage and an enraged Hinckley shoots it over and over again but the picture keeps reappearing. The Proprietor mocks Hinckley by quoting Reagan's famous quips about the assassination as Hinckley fires and fires, missing each time.
Back at the Proprietor's shooting range, Charles Guiteau flirts with Sara Jane Moore while giving her marksmanship tips before trying to kiss her. When she rebuffs him he becomes suddenly enraged and proclaims that he is extraordinary and will be the next Ambassador to France. The scene changes to a train station where Guiteau goes to meet James Garfield
. He asks to be made Ambassador to France but Garfield mockingly refuses, prompting Guiteau to shoot him.
Guiteau is arrested and sent to the gallows, where he recites a poem he wrote that morning titled "I Am Going To The Lordy". When Guiteau finishes the Balladeer enters and sings about Guiteau's trial and sentencing while Guiteau merrily cakewalks up to the noose, getting more and more desperately optimistic with each verse. Guiteau joins the Balladeer and the two sing together about Guiteau's optimism before he is finally hanged ("The Ballad of Guiteau").
Squeaky Fromme and Sara Jane Moore prepare to assassinate Gerald Ford
. Moore has brought along her nine-year-old son and her dog (which she accidentally shoots), which causes an argument between the two women, who briefly turn on each other. Moore accidentally spills her gun's bullets just as President Ford enters the stage. Not recognizing him at first, the two women allow him to help them but upon discovering who he is, Fromme tries to shoot him but her gun gets jammed. Having no other resource left, Moore and Fromme try to throw their bullets at Ford, shouting "bang" as they do so.
Samuel Byck is on his way to the airport to hijack a plane, which he plans to crash dive into the White House
. He records a message addressed to Richard Nixon
, complaining about contemporary American life, how the American public is constantly lied to and announces that killing him is the only solution.
The assassins congregate in the Proprietor's shooting range once again and enumerate their reasons for taking action. Led by Byck, they lament that they haven't gotten the rewards they were "promised". The Balladeer tells them that their actions didn't solve their problems or the country's and that if they want their prizes they must follow the American Dream. The assassins realize that they will never get their prizes, that no one will ever care if they live or die, and briefly sink into absolute desperation before Byck coaxes them into not giving up and then leads them into a performance of "Another National Anthem", a song to be sung by all Americans dispossessed by the dream. The Balladeer attempts to convince them to be optimistic and seek other ways to be happy but the Anthem grows louder and louder until the assassins force the Balladeer offstage.
The scene changes to a storeroom on the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository
. Lee Harvey Oswald
appears (in newer productions, Oswald is played by the Balladeer in a different costume, usually a white t-shirt and jeans), preparing to kill himself, but he is interrupted by Booth. Surprising Oswald with intimate knowledge about his life, Booth slowly and carefully attempts to convince him to not become his own victim and to instead assassinate John F. Kennedy
. Summoning the other assassins from the shadows, Booth tells Oswald that by joining them he will finally make a difference, but Oswald refuses. Booth tells him that in the future, when Hinckley’s room is searched, Oswald's biographies will be found. Summoning the voices of Arthur Bremer
, Sirhan Sirhan
and James Earl Ray
, Booth tells Oswald that the key to the future is in his hands. Oswald tries to leave, but Zangara addresses him passionately in Italian, a speech translated by the other assassins, imploring him to act so their own acts can come alive again. They tell him that he has the power to cause worldwide grief and inspire global passion about himself, a man the world has never cared or heard about. Calling themselves his family, the assassins sing, imploring Oswald to act as he crouches at the window and shoots ("November 22, 1963").
After the assassinations, a group of citizens recount what they were doing when they heard that the President had been killed and lament that even though only a single man died, the nation has changed forever ("Something Just Broke").
The assassins regroup once more at the shooting range, now with Oswald among their ranks, and they proudly restate their motto, "everybody's got the right to be happy", before loading their guns and opening fire on the audience ("Everybody's Got The Right (Reprise)").
Notes:
+ In most productions, the lead part among the Assassins for "Another National Anthem" is sung by Byck. However, in the 2004 Broadway production the lead is played by the Proprietor.
++Added for the 1992 London production
, Sondheim suggests that political murderers are a product of the American political culture (Joanne Gordon).
Historian and commentator Sarah Vowell
introduced her 2005 analysis of the Lincoln, McKinley, and Garfield murders, Assassination Vacation
, with a journey from New York City into New England to attend a performance of Assassins, the musical prompting her writing of the book (Vowell 2005).
2004 Drama Desk Awards
While the original Off-Broadway production used just three musicians, the original cast recording was fully orchestrated by Michael Starobin
, with 33 musicians directed by Paul Gemignani
.
Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Joshua Sondheim is an American composer and lyricist for stage and film. He is the winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, multiple Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and the Laurence Olivier Award...
and book
Libretto
A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...
by John Weidman
John Weidman
John Weidman is an American librettist. He is the son of librettist and novelist Jerome Weidman.He has written the books for a wide variety of stage musicals, three in collaboration with Stephen Sondheim: Pacific Overtures, Assassins, and Road Show...
, based on an idea by Charles Gilbert, Jr. It uses the premise of a murderous carnival game to produce a revue
Revue
A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century American popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own during its golden years from 1916 to 1932...
-style portrayal of men and women who attempted (successfully or otherwise) to assassinate Presidents of the United States
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
. The music varies to reflect the popular music of the eras depicted.
The musical first opened Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
in 1990, and the 2004 Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
production won five Tony Awards.
History and productions
As a panelist at producer Stuart OstrowStuart Ostrow
Stuart Ostrow is an American theatrical producer and director, professor, and author.Born in New York City, Ostrow began his career as an apprentice of Frank Loesser and eventually became Vice-President and General Manager of Frank Music Corporation and Frank Productions, Incorporated, the...
's Musical Theater Lab, Sondheim read a script by playwright Charles Gilbert. Sondheim asked Gilbert for permission to use his idea. Gilbert consented and offered to write the book; but Sondheim declined, having already had collaborator John Weidman in mind. Weidman had written the book for Pacific Overtures
Pacific Overtures
Pacific Overtures is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, a libretto by John Weidman, and additional material by Hugh Wheeler. The musical is set in 1853 Japan and follows the difficult Westernization of Japan, through the lives of two friends caught in the change...
and would work with Sondheim again on Road Show.
