Assassins is a musical with music and lyrics by
Stephen SondheimStephen 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, and a Pulitzer Prize...
and book by
John WeidmanJohn 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
revueA 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 ca. 1916-32...
-style portrayal of men and women who attempted (successfully or otherwise) to assassinate
Presidents of the United StatesThe President of the United States 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.Article II of the U.S...
. The music varies to reflect the popular music of the eras depicted.
The musical first opened
Off-BroadwayOff Broadway theater is an umbrella term for a defined set of plays, musicals or revues performed in New York City but outside the definition of Broadway theatre.- History :...
in 1990, and the 2004
BroadwayBroadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 large professional theatres with 500 seats or more located in the Theatre District, New York in Manhattan, New York City...
production won five 2004 Tony Awards.
History and productions
As a panelist at producer
Stuart OstrowStuart 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. Sondheim declined, having already had collaborator John Weidman (who wrote the book for
Pacific OverturesPacific 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 later go on to work with Sondheim again on Road Show) in mind.
Assassins opened
off-BroadwayOff Broadway theater is an umbrella term for a defined set of plays, musicals or revues performed in New York City but outside the definition of Broadway theatre.- History :...
at
Playwrights HorizonsPlaywrights 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 with seventy-three performances under
Jerry ZaksJerry 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...
' direction. The cast included
Victor GarberVictor Joseph Garber is a Canadian film, stage and television actor and singer. Garber is perhaps best known for playing Jesus in Godspell, Jack Bristow in the television series Alias and Thomas Andrews in James Cameron's Titanic.-Life and career:Born in London, Ontario, Canada, Garber is of...
,
Terrence MannTerrence Vaughan Mann is an American actor and dancer who has been prominent on the Broadway stage for the past three decades.-Early years:...
,
Patrick CassidyPatrick Cassidy is an American actor best known for his roles in musical theatre and television.-Personal life:...
,
Debra MonkDebra 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...
,
Greg GermannGregory 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 GoldenAnnie Golden is an American actress and singer.Born in Brooklyn, New York, Golden began her career as the lead singer of The Shirts . During the early 90s she performed as part of the duo Golden Carillo with Frank Carillo...
. The run sold out.
Frank RichFrank Rich is an American essayist writer and columnist. Since 1980, he has written for The New York Times, when he was appointed its chief theater critic...
, a long-time fan of Sondheim, said "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 WarehouseDonmar Warehouse is a small not-for-profit theatre in the Covent Garden area of the London Borough of Camden, with seating for 250 playgoers.-History:...
with a cast that included
Henry GoodmanHenry 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 has also played character roles in episodes of the popular UK police drama The Bill...
as Charles Guiteau and
Louise GoldLouise Gold is a British singer, actress and puppeteer.She was a puppeteer for The Muppet Show, Sesame Street and various other Muppet films and specials, and for the satirical television show Spitting Image from 1984...
as Sara Jane Moore. The show ran for 76 performances, closing on January 9, 1993.
Roundabout Theater Company's
BroadwayBroadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 large professional theatres with 500 seats or more located in the Theatre District, New York in Manhattan, New York City...
production, directed by
Joe MantelloJoseph 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...
, was originally scheduled for 2001 but was postponed to April 22, 2004 because the content was sensitive in light of the events on
September 11, 2001The September 11 attacks were a series of coordinated suicide attacks by al-Qaeda upon the United States on September 11, 2001. On that morning, 19 al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial passenger jet airliners...
. After 101 performances at
Studio 54Studio 54 was a world-famous disco in the 70s and early 80s. Studio 54 was originally a New York City Broadway theater, then a CBS radio and television studio. In the 1970s it became a discothèque located at 254 West 54th Street in Manhattan. The disco opened on April 26, 1977 and closed in March...
,
Assassins closed on July 18, 2004.
Neil Patrick HarrisNeil Patrick Harris is an American actor and singer. Prominent roles of his career include the title role in Doogie Howser, M.D., the womanizing Barney Stinson in How I Met Your Mother, a fictionalized version of himself in the Harold & Kumar series, and the title role in Joss Whedon's musical web...
starred in the roles of The Balladeer and Lee Harvey Oswald, with
Marc KudischMarc 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-Early life:Cerveris was born in Bethesda, Maryland and raised in Huntington, West Virginia. His father was a professor of music and his mother was a dancer, who met while students at the Juilliard School...
played
John 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...
