38 lUStOUt
APRIL 21. 2006
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by Stephen Blair
villainize anyone. It humanizes them. It doesn’t
hat do John Wilkes Booth, Leon
make it easy for the audience to say they’re just
Czolgosz and Charles J. Guiteau
crazy. Anyone is capable of extreme action.
have in common?
Each assassinated a U.S.
SB: Do you think that assassinations or assas
president and—to the delight of
sination attempts can have positive effects?
show tune lovers everywhere—each figures promi-
WM: In this show, absolutely not. These
nently in Stephen Sondheim’s Tony-winning musi
people were criminalized and the president was
cal Assassins. The show opened off-Broadway in
usually immortalized as being great and being a
1991 hut was deemed too bleak for public
consumption after 9/11, so its
Broadway debut got bumped from
2001 to 2004.
Gay director Jon Kretzu is bringing
this provocative slice of Americana to
Artists Repertory Theatre for a six-
week run. Acclaimed gay actor Wade
McCollum stars as The Balladeer,
a singing narrator who tells the stories
of successful assassins like Booth and
failed White House wreckers like
Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme. From
19th century folk tunes to 1970s bal
lads, the music is distinctly American.
When he’s not acting in Los
John Wilkes Booth (Kirk Mouser, left) offers guidance to
Angeles, recording a CD or fine-tuning
Lee Harvey Oswald (Wade McCollum} in the Tony-winning
musical
Assassins.
his epic musical One, the obscenely tal
ented McCollum has wixied Portland
audiences with Drammy-winning performances in
victim of somebody’s madness. But my suspicion is
that it does raise awareness when you kill the pres
Hedwig and the Angry Inch and Bat Boy: The Musical.
ident. People listen. But then they don’t and
Before our recent interview started, he sat at an
outdoor cafe table reading a book about Lee Harvey
things go back to what they were. That’s kind of
the argument of The Balladeer at the end when
Oswald.
he’s in conversation with all the assassins. He tells
Stephen Blair: How did you come on board
them they stirred it up for a moment, but it didn’t
this production?
really change things the way they hoped. Maybe
Wade McCollum: Jon Kretzu called me and
there’s another way of channeling the intention.
asked me to come in for callbacks. When you get
a chance to do a Sondheim show that’s so insane
SB: What does Assassins have to say to
ly brilliant, you kind of have to do it. Especially
audiences in 2006?
WM: It’s a poignant examination of what right
since I’m in rewrite mode with One and examin
action is in times of political despair. It’s certainly
ing structure and thematics and really getting into
not pro-assassination. It really looks at the fact that
the structural elements of writing a show. To step
into one of Sondheim’s brilliantly structured pieces
a corrupt government is not the product of one
is severely illuminating.
man, the president. It’s the product of an entire
I’ve done a few of his shows. He has an ability
society. An assassination isn’t going to fix a
problem that is integral to the society and the way
to create these humanistic, incredibly dramatic,
we function.
viable, accessible, amazing stories.
SB: Is The Balladeer involved in every song?
WM: No. Just three ballads. He tells the story
of each of their big moments of assassination and
who they were and what they were like and why
they did what they did.
Lunch Mon Fri 11 30 2 * Dinner Mon Suf 5 12 • Kitchen open til 11
Privóte dming room nvoihibie • 503 233 1999 • www.noblerotpdx.com
SB: Does the play evoke sympathy for the
assassins?
WM: I don’t know if sympathy is the right
word. I might say empathy. Like any well-written
piece of theater, you can access their point of view.
We can see that the person is either absolutely
insane or they’re suffering so greatly, this was the
only way they could conceive of to connect. When
that amount of desperation comes to a breaking
point, people do desperate acts.
The show doesn’t give clear answers. It doesn’t
SB: What’s next for One?
WM: The producers are going to New York in
April for a conference. We submitted the show to
the National Alliance for Musical Theatre. They
have a showcase in October. There’s a fair chance
we might be able to do that showcase.
I’ve narrowed the cast down so it’s more
producible. I really like the idea of taking it down
to a 100-minute roller coaster ride. ©
Artists Repertory Theatre presents ASSASSINS
April 25 to June 4 at 1516 S.W. Alder St. Tickets
are $15440 from 503-241'1278.
Portland free-lance writer STEPHEN BLAIR recently
jumped on the blogwagon. You can visit him at
www .stephen-blogday. blogspot. com.
OWEN CAREY
J&M
Wade McCollum sets his sights
on Stephen Sondheim's Assassins