Assassins opened Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
at Playwrights Horizons
Playwrights Horizons
Playwrights Horizons is a not-for-profit Off-Broadway theater located in New York City dedicated to the support and development of contemporary American playwrights, composers, and lyricists, and to the production of their new work....
on December 18, 1990, and closed on February 16, 1991 after 73 performances. Directed by Jerry Zaks
Jerry Zaks
Jerry Zaks is a German-born American stage and television director, and actor. He won the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play and Drama Desk Award for directing The House of Blue Leaves, Lend Me A Tenor, and Six Degrees of Separation and the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical and Drama...
the cast included Victor Garber
Victor Garber
Victor Joseph Garber is a Canadian film, stage and television actor and singer. Garber is known for playing Jesus in Godspell, Jack Bristow in the television series Alias, Max in Lend Me a Tenor, and Thomas Andrews in James Cameron's Titanic.-Early life:Born in London, Ontario, Canada, Garber is...
, Terrence Mann
Terrence Mann
Terrence Vaughan Mann is an American actor, director, singer, songwriter and dancer who has been prominent on the Broadway stage for the past three decades...
, Patrick Cassidy
Patrick Cassidy (actor)
Patrick Cassidy is an American actor best known for his roles in musical theatre and television.-Personal life:...
, Debra Monk
Debra Monk
Debra Monk is an American actress, singer, and writer.Monk was born in Middletown, Ohio. She was voted "best personality" by the graduating class at Wheaton High School in Silver Spring, Maryland. She graduated from Frostburg State University in 1963...
, Greg Germann
Greg Germann
Gregory Andrew "Greg" Germann is an American actor. He played the roles of Richard Fish in the television series Ally McBeal, businessman Mattson from Child's Play 2 and the vet Laurence from Quarantine...
, and Annie Golden
Annie Golden
-Career:Born in Brooklyn, New York, Golden began her career as the lead singer of The Shirts . During the early 1990s she performed as part of the duo Golden Carillo with Frank Carillo. They released three albums,Fire in Newtown, Toxic Emotion, and Back for More. She then returned to The Shirts...
. According to the Los Angeles Times, "The show has been sold out since previews began, reflecting the strong appeal of Sondheim's work among the theater crowd." Frank Rich
Frank Rich
Frank Rich is an American essayist and op-ed columnist who wrote for The New York Times from 1980, when he was appointed its chief theatre critic, until 2011...
in his New York Times review wrote "Assassins will have to fire with sharper aim and fewer blanks if it is to shoot to kill."
On October 29, 1992, Assassins opened in London at the Donmar Warehouse
Donmar Warehouse
Donmar Warehouse is a small not-for-profit theatre in the Covent Garden area of London, with a capacity of 251.-About:Under the artistic leadership of Michael Grandage, the theatre has presented some of London’s most memorable award-winning theatrical experiences, as well as garnered critical...
with direction by Sam Mendes
Sam Mendes
Samuel Alexander "Sam" Mendes, CBE is an English stage and film director. He is best known for his Academy Award-winning work on his debut film American Beauty and his dark re-inventions of the stage musicals Cabaret , Oliver! , Company and Gypsy . He's currently working on the 23rd James Bond...
and a cast that included Henry Goodman
Henry Goodman
Henry Goodman is a British theatre actor. He trained at RADA in London alongside Jonathan Pryce.In 1988, he played George Green's brother-in-law Cyril in London's Burning. He played character roles in episodes of the popular UK police drama The Bill...
as Charles Guiteau and Louise Gold
Louise Gold
Louise Gold is an English singer, actress and puppeteer whose career has spanned almost four decades.From 1977, Gold was a puppeteer and voice actress for The Muppet Show and Sesame Street, and she has performed voice and puppet work on various other Muppet films and specials...
as Sara Jane Moore. The show ran for 76 performances, closing on January 9, 1993.
Roundabout Theater Company's Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
production was originally scheduled for 2001 but was postponed to April 22, 2004, because the content was sensitive in light of the events of September 11, 2001
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
. After 101 performances at Studio 54
Studio 54
Studio 54 was a highly popular discotheque from 1977 until 1991, located at 254 West 54th Street in Manhattan, New York, USA. It was originally the Gallo Opera House, opening in 1927, after which it changed names several times, eventually becoming a CBS radio and television studio. In 1977 it...
, Assassins closed on July 18, 2004. Directed by Joe Mantello
Joe Mantello
Joseph Mantello is an American actor and director best known for his work on Broadway productions of Wicked, Take Me Out and Assassins, as well as earlier in his career being one of the original Broadway cast of Angels in America...
, with musical staging by Jonathan Butterell
Jonathan Butterell
Jonathan Butterell is a choreographer and director, primarily for the stage. He has worked in the West End, on Broadway, and Off-Broadway.-Biography:...
, Neil Patrick Harris
Neil Patrick Harris
Neil Patrick Harris is an American actor, singer, director, and magician.Prominent roles of his career include the title role in Doogie Howser, M.D., Colonel Carl Jenkins in Starship Troopers, the womanizing Barney Stinson in How I Met Your Mother, a fictionalized version of himself in the Harold...
starred in the roles of The Balladeer and Lee Harvey Oswald, with Marc Kudisch
Marc Kudisch
Marc Kudisch is an American stage actor, who is best known for his musical theatre roles on Broadway.-Early life and education:...
in an extended role as The Proprietor. Michael Cerveris
Michael Cerveris
Michael Cerveris is an American singer, guitarist and actor. He has performed in many stage musicals and plays, including in several Stephen Sondheim musicals: Assassins, Sweeney Todd, Road Show, and Passion...
played John Wilkes Booth
John Wilkes Booth
John Wilkes Booth was an American stage actor who assassinated President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre, in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 1865. Booth was a member of the prominent 19th century Booth theatrical family from Maryland and, by the 1860s, was a well-known actor...
, for which he received a Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
. The 2004 production was noted for a coup de théâtre: the Zapruder film
Zapruder film
The Zapruder film is a silent, color motion picture sequence shot by private citizen Abraham Zapruder with a home-movie camera, asU.S. President John F...
of the death of John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
projected onto Lee Harvey Oswald
Lee Harvey Oswald
Lee Harvey Oswald was, according to four government investigations,These were investigations by: the Federal Bureau of Investigation , the Warren Commission , the House Select Committee on Assassinations , and the Dallas Police Department. the sniper who assassinated John F...
's t-shirt.