, for which he received a
Tony AwardThe Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Awards, recognize achievement in live American theatre and are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are for Broadway productions and...
. The 2004 production was noted for a
coup de théâtre: the
Zapruder filmThe 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. 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....
projected onto
Lee Harvey OswaldLee Harvey Oswald was, according to three government investigations, the assassin of President of the United States John F. Kennedy, who was fatally shot in Dallas, Texas on November 22, 1963....
's t-shirt.
Other professional productions have included a 2006 production at
Crucible TheatreThe 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....
,
SheffieldSheffield 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, the city has grown from its largely industrial roots to encompass a wider economic base...
and a 2008 production which ran from January 23 to February 2, 2008, at the Landor Theatre, London, UK.
The South African premiere opened in December 2008 as the innaugural 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 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...
, Riaan Norval as
Lee Harvey OswaldLee Harvey Oswald was, according to three government investigations, the assassin of President of the United States John F. Kennedy, who was fatally shot in Dallas, Texas on November 22, 1963....
, David Dennis as
Charles J. GuiteauCharles Julius Guiteau was an American lawyer who assassinated U.S. President James A. Garfield on July 2, 1881. He was executed by hanging.- Background :...
and Anthea Thompson as
Sara Jane MooreSara 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 CassidyPatrick Cassidy is an American actor best known for his roles in musical theatre and television.-Personal life:...
(the original Balladeer) playing Booth, and
Alan SafierAlan Safier is an American stage, television, and voice-over actor and singer who is currently touring the United States as George Burns in the one-man show Say Goodnight Gracie by Rupert Holmes.- Early life :...
as Guiteau .
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:
- Leon Czolgosz
Leon Frank Czolgosz was the assassin of U.S. President William McKinley...
- assassination of President William McKinleyWilliam McKinley, Jr. was the 25th President of the United States, and the last veteran of the American Civil War to be elected to the office...
- John Hinckley - attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States and the 33rd Governor of California . Born in Tampico, Illinois, Reagan moved to Los Angeles, California in 1937...
- Charles Guiteau - assassination of President James Garfield
James Abram Garfield was the 20th President of the United States, serving from March 4 1881 to his death on September 9 1881, after spending a mere 200 days in office....
- Giuseppe Zangara
Giuseppe Zangara was the assassin of Chicago mayor Anton Cermak, though United States President-elect Franklin Delano Roosevelt is generally believed to have been his intended target. Roosevelt escaped injury, but five people were shot including Cermak.-Early life:Zangara was born in Ferruzzano,...
- attempted assassination of President-elect Franklin D. RooseveltFranklin Delano Roosevelt 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...
- 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 hopes of killing U.S...
- attempted assassination of President Richard NixonRichard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States from 1969–1974 and was also the 36th Vice President of the United States . Nixon was the only President to resign the office and also the only person to be elected twice to both the Presidency and the Vice Presidency.Nixon was born...
- Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme - attempted assassination of President Gerald Ford
- Sara Jane Moore
Sara Jane Moore attempted to assassinate U.S. President Gerald Ford on September 22, 1975, outside the St...
- attempted assassination of President Gerald Ford
- 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...
- assassination of President Abraham LincolnAbraham Lincoln served as the 16th President of the United States from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through its greatest internal crisis, the American Civil War, preserving the Union and ending slavery...
- Lee Harvey Oswald
Lee Harvey Oswald was, according to three government investigations, the assassin of President of the United States John F. Kennedy, who was fatally shot in Dallas, Texas on November 22, 1963....
- assassination of President John 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....
- David Herold
David Edgar Herold conspired with John Wilkes Booth to assassinate Abraham Lincoln. After leading fellow conspirator Lewis Powell to the home of Secretary of State William H. Seward, whom Powell intended to kill, Herold escaped. Herold assisted Booth to the home of Dr...
- accomplice of John Wilkes Booth in the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln
- 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.Born in Kovno in the Russian Empire , Goldman emigrated to the...
