Kill a prez, win a prize! Sondheim’s unusual musical comedy ‘Assassins’ misses mark too By Jennifer Richmond Daily Bruin Staff Steven Sondheim has a way of making the most insane people seem Following all of history’s assassins and would-be assassins, Opening with a poorly choreographed "Everybody’s Got the Right," The first case comes when the father of assassinators, John But just because Booth kills himself doesn’t mean that’s the Booth explains to Oswald that if he commits suicide as he Although we never see Oswald’s death by Jack Ruby, we get a Zangara is gruesomely fried in the electric chair while innocent Safier’s portrayal of Guiteau makes this scene one of the Another rich scene comes without song and dance later on. It Although the two attempted to assassinate President Gerald Ford Moore can’t aim to save her life as is proven by the death of The hysterics really begin when Moore drops her bullets and Ford It’s too bad that these funny scenes are so few and far between. STAGE: "Assassins." Music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. Book
many times
sane. He started with Mr. Todd of his horrific "Sweeney Todd" and
continues with all the murderers of his bizarre "Assassins."
Sondheim’s play makes a point of selling presidential assassination
from the beginning.
the cast makes it known how they feel and why the president
deserves to be shot. After all, "If you shoot the president, you
win a prize." It’s a game. And the prize is usually death as shown
in the most gruesome terms.
Wilkes Booth (Patrick Cassidy), shoots himself rather than give
himself up for the murder of Abraham Lincoln. But the heart-felt
ballad he sings before he goes evokes a feeling of pity and sorrow
that this man was simply seen as a vicious maniac rather than a man
who only wanted to be heard.
last we see of him. In another moving scene much later in the
musical, Sondheim gives the mystery of the JFK assassination a new
twist. He blames Booth for Oswald’s decision to kill the president
and not some government scheme.
originally intended, no one will remember him; but if he kills
Kennedy everyone will know who he is. His name will go down in
history; after all, it’s Oswald who gave John Hinckley, the
almost-assassin of President Ronald Reagan, the idea to kill the
president. Seeing the logic and having all the other assassins
urging him on, Oswald realizes he has no choice but to shoot.
clear show of both Giuseppe Zangara’s (Gary Imhoff) and Charles
Julius Guiteau’s (Alan Safier) death sentences.
by-standers explain with glee how they saved FDR from Zangara’s
deadly shot. And Guiteau gets a noose around his neck as he sings
"I am going to the Lordy" with a smile and leg kicks worthy of a
Las Vegas stage show.
funnier in the production. While he tends to ham things up a bit at
times, most of the scene perfectly proves how insane Guiteau was.
He’s decided that if President James A. Garfield won’t make him
ambassador to France, then Garfield doesn’t deserve to be
president. His logic makes total sense to him and provides for a
wonderfully funny number that gets people humming.
takes place between Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme (Bridget Hoffman) and
Sarah Jane Moore (Jean Kauffman).
on different days in real life, Sondheim decides to save time and
have the two work together as a team. But two bumbling fools can’t
kill a president any better than one bumbling fool.
her dog as the scene opens and Fromme is too caught up in educating
Moore to realize her gun is empty.
willingly helps collect them. It still doesn’t matter that he is at
point blank range  the two assassins are way too inept to do
anything. So, as a last hysterical resort Moore throws a handful of
bullets at him while shouting "Bang!"
The horror brought with "How I Saved Roosevelt" turns stomachs, and
the redundant and boring "Something Just Broke" feels like an extra
song that’s really saying "In case you still don’t get what I’m
trying to say, here it is again." This song, more than any others,
is a serious annoyance rather than a joyful addition. But let’s not
kill Sondheim just yet  it’s only one little mistake.
by John Weidman. Directed by Peter Ellenstein. Starring Patrick
Cassidy, Alan Safier, Bridget Hoffman and Jean Kauffman. Running
through April 23 at the Los Angeles Theater Center. Performing
Tuesday through Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday at 7 p.m. with matinees
on Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m. TIX: $10-$39. For more info call
(213) 466-1767.