Other professional productions have included a 2006 production at Crucible Theatre
Crucible Theatre
The Crucible Theatre is a theatre built in 1971 and located in the city centre of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. As well as theatrical performances, it is home to the most important event in professional snooker, the World Snooker Championship....
, Sheffield
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
, a 2008 production which ran from January 23 to February 2, 2008, at the Landor Theatre, London, and a production at the Union Theatre
Union Theatre (London)
The Union Theatre is a small fringe theatre situated in the borough of Southwark in London, England. It was established in 1998 by Sasha Regan who took the initiative to convert a disused paper warehouse near Southwark station into a functioning theatre...
in Southwark, London, in July 2010. The South African premiere opened in December 2008 as the inaugural production of the NewSpace Theatre in Cape Town. This production was directed by Fred Abrahamse with a South African cast including Marcel Meyer as John Wilkes Booth
John Wilkes Booth
John Wilkes Booth was an American stage actor who assassinated President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre, in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 1865. Booth was a member of the prominent 19th century Booth theatrical family from Maryland and, by the 1860s, was a well-known actor...
, Riaan Norval as Lee Harvey Oswald
Lee Harvey Oswald
Lee Harvey Oswald was, according to four government investigations,These were investigations by: the Federal Bureau of Investigation , the Warren Commission , the House Select Committee on Assassinations , and the Dallas Police Department. the sniper who assassinated John F...
, David Dennis as Charles J. Guiteau
Charles J. Guiteau
Charles Julius Guiteau was an American lawyer who assassinated U.S. President James A. Garfield. He was executed by hanging.- Background :...
and Anthea Thompson as Sara Jane Moore
Sara Jane Moore
Sara Jane Moore attempted to assassinate U.S. President Gerald Ford on September 22, 1975, outside the St...
. The Los Angeles premiere opened in 1994 at the Los Angeles Theatre Center and included Patrick Cassidy
Patrick Cassidy (actor)
Patrick Cassidy is an American actor best known for his roles in musical theatre and television.-Personal life:...
(the original Balladeer) playing Booth, and Alan Safier
Alan Safier
Alan Safier is an American stage, television, and voice-over actor, as well as a singer and recording artist, who is currently touring the United States as George Burns in the one-man show Say Goodnight Gracie by Rupert Holmes.-Early life:Alan Michael Safier was born in Cleveland to Martha , a...
as Guiteau. A 2010 production in Toronto by BirdLand Theatre
BirdLand Theatre
BirdLand Theatre is a Toronto, Ontario-based theatre company. It was founded in 2003 by Artistic Producer Zorana Kydd. BirdLand Theatre concentrates on contemporary plays and the development of new works with focus on humanity and the human condition in the urban setting.In 2006, the company won 5...
and Talk is Free Theatre won the Dora Mavor Moore Award
Dora Mavor Moore Award
The Dora Mavor Moore Award is an award presented annually by the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts which honours theatre, dance, and opera productions in Toronto. Named after Dora Mavor Moore, who helped establish Canadian professional theatre, the award was established on December 13, 1978...
for Outstanding Production in the Musical Theatre Division.
Versions
The three versions (original, London and Broadway) were not identical, as roles were combined, and the song "Something Just Broke" was new to the London production. In 1991, Theatre Communications Group published the libretto, which did not feature "Something Just Broke".Characters
Fictional:- The Proprietor: gun salesman who provides the characters with their weapons at the beginning of the show
- The Balladeer: narrator who provides the stories of the assassins
- Ensemble: crowd members, chorus, etc.
Historical:
- John Wilkes BoothJohn Wilkes BoothJohn Wilkes Booth was an American stage actor who assassinated President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre, in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 1865. Booth was a member of the prominent 19th century Booth theatrical family from Maryland and, by the 1860s, was a well-known actor...
: assassin of President Abraham LincolnAbraham LincolnAbraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and... - David HeroldDavid HeroldDavid Edgar Herold was an accomplice of John Wilkes Booth in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. After guiding fellow conspirator Lewis Powell to the home of Secretary of State William H. Seward, whom Powell intended to kill, Herold fled and rendezvoused outside of Washington, D.C., with Booth...
: accomplice of John Wilkes Booth in the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln - Charles Guiteau: assassin of President James GarfieldJames GarfieldJames Abram Garfield served as the 20th President of the United States, after completing nine consecutive terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. Garfield's accomplishments as President included a controversial resurgence of Presidential authority above Senatorial courtesy in executive...
- PresidentPresidentA president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...
James GarfieldJames GarfieldJames Abram Garfield served as the 20th President of the United States, after completing nine consecutive terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. Garfield's accomplishments as President included a controversial resurgence of Presidential authority above Senatorial courtesy in executive...
: twentieth President of the United States - James Blaine: Secretary of State who received a deluge of letters from Charles Guiteau
- Leon CzolgoszLeon CzolgoszLeon Czolgosz was the assassin of U.S. President William McKinley.In the last few years of his life, he claimed to have been heavily influenced by anarchists such as Emma Goldman and Alexander Berkman.- Early life :...
: assassin of President William McKinleyWilliam McKinleyWilliam McKinley, Jr. was the 25th President of the United States . He is best known for winning fiercely fought elections, while supporting the gold standard and high tariffs; he succeeded in forging a Republican coalition that for the most part dominated national politics until the 1930s... - Emma GoldmanEmma GoldmanEmma Goldman was an anarchist known for her political activism, writing and speeches. She played a pivotal role in the development of anarchist political philosophy in North America and Europe in the first half of the twentieth century....
: anarchist known for her political activism who also interacted several times with Leon Czolgosz - Giuseppe ZangaraGiuseppe ZangaraGiuseppe Zangara was the assassin of Chicago mayor Anton Cermak, though United States President–elect Franklin Delano Roosevelt may have been his intended target. Roosevelt escaped injury, but five people were shot including Cermak.- Early life :Zangara was born in Ferruzzano, Calabria, Italy...
: attempted assassin of President-elect Franklin D. RooseveltFranklin D. RooseveltFranklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war... - Lee Harvey OswaldLee Harvey OswaldLee Harvey Oswald was, according to four government investigations,These were investigations by: the Federal Bureau of Investigation , the Warren Commission , the House Select Committee on Assassinations , and the Dallas Police Department. the sniper who assassinated John F...