- anarchist known for her political activism who also interacted several times with Leon Czolgosz
- James Blaine - Secretary of State who received a deluge of letters from Charles Guiteau
- President
A 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 Abram Garfield was the 20th President of the United States, serving from March 4 1881 to his death on September 9 1881, after spending a mere 200 days in office....
- twentieth President of the United States
- President
A 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 Rudolph 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 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 PremiereDonmar WarehouseDonmar Warehouse is a small not-for-profit theatre in the Covent Garden area of the London Borough of Camden, with seating for 250 playgoers.-History:...
|
Broadway Premiere
Studio 54Studio 54 was a world-famous disco in the 70s and early 80s. Studio 54 was originally a New York City Broadway theater, then a CBS radio and television studio. In the 1970s it became a discothèque located at 254 West 54th Street in Manhattan. The disco opened on April 26, 1977 and closed in March...
|
| The Proprietor |
William Parry |
Paul Bentley |
Marc Kudisch Marc Kudisch is an American stage actor, who is best known for his musical theatre roles on Broadway.-Early life and education:...
|
Leon CzolgoszLeon Frank Czolgosz was the assassin of U.S. President William McKinley...
|
Terrence MannTerrence Vaughan Mann is an American actor and dancer who has been prominent on the Broadway stage for the past three decades.-Early years:...
|
Jack Ellis |
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 :...
|
| John Hinckley |
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 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...
|
| Charles Guiteau |
Jonathan Hadary -Life and career: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 Boston company of...
|
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 has also played character roles in episodes of the popular UK police drama The Bill...
|
Denis O'Hare-Life and career:Denis O'Hare was born in Kansas City, Missouri, and grew up in the suburbs of Detroit, living in Southfield and Bloomfield Hills until he was 15 when his family moved to Wing Lake. His mother is a musician and he grew up playing the church organ...
|
Giuseppe ZangaraGiuseppe Zangara was the assassin of Chicago mayor Anton Cermak, though United States President-elect Franklin Delano Roosevelt is generally believed to have been his intended target. Roosevelt escaped injury, but five people were shot including Cermak.-Early life:Zangara was born in Ferruzzano,...
|
Eddie Korbich -1980s:He graduated from the Boston Conservatory with a B.F.A. in acting in 1983.1985 saw him in A Little Night Music at the Master Theatre in New York, New York....
|
Paul Harrhy |
Jeffrey Kuhn |
| 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 hopes of killing U.S...
|
Lee Wilkof Lee Wilkof is a Tony Award-nominated 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...
|
Ciaran Hinds Ciarán Hinds is an Irish actor.-Early life:Hinds was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Raised a Catholic in North Belfast, he was one of five children and the only son of his doctor father and schoolteacher mother. His mother, Moya, was also an amateur actress. He was an Irish dancer in his youth...
|
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...
|
Lynette (Squeaky) FrommeLynette 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 is an American actress and singer.Born in Brooklyn, New York, Golden began her career as the lead singer of The Shirts . During the early 90s she performed as part of the duo Golden Carillo with Frank Carillo...
|
Catheryn Bradshaw |
Mary Catherine Garrison |
Sara Jane MooreSara Jane Moore attempted to assassinate U.S. President Gerald Ford on September 22, 1975, outside the St...
|
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...
|
Louise Gold Louise Gold is a British singer, actress and puppeteer.She was a puppeteer for The Muppet Show, Sesame Street and various other Muppet films and specials, and for the satirical television show Spitting Image from 1984...
|
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.-Career:...
|
| 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 GarberVictor Joseph Garber is a Canadian film, stage and television actor and singer. Garber is perhaps best known for playing Jesus in Godspell, Jack Bristow in the television series Alias and Thomas Andrews in James Cameron's Titanic.-Life and career:Born in London, Ontario, Canada, Garber is of...
|
David Firth |
Michael Cerveris -Early life:Cerveris was born in Bethesda, Maryland and raised in Huntington, West Virginia. His father was a professor of music and his mother was a dancer, who met while students at the Juilliard School...
|
| The Balladeer |
Patrick Cassidy Patrick Cassidy is an American actor best known for his roles in musical theatre and television.-Personal life:...
