Assassins
jtX hit the
STAGE
Story by Photos by
D. Lee Williams Michael Shindler
Grown poop It! running through sills
situations and singing even sillier
siin^s Entertaining but empty head
c«I | hr waste product of thi' cultur.il «• I»t<• If
this is what you think of musicals, then
Assassins. the current University Theatre pro
duction ol the latest Stephen Sondheim work,
will lake a well aimed shot to your head, open
your mind and altogether blow away your for
mer opinion,
"Despite its political context. Assassins is
essentially concerned with the human need
for self-respect " Robert Urhinati. a graduate
theatre major from New York City and the
show's dins tor, said, adding that by exploring
the lives of fastmating characters with
poignancy and mordant humor, the play
shows how deep alienation can cut
While this is true, the tuning of the prrxiui
tinn t ant he ignored Placed per fit tly after an
election and before an inauguration. Assassins
plays in the Arena Theatre at H tonight and
Saturday night and then resumes for evening
perfurmant es Det It-1Sunday matinees will
be held Dtx (> and 1 I
Assassins, you see. IS a musn at revue of
killers Its 17 scenes are based on the lives of
nine of the 13 people who have attempted or
succeeded in killing the President of the
United States It's a glorious parade of
American history's Most Unwanted The play
is funny, moving and frightening, and
Urlnnati's i aM and crow arc so convincing
you'll think you've stumbled Sherman-like
into Mr Peals>dv's time machine
Assassins, wtiu h ran in New York in 1'i‘it
and is currently running in London, features
scathing satirical songs hv Sondheim, who
won the 1’ulitzor Prize for ''.Sunday In The
Park With Cleorge" and put the Oscar-winning
song "Sooner Or Later" m Madonna's mouth
Based on a luting book by John VYeidman. the
play has little concern for the "hows’ of each
assassination ittempt Instead. VVeidrnan
wisely Incuses on the "whys" behind the
tries
The most famous assassins John Wilkes
Booth. John.Hinckley. |r , (diaries Ouiteau.
and Lee Harvey Oswald are opened up hril
liantly hv Jeff Whilty. Bryce Britton. Dave
Sikula. and Justin (iuadagni, respectively.
And the near-infamous are equally exposed
Brooke Totman as ".Squeaky" F'romme is a
hippy masterpiece Sharing a )oint and a buck
et of KKI, sin- and fellow wannabe Ford assas
sin Sara lane Moore swap funny and i heesy
memories of ( diarlie Manson. Kate Donovan is
perfect as Moore, right down to her 1‘J70s
pantv lines She is the harried housewife try
ing to schedule an assassination in between
mall stops and PTA meetings Donovan has a
natural, fumbling flair for physical and facial
gestures
Charlie Bradshaw as McKinley's killer and
Kristopher Cochran as Roosevelt's would-be
assassin bring to life ail the pent-up emotions
of their misfit proletariat assassins David
Brooks is eerily excellent as Sam Bvi k, and in
his killer Santa suit he moves from frustration
and humor to fear and anger with frightening
ease. We believe Byck really will crash a
plane into Nixon’s White House
The University theatre presents Assassins, an audacious new musical revue ot people who have killed or attempted to kill United States Presidents,
in the Arena Theatre through Dec 13 The cast of Assassins includes: Charlie Bradshaw, Bryce Britton, David Brooks. Kristopher Cochran. Kate
Donovan. Justin Guadagm. Brooke Totman and Jeff Whitty
These actors have the more difficult job of
bringing understanding t< uncelebrated assas
sins, and they succeed In fact, every cast
member is chillingly right for their role, not
only looking and sounding their parts hut
"feeling” their parts as well. The actors seem
to take great pleasure in their anti-hero roles.
Thev see the play for what it is a dark cele
bration of man's creepy curiosity the same
curiosity that eases our foot to the brakepad as
we pass .1 roadside accident We are scared
.mil repulsed but we watch We want to know
them because "them” could have been “us "
Hut in no way is Assassins dreary or down
Credit the musical numbers (musical direction
by Dennis Davenport and choreography by
Rachel Waite) for boldly going where no musi
cal has gone before. Songs like "Another
National Anthem" with the assassins ask
ing "Where's my prize?" defy being simple
minded ditties This is acid-tongued satire
dubbed effectively in'o snTe-a nvn folktunes
and showstopping revivalist hymns
Sikula. who plays (iarfield's killer, is espe
cially good singing "Look on the bright side
as his execution noose hangs before him The
number is a great musical dis on Annie's sick
ly sweet “Tomorrow. Tomorrow " And
Hinckley serenading his It X 10 glossy of Jodie
Foster will shoot a i hill (unrelated to the cold
theatre) up your spine Justin Stafford as the
Balladeer does a great job of stringing the
scenes together by song, but Whitty as Booth
hits the musical high, and seems to have a
vocal range that, if pushed, would send
Michael Crawford packing back to "Star
Search" semifinals And "Everybody’s Cot
The Right," a song which could've boon gun
control preachy, is not
The songs and book are more complex than
cause-of-the-moment politics This is good
theatre, not bad Murphy Brown. Proof of the
play's 11implexit) ionics near the cm), when
Booth confronts Oswald This tight scene
brings Kennedy's death bat k to the nsu liable,
hum,in level, virtually erasing Oliver Stone's
grand and mythic It'k
leff (look's set design is oddly fitting not
bright stars and stripes, but subdued layers of
frumpy flags, apparently sewn by a badly
I'MS ing Betsy Ross Deanna Sorenson s cos
tumes have the same gre.it incongruity
bright colors cover the happy bystanders who
are lucky enough to glimpse the shot at
Roosevelt And the lighting by Molly hness
makes sense, too the sets art* bathed in lots of
American Dream gold
All in all. Urhinati's production makes a lug
impression from its lillle stage And lor this
reason, Assassin* must he seen It is that rare
theatrical thing a musical with a mind And a
musical with a mind is a terrible thing to
waste
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