: assassin of President John F. KennedyJohn F. KennedyJohn Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963.... - Samuel ByckSamuel ByckSamuel Joseph Byck was an unemployed former tire salesman who attempted to hijack a plane flying out of Baltimore-Washington International Airport on February 22, 1974. He intended to crash into the White House in the hope of killing U.S...
: attempted assassin of President Richard NixonRichard NixonRichard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under... - John Hinckley: attempted assassin of President Ronald ReaganRonald ReaganRonald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
- Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme: attempted assassin of President Gerald Ford
- Sara Jane MooreSara Jane MooreSara Jane Moore attempted to assassinate U.S. President Gerald Ford on September 22, 1975, outside the St...
: attempted assassin of President Gerald Ford - PresidentPresidentA president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...
Gerald FordGerald FordGerald Rudolph "Jerry" Ford, Jr. was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974...
: thirty-eighth President of the United States - Billy: Sara Jane Moore's son
Notable cast and characters
| Role | Original Off-Broadway Playwrights Horizons Playwrights Horizons Playwrights Horizons is a not-for-profit Off-Broadway theater located in New York City dedicated to the support and development of contemporary American playwrights, composers, and lyricists, and to the production of their new work.... |
London premiere Donmar Warehouse Donmar Warehouse Donmar Warehouse is a small not-for-profit theatre in the Covent Garden area of London, with a capacity of 251.-About:Under the artistic leadership of Michael Grandage, the theatre has presented some of London’s most memorable award-winning theatrical experiences, as well as garnered critical... |
Broadway premiere Studio 54 Studio 54 Studio 54 was a highly popular discotheque from 1977 until 1991, located at 254 West 54th Street in Manhattan, New York, USA. It was originally the Gallo Opera House, opening in 1927, after which it changed names several times, eventually becoming a CBS radio and television studio. In 1977 it... |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Proprietor | William Parry | Paul Bentley | Marc Kudisch Marc Kudisch Marc Kudisch is an American stage actor, who is best known for his musical theatre roles on Broadway.-Early life and education:... |
| The Balladeer | Patrick Cassidy Patrick Cassidy (actor) Patrick Cassidy is an American actor best known for his roles in musical theatre and television.-Personal life:... |
Anthony Barclay | Neil Patrick Harris Neil Patrick Harris Neil Patrick Harris is an American actor, singer, director, and magician.Prominent roles of his career include the title role in Doogie Howser, M.D., Colonel Carl Jenkins in Starship Troopers, the womanizing Barney Stinson in How I Met Your Mother, a fictionalized version of himself in the Harold... |
| John Wilkes Booth John Wilkes Booth John Wilkes Booth was an American stage actor who assassinated President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre, in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 1865. Booth was a member of the prominent 19th century Booth theatrical family from Maryland and, by the 1860s, was a well-known actor... |
Victor Garber Victor Garber Victor Joseph Garber is a Canadian film, stage and television actor and singer. Garber is known for playing Jesus in Godspell, Jack Bristow in the television series Alias, Max in Lend Me a Tenor, and Thomas Andrews in James Cameron's Titanic.-Early life:Born in London, Ontario, Canada, Garber is... |
David Firth | Michael Cerveris Michael Cerveris Michael Cerveris is an American singer, guitarist and actor. He has performed in many stage musicals and plays, including in several Stephen Sondheim musicals: Assassins, Sweeney Todd, Road Show, and Passion... |
| Charles Guiteau | Jonathan Hadary Jonathan Hadary Jonathan Hadary is an American actor.Born in Chicago, Illinois and raised in Bethesda, Maryland, Hadary arrived at Tufts University already an accomplished actor. He was promptly cast by every director at Tufts, both student and faculty. During his sophomore year, he became an understudy for the... |
Henry Goodman Henry Goodman Henry Goodman is a British theatre actor. He trained at RADA in London alongside Jonathan Pryce.In 1988, he played George Green's brother-in-law Cyril in London's Burning. He played character roles in episodes of the popular UK police drama The Bill... |
Denis O'Hare Denis O'Hare Denis O'Hare is an American actor noted for his award winning performances in Take Me Out and Sweet Charity as well as the HBO television show True Blood. He is also known for his supporting roles in the films Charlie Wilson's War and Milk... |
| Leon Czolgosz Leon Czolgosz Leon Czolgosz was the assassin of U.S. President William McKinley.In the last few years of his life, he claimed to have been heavily influenced by anarchists such as Emma Goldman and Alexander Berkman.- Early life :... |
Terrence Mann Terrence Mann Terrence Vaughan Mann is an American actor, director, singer, songwriter and dancer who has been prominent on the Broadway stage for the past three decades... |
Jack Ellis | James Stacy Barbour James Stacy Barbour James Stacy Barbour , a.k.a. James Barbour, is a singer and Broadway actor. He graduated from Hofstra University with a degree in Acting and a minor in Philosophy.- Theatre credits :... |
| Giuseppe Zangara Giuseppe Zangara Giuseppe Zangara was the assassin of Chicago mayor Anton Cermak, though United States President–elect Franklin Delano Roosevelt may have been his intended target. Roosevelt escaped injury, but five people were shot including Cermak.- Early life :Zangara was born in Ferruzzano, Calabria, Italy... |
Eddie Korbich Eddie Korbich Eddie Korbich is an actor, singer, dancer. He was born in Washington, D.C. but grew up in Shamokin, Pennsylvania.-1980s:He graduated from the Boston Conservatory with a B.F.A... |
Paul Harrhy | Jeffrey Kuhn |
| Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme Lynette Fromme Lynette Alice "Squeaky" Fromme is an American member of the Manson Family. She was sentenced to life imprisonment for attempting to assassinate U.S. President Gerald Ford in 1975... |
Annie Golden Annie Golden -Career:Born in Brooklyn, New York, Golden began her career as the lead singer of The Shirts . During the early 1990s she performed as part of the duo Golden Carillo with Frank Carillo. They released three albums,Fire in Newtown, Toxic Emotion, and Back for More. She then returned to The Shirts... |
Catheryn Bradshaw | Mary Catherine Garrison |
| Sara Jane Moore Sara Jane Moore Sara Jane Moore attempted to assassinate U.S. President Gerald Ford on September 22, 1975, outside the St... |
Debra Monk Debra Monk Debra Monk is an American actress, singer, and writer.Monk was born in Middletown, Ohio. She was voted "best personality" by the graduating class at Wheaton High School in Silver Spring, Maryland. She graduated from Frostburg State University in 1963... |