|
Anthony Barclay |
Neil Patrick HarrisNeil Patrick Harris is an American actor and singer. Prominent roles of his career include the title role in Doogie Howser, M.D., the womanizing Barney Stinson in How I Met Your Mother, a fictionalized version of himself in the Harold & Kumar series, and the title role in Joss Whedon's musical web...
|
David HeroldDavid Edgar Herold conspired with John Wilkes Booth to assassinate Abraham Lincoln. After leading fellow conspirator Lewis Powell to the home of Secretary of State William H. Seward, whom Powell intended to kill, Herold escaped. Herold assisted Booth to the home of Dr...
|
Marcus Olson |
Kevin Walton |
Brandon Wardell |
Emma 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.Born in Kovno in the Russian Empire , Goldman emigrated to the...
|
Lyn Greene |
Sue Kelvin |
Anne L. Nathan |
Lee Harvey OswaldLee Harvey Oswald was, according to three government investigations, the assassin of President of the United States John F. Kennedy, who was fatally shot in Dallas, Texas on November 22, 1963....
|
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 HarrisNeil Patrick Harris is an American actor and singer. Prominent roles of his career include the title role in Doogie Howser, M.D., the womanizing Barney Stinson in How I Met Your Mother, a fictionalized version of himself in the Harold & Kumar series, and the title role in Joss Whedon's musical web...
|
Synopsis
Assassins 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 CzolgoszLeon Frank Czolgosz was the assassin of U.S. President William McKinley...
,
John HinckleyJohn 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 actress Jodie Foster. He was found not guilty by reason of insanity and has remained under institutional psychiatric care since then...
,
Charles GuiteauCharles Julius Guiteau was an American lawyer who assassinated U.S. President James A. Garfield on July 2, 1881. He was executed by hanging.- Background :...
,
Giuseppe ZangaraGiuseppe Zangara was the assassin of Chicago mayor Anton Cermak, though United States President-elect Franklin Delano Roosevelt is generally believed to have been his intended target. Roosevelt escaped injury, but five people were shot including Cermak.-Early life:Zangara was born in Ferruzzano,...
,
Samuel 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 hopes of killing U.S...
,
Lynette "Squeaky" FrommeLynette 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 MooreSara 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 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...
enters last. The Proprietor introduces him to the others as their pioneer and begins distributing ammunition. The assassins take aim as "
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 LincolnAbraham Lincoln served as the 16th President of the United States from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through its greatest internal crisis, the American Civil War, preserving the Union and ending slavery...
's offstage arrival. Booth excuses himself, a shot rings out and Booth shouts, "
Sic semper tyrannisSic semper tyrannis is a Latin phrase meaning "thus always to tyrants". It is sometimes mistranslated as "death to tyrants". It is most known as the official motto of Virginia and for its usage during the assassinations of Julius Caesar and Abraham Lincoln.- Motto :The phrase was recommended by...
!"
In Scene 2, the Balladeer tells John Wilkes Booth's story ("The Ballad of Booth"). Booth is writing his rationale for murder in his diary but the Balladeer interjects that Booth's motives really had more to do with his personal problems. When Booth is wounded by a pursuing Union soldier he throws the Balladeer his diary so that he can tell his story to the world. The Balladeer reads out Booth’s self-justifications as Booth commits suicide. The Balladeer concludes that Booth was a madman whose legacy was butchery and treason and that in trying to destroy Lincoln, Booth elevated him to legend.
In Scene 3, Booth, Czolgosz, Hinckley, Zangara and Guiteau gather in a bar. Byck enters, asks if Richard Nixon has been seen around the bar, and leaves when he receives a negative answer. Guiteau toasts to the American Dream ("Ladies and Gentlemen, A Toast!"), telling of his ambition to become
Ambassador to FranceThere 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 the President. Hinckley accidentally breaks a beer 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. Booth urges him to take control of his fate, and to break a bottle himself. But Czolgosz cannot.
Scene 4 opens with a radio report that Zangara has tried to assassinate
Franklin D. RooseveltFranklin Delano Roosevelt 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...
. 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.
In Scene 5, American anarchist leader
Emma 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.Born in Kovno in the Russian Empire , Goldman emigrated to the...
gives a lecture from offstage as Leon Czolgosz listens, enraptured. He introduces himself to her and declares his love. She tells him to redirect his passion to the fight for social justice. She protests at his offer to carry her bag saying, "They make us servants, Leon. We do not make servants of each other," but he insists.