Louise Gold Louise Gold Louise Gold is an English singer, actress and puppeteer whose career has spanned almost four decades.From 1977, Gold was a puppeteer and voice actress for The Muppet Show and Sesame Street, and she has performed voice and puppet work on various other Muppet films and specials... |
Becky Ann Baker Becky Ann Baker Becky Ann Baker is an American actress who is perhaps best known for her portrayal of Jean Weir on NBC's Emmy Award-winning Freaks and Geeks.-Early life:Baker was born Becky Gelke in Fort Knox, Kentucky... |
| John Hinckley, Jr. John Hinckley, Jr. John Warnock Hinckley, Jr., attempted to assassinate U.S. President Ronald Reagan in Washington, D.C., on March 30, 1981, as the culmination of an effort to impress teen actress Jodie Foster. He was found not guilty by reason of insanity and has remained under institutional psychiatric care since... |
Greg Germann Greg Germann Gregory Andrew "Greg" Germann is an American actor. He played the roles of Richard Fish in the television series Ally McBeal, businessman Mattson from Child's Play 2 and the vet Laurence from Quarantine... |
Michael Cantwell | Alexander Gemignani Alexander Gemignani Alexander Cesare Gemignani is a Broadway actor and tenor. Gemignani was raised in Tenafly, New Jersey and is a graduate of the University of Michigan's Musical Theater Department... |
| Samuel Byck Samuel Byck Samuel Joseph Byck was an unemployed former tire salesman who attempted to hijack a plane flying out of Baltimore-Washington International Airport on February 22, 1974. He intended to crash into the White House in the hope of killing U.S... |
Lee Wilkof Lee Wilkof Lee Wilkof is an American actor and veteran of the Broadway stage. He originated the roles of Sam Byck in Assassins and Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors, later earning a Tony Award nomination for the 2000 revival of Kiss Me, Kate... |
Ciarán Hinds Ciarán Hinds Ciarán Hinds is an Irish film, television and stage actor. He has built up a reputation as a versatile character actor appearing in such high profile films as Road to Perdition, The Phantom of the Opera, Munich, There Will Be Blood and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. His television roles include... |
Mario Cantone Mario Cantone Mario Cantone is an American stand-up comedian, writer and actor, with numerous appearances on Comedy Central including Chappelle's Show. He also played Anthony Marentino on Sex and the City... |
| Lee Harvey Oswald Lee Harvey Oswald Lee Harvey Oswald was, according to four government investigations,These were investigations by: the Federal Bureau of Investigation , the Warren Commission , the House Select Committee on Assassinations , and the Dallas Police Department. the sniper who assassinated John F... |
Jace Alexander Jace Alexander Jace Alexander is an American television director and former actor.-Biography:Alexander was born Jason Alexander in New York City, the only son of actress Jane Alexander and her first husband Robert, founder and former director of The Living Stage... |
Gareth Snook | Neil Patrick Harris Neil Patrick Harris Neil Patrick Harris is an American actor, singer, director, and magician.Prominent roles of his career include the title role in Doogie Howser, M.D., Colonel Carl Jenkins in Starship Troopers, the womanizing Barney Stinson in How I Met Your Mother, a fictionalized version of himself in the Harold... |
| David Herold David Herold David Edgar Herold was an accomplice of John Wilkes Booth in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. After guiding fellow conspirator Lewis Powell to the home of Secretary of State William H. Seward, whom Powell intended to kill, Herold fled and rendezvoused outside of Washington, D.C., with Booth... |
Marcus Olson | Kevin Walton | Brandon Wardell |
| Emma Goldman Emma Goldman Emma Goldman was an anarchist known for her political activism, writing and speeches. She played a pivotal role in the development of anarchist political philosophy in North America and Europe in the first half of the twentieth century.... |
Lyn Greene | Sue Kelvin | Anne L. Nathan |
Synopsis
This synopsis reflects the current licensed version of the show. The published script of the 1992 Off-Broadway production is slightly different.The play opens in a fairground shooting gallery where, amid flashing lights, human figures trundle past on a conveyor belt. One by one, a collection of misfits enter the stage, where the Proprietor of the game entices them to play, promising that their problems will be solved by killing a President. ("Everybody’s Got the Right"). Leon Czolgosz
Leon Czolgosz
Leon Czolgosz was the assassin of U.S. President William McKinley.In the last few years of his life, he claimed to have been heavily influenced by anarchists such as Emma Goldman and Alexander Berkman.- Early life :...
, John Hinckley
John Hinckley, Jr.
John Warnock Hinckley, Jr., attempted to assassinate U.S. President Ronald Reagan in Washington, D.C., on March 30, 1981, as the culmination of an effort to impress teen actress Jodie Foster. He was found not guilty by reason of insanity and has remained under institutional psychiatric care since...
, Charles Guiteau
Charles J. Guiteau
Charles Julius Guiteau was an American lawyer who assassinated U.S. President James A. Garfield. He was executed by hanging.- Background :...
, Giuseppe Zangara
Giuseppe Zangara
Giuseppe Zangara was the assassin of Chicago mayor Anton Cermak, though United States President–elect Franklin Delano Roosevelt may have been his intended target. Roosevelt escaped injury, but five people were shot including Cermak.- Early life :Zangara was born in Ferruzzano, Calabria, Italy...
, Samuel Byck
Samuel Byck
Samuel Joseph Byck was an unemployed former tire salesman who attempted to hijack a plane flying out of Baltimore-Washington International Airport on February 22, 1974. He intended to crash into the White House in the hope of killing U.S...
, Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme
Lynette Fromme
Lynette Alice "Squeaky" Fromme is an American member of the Manson Family. She was sentenced to life imprisonment for attempting to assassinate U.S. President Gerald Ford in 1975...
, and Sara Jane Moore
Sara Jane Moore
Sara Jane Moore attempted to assassinate U.S. President Gerald Ford on September 22, 1975, outside the St...
are given their guns one by one. John Wilkes Booth
John Wilkes Booth
John Wilkes Booth was an American stage actor who assassinated President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre, in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 1865. Booth was a member of the prominent 19th century Booth theatrical family from Maryland and, by the 1860s, was a well-known actor...
enters last and The Proprietor introduces him to the others as their pioneer before he begins distributing ammunition. The assassins take aim as "Hail to the Chief
Hail to the Chief
"Hail to the Chief" is a march primarily associated with the President of the United States. Its playing accompanies the appearance of the President at many public appearances. For major official occasions, the United States Marine Band and other military ensembles generally are the performers, so...
" heralds Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
's offstage arrival. Booth excuses himself, a shot rings out and Booth shouts, "Sic semper tyrannis
Sic semper tyrannis
Sic semper tyrannis is a Latin phrase meaning "thus always to tyrants." It is sometimes mistranslated as "down with the tyrant." The phrase is said to have originated with Marcus Junius Brutus during the assassination of Julius Caesar....
!"
The Balladeer, a personification of the American Dream, appears and begins to tell John Wilkes Booth's story ("The Ballad of Booth"). The scene changes to Richard H. Garrett's barn in 1865. Booth, mud-stained and with a broken leg, is attempting to write his reasons for killing Lincoln in his diary but cannot hold the pen. He forces his associate David Herold
David Herold
David Edgar Herold was an accomplice of John Wilkes Booth in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. After guiding fellow conspirator Lewis Powell to the home of Secretary of State William H. Seward, whom Powell intended to kill, Herold fled and rendezvoused outside of Washington, D.C., with Booth...
to write for him at gunpoint. As Booth dictates, blaming Lincoln for the Civil War and for destroying the South, the Balladeer interjects that Booth's motives really had more to do with his personal problems. When a Union soldier calls for Booth's surrender, Herold abandons him and surrenders. In desperation, Booth throws the Balladeer his diary so that he can tell his story to the world. The Balladeer reads out Booth’s justifications, and Booth laments that the act for which he has given up his life will not be enough to heal the country. As the Union soldiers set fire to the barn, Booth commits suicide and the Balladeer concludes that Booth was a madman whose treacherous legacy only served as inspiration for other madmen like him to damage the country. The Balladeer rips Booth's rationale from his diary and burns the pages.
The male Assassins gather in a bar. Guiteau toasts to the Presidency of the United States, speaking of his ambition to become Ambassador to France
United States Ambassador to France
This article is about the United States Ambassador to France. There has been a United States Ambassador to France since the American Revolution. The United States sent its first envoys to France in 1776, towards the end of the four-centuries-old Bourbon dynasty...
. Zangara complains about his stomach pains and Booth suggests fixing them by shooting Franklin Roosevelt. Hinckley accidentally breaks a bottle and Czolgosz flies into a rage, describing the horrors he sees in the bottle factory he works in, and how many men die or are injured just to make a bottle like the one Hinckley has just broken. After a brief argument between Czolgosz and Guiteau about the reality and context of the American Dream, Czolgosz grabs a bottle and barely stops himself from throwing it across the room. Booth urges Czolgosz to take control of his fate by breaking a bottle himself, but Czolgosz cannot.
A radio broadcast, narrated by the Proprietor, describes Zangara's failed attempt to assassinate Roosevelt. He misses Roosevelt and accidentally kills Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak
Anton Cermak
Anton Joseph Cermak was the mayor of Chicago, Illinois, from 1931 until his assassination by Giuseppe Zangara in 1933.-Early life and career:...
instead. Five Bystanders are interviewed in turn, telling the audience their personal versions of the event; each is convinced that he or she personally saved the President ("How I Saved Roosevelt"). From an electric chair Zangara sings his refusal to be afraid and that he hadn't cared who he killed as long as it was one of the men who control the money. Peeved that as an "American Nothing" he has no photographers at his execution, Zangara is electrocuted as the Bystanders preen for the cameras.
American anarchist leader Emma Goldman
Emma Goldman
Emma Goldman was an anarchist known for her political activism, writing and speeches. She played a pivotal role in the development of anarchist political philosophy in North America and Europe in the first half of the twentieth century....
gives a lecture from offstage as Leon Czolgosz listens, enraptured. He introduces himself to her and declares his love but she tells him to redirect his passion to the fight for social justice. As she prepares to leave, Czolgosz offers to carry her bag, to which Goldman protests by saying, "They make us servants, Leon. We do not make servants of each other". However Czolgosz, in his first display of assertiveness, still insists.
Fromme and Moore meet on a park bench and share a joint. Fromme speaks of the apocalyptic preachings of mass murderer Charles Manson
Charles Manson
Charles Milles Manson is an American criminal who led what became known as the Manson Family, a quasi-commune that arose in California in the late 1960s. He was found guilty of conspiracy to commit the Tate/LaBianca murders carried out by members of the group at his instruction...
, remembering how they met and declaring herself his lover and slave. Juggling her purse, a can of Tab
Tab (soft drink)
Tab, stylized as TaB, is a diet cola soft drink produced by the Coca-Cola Company, first introduced in 1963. The soda was created by Coca Cola after the successful sales and marketing of Diet Rite cola, owned by The Royal Crown Company; previously, Diet Rite had been the only sugarless soda on the...
and a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken, Moore claims she is an informant for the FBI (or used to be), has been a CPA
Certified Public Accountant
Certified Public Accountant is the statutory title of qualified accountants in the United States who have passed the Uniform Certified Public Accountant Examination and have met additional state education and experience requirements for certification as a CPA...
, and had five husbands and three children. They connect over their shared hatred of their fathers, and using Colonel Sanders
Colonel Sanders
Harland David "Colonel" Sanders was an American fast food businessman who founded the Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant chain, now re-branded as KFC...
as a graven image, they give the bucket of chicken the evil eye and then shoot it to pieces while laughing hysterically. Moore realizes that she had known Manson in High School and the scene ends as the women scream in delight over their memories of the charismatic killer.
Czolgosz reflects on how many men die in the mines, the steel mills and the factories just to make a gun. Booth, Guiteau and Moore enter one by one and join him in a barbershop quartet in which they honor a single gun's power to change the world ("The Gun Song"). Czolgosz decides his gun will claim one more victim: the President.
Czolgosz arrives at the 1901 Pan American Exposition and sees that McKinley is shaking visitors' hands in the Temple of Music Pavilion. The Balladeer sings "The Ballad of Czolgosz" as Czolgosz joins the receiving line and upon reaching McKinley, he shoots him.
Samuel Byck sits on a park bench in a dirty Santa suit with a picket sign and a shopping bag. He talks into a tape recorder, preparing a message to Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim...
telling Bernstein he can save the world by writing more love songs, and that he is going to change things by crashing a 747 into the White House and killing Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
. Then he accuses Bernstein of ignoring him, just like the other celebrities he has recorded tapes for, such as Hank Aaron and Jonas Salk
Jonas Salk
Jonas Edward Salk was an American medical researcher and virologist, best known for his discovery and development of the first safe and effective polio vaccine. He was born in New York City to parents from Ashkenazi Jewish Russian immigrant families...