In Scene 6, Fromme and Moore meet on a park bench. Fromme smokes a joint and speaks of mass murderer
Charles MansonCharles 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
TabTab is a diet cola soft drink produced by the Coca-Cola Company. The beverage is "marketed to consumers who want to keep 'tabs' on their weight."...
and a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken, Moore claims she is an informant for the FBI (or used to be), has been a
CPACertified 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 SandersHarland David Sanders, better known as Colonel Sanders was an American entrepreneur who founded Kentucky Fried Chicken...
as a graven image, they give the bucket of chicken the evil eye then shoot it to pieces. Fromme declares that Manson will emerge as king of a new order and make her his queen and 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 appears in Scene 7, reflecting 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 point out one gun's power to change the world ("Gun Song"). Czolgosz decides his gun will claim one more victim: the President.
In Scene 8, we see Czolgosz at the 1901 Pan American Exposition watching
William McKinleyWilliam McKinley, Jr. was the 25th President of the United States, and the last veteran of the American Civil War to be elected to the office...
shake visitors' hands in the Temple of Music Pavilion. The Balladeer sings "The Ballad of Czolgosz" as Czolgosz joins the receiving line. When Czolgosz reaches McKinley he shoots him.
In Scene 9 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 BernsteinLeonard Bernstein 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. Then he accuses Bernstein of ignoring him, just like the other celebrities.
In Scene 10, Squeaky Fromme and John Hinckley sit together in Hinckley's
rumpus roomA 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, but is less common in the United Kingdom where the preferred term is games room...
exchanging reflections about their love objects, Charles Manson and
Jodie FosterAlicia Christian "Jodie" Foster is an American actress, film director and producer.Foster began acting in commercials at three years old, and her first significant role came in the 1976 film Taxi Driver as the preteen prostitute, Iris, for which she received a nomination for the Academy Award for...
. Fromme mocks Hinckley for being in love with a woman he's never met and he orders her out. After she goes, he sings ("Unworthy of Your Love"). Fromme returns to join him, singing of her love for Manson. Hinckley shoots at a photograph of
Ronald ReaganRonald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States and the 33rd Governor of California . Born in Tampico, Illinois, Reagan moved to Los Angeles, California in 1937...
projected on the wall but the picture keeps reappearing. Fromme mocks Hinckley, quoting Reagan's famous quips about the assassination, as Hinckley fires and fires, missing each time.
In Scene 11 Charles Guiteau flirts with Sarah Jane Moore, giving her marksmanship tips before trying to kiss her. When she rebuffs him he goes to meet
James GarfieldJames Abram Garfield was the 20th President of the United States, serving from March 4 1881 to his death on September 9 1881, after spending a mere 200 days in office....
at the train station. Guiteau asks to be made Ambassador to France, and when he is rebuffed, shoots the President.
Immediately following, Scene 12 shows Guiteau at the foot of the gallows singing a poem, written that morning, that he calls "I Am Going To The Lordy". The Balladeer describes his trial and execution ("The Ballad of Guiteau") as Guiteau cheerfully
cakewalkThe Cakewalk dance was developed from a "Prize Walk" done in the days of slavery, generally at get-togethers on plantations in the Southern United States. Alternate names for the original form of the dance were "chalkline-walk", and the "walk-around"...
s up the stairs to the gallows, optimistically singing of heaven. Guiteau is hanged.
In Scene 13 Squeaky Fromme and Sara Jane Moore prepare to assassinate
Gerald FordGerald Rudolph 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. The President enters and attempts to help Moore collect her dropped bullets; she fails to assassinate him. Next Fromme tries, but her gun fails to go off. Moore resorts to throwing her bullets at him.
In Scene 14, Samuel Byck is on his way to the airport to hijack a plane, which he plans to crash dive into the
White HouseThe 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 NixonRichard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States from 1969–1974 and was also the 36th Vice President of the United States . Nixon was the only President to resign the office and also the only person to be elected twice to both the Presidency and the Vice Presidency.Nixon was born...
, complaining about contemporary American life and announces that killing a President is the only solution.
In Scene 15 crowd noises supply a wordless lamentation for the victims of the assassins as the assassins reiterate their motives, and demand their prizes. 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 and unite with "Another National Anthem", which grows louder and louder as they force the Balladeer offstage, a song to be sung by all Americans dispossessed by the dream.
In Scene 16,
Lee Harvey OswaldLee Harvey Oswald was, according to three government investigations, the assassin of President of the United States John F. Kennedy, who was fatally shot in Dallas, Texas on November 22, 1963....
appears, preparing to kill himself in a storeroom on the sixth floor of the
Texas School Book DepositoryThe 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...
. Booth interrupts him and convinces him to murder
John 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....
instead. Summoning the other assassins from the shadows, Booth tells Oswald that by joining them he will become part of the American experience, 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 BremerArthur 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 SirhanSirhan Bishara Sirhan is a Christian Palestinian who was convicted for the assassination of United States Senator Robert F. Kennedy. He is serving a life sentence at Pleasant Valley State Prison, California....
and
James Earl RayJames Earl Ray was an American murderer convicted of the assassination of American civil rights activist Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.. He was convicted on March 10, 1969 after entering a guilty plea to forgo a jury trial. If Ray had been found guilty by jury trial he would have been electrocuted. ...
, 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. He has power. He can close the New York Stock Exchange, cause worldwide grief, inspire, finally, passion about a man the world has never cared about. As the assassins sing, imploring Oswald to act, he crouches at the window and shoots ("November 22, 1963").
Scene 17 was not included in the original, but added to the London production by Sondheim and Weidman. In this scene, six Americans recount how they remember where they were and what they were doing when they heard Presidents Kennedy, Garfield, McKinley, and Lincoln had been shot ("Something Just Broke").
In Scene 18, the assassins reappear, now with Oswald in their ranks. They restate their motto ("Everybody's Got the Right" (reprise)) and fire their guns at the audience.
Song list
- "Everybody's Got the Right" — Proprietor and all assassins except Lee Harvey Oswald
- "The Ballad of Booth" — Balladeer and John Wilkes Booth
- "How I Saved Roosevelt" — Giuseppe Zangara and Ensemble
- "Gun Song" — Leon Czolgosz, Booth, Charles Guiteau and Sara Jane Moore
- "The Ballad of Czolgosz" — Balladeer and Ensemble
- "Unworthy of Your Love" — John Hinckley and Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme
- "The Ballad of Guiteau" — Guiteau and Balladeer
- "Another National Anthem" — Proprietor+, Balladeer and assassins except Oswald
- "November 22, 1963" - Assassins and Oswald
- "Something Just Broke" — Ensemble++
- "Everybody's Got the Right" (Reprise) — Assassins
+Some productions opt not to include the Proprietor, but to have Byck sing his lines, as in the case of the original off-Broadway production.
++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 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...
, Sondheim suggests that political murderers are a product of the American political culture (Joanne Gordon).
Historian and commentator
Sarah VowellSarah Jane Vowell is an American author, journalist, humorist, and commentator. Often referred to as a "social observer," Vowell has written several books and is a regular contributor to the radio program This American Life on Public Radio International...
introduced her 2005 analysis of the Lincoln, McKinley and Garfield murders,
Assassination VacationAssassination 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
Tony AwardThe Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Awards, recognize achievement in live American theatre and are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are for Broadway productions and...
- Best Revival of a Musical (WINNER)
- Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Michael Cerveris
-Early life:Cerveris was born in Bethesda, Maryland and raised in Huntington, West Virginia. His father was a professor of music and his mother was a dancer, who met while students at the Juilliard School...
) (WINNER)
- Best Lighting Design (Peggy Eisenhauer
Peggy 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 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 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...
) (WINNER)
- Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Denis O'Hare) (nominated)
- Best Scenic Design (nominated)
Drama Desk AwardThe Drama Desk Award, presented since 1955, is the only award that recognizes excellence in shows produced in all sectors of New York theatre, including Broadway, off-Broadway, off-off-Broadway and legitimate not-for-profit theaters. It is considered one of the important American theatre awards...
- Outstanding Revival of a Musical
The 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 Kudisch) (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.
External links