. After flying into an expletive-laden rage, Byck stands up on the bench and angrily sings the chorus to West Side Story
West Side Story
West Side Story is an American musical with a script by Arthur Laurents, music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and choreographed by Jerome Robbins...
s song "America
America (West Side Story song)
"America" is a well-known song from the musical West Side Story. Leonard Bernstein composed the music; Stephen Sondheim wrote the song's lyrics...
" before storming off-stage.
John Hinckley sits in his rumpus room
Recreation room
A recreation room is a room used for a variety of purposes, such as parties, games and other everyday or casual use. The term is common in the United States and Canada, but is less common in the United Kingdom where the preferred term is games room...
, aimlessly playing a guitar. Lynette Fromme enters and tries to convince him to play her a song (asking for "Helter Skelter"), but he refuses. Fromme notices a picture of Jodie Foster
Jodie Foster
Alicia Christian "Jodie" Foster is an American actress, film director, producer as well as a former child actress....
, who Hinckley claims is his girlfriend. When Fromme realizes the picture is a publicity photo from a film, she pulls out of a picture of Charles Manson and mocks Hinckley for being in love with a woman he's never met, which makes him throw her out in a fit of rage. Alone, he swears that he will win Foster's love "with one brave, historic act" and sings a love song to her while Fromme individually does the same to Manson ("Unworthy Of Your Love"). An image of Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
appears on a wall in the back of the stage and an enraged Hinckley shoots it over and over again but the picture keeps reappearing. The Proprietor mocks Hinckley by quoting Reagan's famous quips about the assassination as Hinckley fires and fires, missing each time.
Back at the Proprietor's shooting range, Charles Guiteau flirts with Sara Jane Moore while giving her marksmanship tips before trying to kiss her. When she rebuffs him he becomes suddenly enraged and proclaims that he is extraordinary and will be the next Ambassador to France. The scene changes to a train station where Guiteau goes to meet James Garfield
James Garfield
James Abram Garfield served as the 20th President of the United States, after completing nine consecutive terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. Garfield's accomplishments as President included a controversial resurgence of Presidential authority above Senatorial courtesy in executive...
. He asks to be made Ambassador to France but Garfield mockingly refuses, prompting Guiteau to shoot him.
Guiteau is arrested and sent to the gallows, where he recites a poem he wrote that morning titled "I Am Going To The Lordy". When Guiteau finishes the Balladeer enters and sings about Guiteau's trial and sentencing while Guiteau merrily cakewalks up to the noose, getting more and more desperately optimistic with each verse. Guiteau joins the Balladeer and the two sing together about Guiteau's optimism before he is finally hanged ("The Ballad of Guiteau").
Squeaky Fromme and Sara Jane Moore prepare to assassinate Gerald Ford
Gerald Ford
Gerald Rudolph "Jerry" Ford, Jr. was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974...
. Moore has brought along her nine-year-old son and her dog (which she accidentally shoots), which causes an argument between the two women, who briefly turn on each other. Moore accidentally spills her gun's bullets just as President Ford enters the stage. Not recognizing him at first, the two women allow him to help them but upon discovering who he is, Fromme tries to shoot him but her gun gets jammed. Having no other resource left, Moore and Fromme try to throw their bullets at Ford, shouting "bang" as they do so.
Samuel Byck is on his way to the airport to hijack a plane, which he plans to crash dive into the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
. He records a message addressed to Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
, complaining about contemporary American life, how the American public is constantly lied to and announces that killing him is the only solution.
The assassins congregate in the Proprietor's shooting range once again and enumerate their reasons for taking action. Led by Byck, they lament that they haven't gotten the rewards they were "promised". The Balladeer tells them that their actions didn't solve their problems or the country's and that if they want their prizes they must follow the American Dream. The assassins realize that they will never get their prizes, that no one will ever care if they live or die, and briefly sink into absolute desperation before Byck coaxes them into not giving up and then leads them into a performance of "Another National Anthem", a song to be sung by all Americans dispossessed by the dream. The Balladeer attempts to convince them to be optimistic and seek other ways to be happy but the Anthem grows louder and louder until the assassins force the Balladeer offstage.
The scene changes to a storeroom on the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository
Texas School Book Depository
The Texas School Book Depository is the former name of a seven-floor building facing Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas . Located on the northwest corner of Elm and North Houston Streets, at the western end of downtown Dallas, its address is 411 Elm Street. The building is notable for its connection to...
. Lee Harvey Oswald
Lee Harvey Oswald
Lee Harvey Oswald was, according to four government investigations,These were investigations by: the Federal Bureau of Investigation , the Warren Commission , the House Select Committee on Assassinations , and the Dallas Police Department. the sniper who assassinated John F...
appears (in newer productions, Oswald is played by the Balladeer in a different costume, usually a white t-shirt and jeans), preparing to kill himself, but he is interrupted by Booth. Surprising Oswald with intimate knowledge about his life, Booth slowly and carefully attempts to convince him to not become his own victim and to instead assassinate John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
. Summoning the other assassins from the shadows, Booth tells Oswald that by joining them he will finally make a difference, but Oswald refuses. Booth tells him that in the future, when Hinckley’s room is searched, Oswald's biographies will be found. Summoning the voices of Arthur Bremer
Arthur Bremer
Arthur Herman Bremer is an American convicted for an assassination attempt on U.S. Democratic presidential candidate George Wallace on May 15, 1972 in Laurel, Maryland, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down for the rest of his life...
, Sirhan Sirhan
Sirhan Sirhan
Sirhan Bishara Sirhan is a Jordanian citizen who was convicted for the assassination of United States Senator Robert F. Kennedy. He is serving a life sentence at Pleasant Valley State Prison in Coalinga, California.Sirhan was a Christian Arab born in Jerusalem who strongly opposed Israel...
and James Earl Ray
James Earl Ray
James Earl Ray was an American criminal convicted of the assassination of civil rights and anti-war activist Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr....
, Booth tells Oswald that the key to the future is in his hands. Oswald tries to leave, but Zangara addresses him passionately in Italian, a speech translated by the other assassins, imploring him to act so their own acts can come alive again. They tell him that he has the power to cause worldwide grief and inspire global passion about himself, a man the world has never cared or heard about. Calling themselves his family, the assassins sing, imploring Oswald to act as he crouches at the window and shoots ("November 22, 1963").
After the assassinations, a group of citizens recount what they were doing when they heard that the President had been killed and lament that even though only a single man died, the nation has changed forever ("Something Just Broke").
The assassins regroup once more at the shooting range, now with Oswald among their ranks, and they proudly restate their motto, "everybody's got the right to be happy", before loading their guns and opening fire on the audience ("Everybody's Got The Right (Reprise)").
Musical numbers
- "Everybody's Got The Right" – Proprietor and Assassins (save Oswald)
- "The Ballad of Booth" – Balladeer and Booth
- "How I Saved Roosevelt" – Zangara, Proprietor and Ensemble
- "The Gun Song" – Czolgosz, Booth, Guiteau and Moore
- "The Ballad of Czolgosz" – Balladeer and Ensemble
- "Unworthy of Your Love" – Hinckley and Fromme
- "The Ballad of Guiteau" – Guiteau and Balladeer
- "Another National Anthem" – Balladeer and Assassins (save for Oswald)+
- "November 22, 1963" – Assassins
- "Something Just Broke" – Ensemble ++
- "Everybody's Got The Right" (Reprise) – Assassins
Notes:
+ In most productions, the lead part among the Assassins for "Another National Anthem" is sung by Byck. However, in the 2004 Broadway production the lead is played by the Proprietor.
++Added for the 1992 London production
Cultural impact
By developing the characters of historic assassins out of the slim biographical information found in the daily news, Assassins prompts us to consider their motivation. "(Sondheim) confronts pain in order to cauterize the decay and heal the sicknesses which lurk at the core of our society". Departing from the humanism of his previous musical Into the WoodsInto the Woods
Into the Woods is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine. It debuted in San Diego at the Old Globe Theatre in 1986, and premiered on Broadway in 1987. Bernadette Peters' performance as the Witch and Joanna Gleason's portrayal of the Baker's Wife brought acclaim...
, Sondheim suggests that political murderers are a product of the American political culture (Joanne Gordon).
Historian and commentator Sarah Vowell
Sarah Vowell
Sarah Jane Vowell is an American author, journalist, essayist and social commentator. Often referred to as a "social observer," Vowell has written five nonfiction books on American history and culture, and was a contributing editor for the radio program This American Life on Public Radio...
introduced her 2005 analysis of the Lincoln, McKinley, and Garfield murders, Assassination Vacation
Assassination Vacation
Assassination Vacation is a book by Sarah Vowell, published in 2005, in which she travels around the United States researching the assassinations of U.S. Presidents Abraham Lincoln, William McKinley and James Garfield...
, with a journey from New York City into New England to attend a performance of Assassins, the musical prompting her writing of the book (Vowell 2005).
Awards and nominations
2004 Tony Awards58th Tony Awards
The 58th Annual Tony Awards were held June 6, 2004 at Radio City Music Hall and broadcast on CBS television. Hugh Jackman was the host.-The ceremony:...
- Best Revival of a Musical (WINNER)
- Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Michael CerverisMichael CerverisMichael Cerveris is an American singer, guitarist and actor. He has performed in many stage musicals and plays, including in several Stephen Sondheim musicals: Assassins, Sweeney Todd, Road Show, and Passion...
) (WINNER) - Best Lighting Design (Peggy EisenhauerPeggy EisenhauerPeggy Eisenhauer is an American lighting designer for both theatre and films. She has designed more than twenty Broadway shows and frequently collaborates with Jules Fisher.-Career:...
and Jules FisherJules FisherJules Fisher is a lighting designer and producer. He is credited with lighting designs for more than 200 productions over the course of his 45 year career in Broadway and off-Broadway shows, as well extensive work in film, ballet, opera, television, and rock and roll concert tours...
) (WINNER) - Best Direction of a Musical (Joe Mantello) (WINNER)
- Best Orchestration (Michael StarobinMichael StarobinMichael Starobin is an orchestrator, arranger, and Musical Director, primarily for the stage and television.-Career:The first Broadway musical that Starobin provided the orchestrations for was Sunday in the Park with George in 1984, for which he won the 1984 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding...
) (WINNER) - Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Denis O'HareDenis O'HareDenis O'Hare is an American actor noted for his award winning performances in Take Me Out and Sweet Charity as well as the HBO television show True Blood. He is also known for his supporting roles in the films Charlie Wilson's War and Milk...
) (nominated) - Best Scenic Design (nominated)
2004 Drama Desk Awards
- Outstanding Revival of a MusicalDrama Desk Award for Outstanding RevivalThe Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revival is presented by the Drama Desk, a committee of New York City theatre critics, writers, and editors. It honors the Broadway, off-Broadway, off-off-Broadway, or legitimate not-for-profit theater revival of a production previously staged in New York City.It...
(WINNER) - Outstanding Director of a Musical (nominated)
- Outstanding Orchestrations (nominated)
- Outstanding Set Design of a Musical (nominated)
- Outstanding Lighting Design (nominated)
- Outstanding Sound Design (nominated)
- Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical (Marc KudischMarc KudischMarc Kudisch is an American stage actor, who is best known for his musical theatre roles on Broadway.-Early life and education:...
) (nominated)
Recordings
Recordings of both the Off-Broadway production and the 2004 revival are commercially available. The Off-Broadway version omits 'Something Just Broke', which was added to the show for the subsequent London production.While the original Off-Broadway production used just three musicians, the original cast recording was fully orchestrated by Michael Starobin
Michael Starobin
Michael Starobin is an orchestrator, arranger, and Musical Director, primarily for the stage and television.-Career:The first Broadway musical that Starobin provided the orchestrations for was Sunday in the Park with George in 1984, for which he won the 1984 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding...
, with 33 musicians directed by Paul Gemignani
Paul Gemignani
Paul Gemignani is an award-winning American musical director with a career on Broadway and West End theatre spanning over thirty years.-Life and career:...
.
External links
- Assassins on The Stephen Sondheim Reference Guide
- Live, Laugh, Love: Assassins (includes detail of plot)
- Assassins (Sondheim.com)
- Neil Patrick Harris and Marc Kudisch – Downstage Center audio interview from American Theatre WingAmerican Theatre WingThe American Theatre Wing is a New York City-based organization "dedicated to supporting excellence and education in theatre," according to its mission statement...
.org