The title characters in Assassins all tried to assassinate a president of the United States. Composer Stephen Sondheim and playwright John Weidman bring these men and women on stage to explore the mindset of people who resort to violence when they feel betrayed by the American Dream.
Fly North Theatricals looks at contemporary ways for this mindset to develop in the company’s fascinating production of Assassins.
Director Bradley Rohlf de-emphasizes the show’s original setting in a carnival shooting gallery. Instead, Rohlf creates an immersive environment for the show. When picking up their tickets at the .ZACK Theatre, audience members are given credentials for attending PresCon2022, a convention where (in the words of the opening number) “everybody’s got the right” to be president. Each attendee is given a badge holder on a lanyard and a nametag identifying the holder as a president.
The auditorium is set up for a panel discussion, with a row of chairs lining the rear of a small platform in front of the stage. The main attraction is a presentation featuring the assassins. Before the show begins, a public address announcer encourages audience members visit to several tables with displays related to the conference’s theme. Early arrivers should check out the displays to see how they try to appeal to PresCon2022 attendees. One display’s title is a clever play on words using an assassin’s name.
In addition to directing, Rohlf designed projections shown on the stage’s back wall. Many of the projections are screens on the cellphone of the narrator (called The Balladeer in the script), who is looking up the assassins on the internet. The audience sees his search results as he is presenting the show. In Stephen Henley’s compelling portrayal, The Balladeer is driven by the same frustration and rage as the assassins. The online research profoundly affects the Balladeer. For the scene on the Kennedy assassination, Henley becomes Lee Harvey Oswald.
The script does not combine the roles of The Balladeer and Oswald, but Neil Patrick Harris played both parts in the Roundabout Theater Company’s 2004 Broadway revival of Assassins. Other companies have followed Roundabout’s lead, but the doubling is especially resonant in Fly North’s study of radicalization.
The Fly North cast is excellent. Jordan Wolk conveys the charisma of Lincoln’s assassin, John Wilkes Booth. Bradford Rolen is a loopy Charles Guiteau (Garfield’s assassin). Eli Borwick uses his resonant voice to great effect as Leon Czolgosz (McKinley’s assassin).
Ryan Townsend as Giuseppe Zangara and Jaymeson Hintz as John Hinckley capture the state of mind of two failures in both life and assassination. Zangara’s target was Franklin Roosevelt; Hinckley’s was Ronald Reagan.
Sarah Lantsberger finds the mordant humor in the overwrought Sam Byck’s attempt on Richard Nixon’s life. Lantsberger displays her versatility in a fine portrayal of Emma Goldman, the anarchist and activist.
The two women who shot unsuccessfully at Gerald Ford led disparate lives. Sara Jane Moore was an overburdened housewife; Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme was a member of the Manson family. Even so, Assassins pairs them off in recurring scenes. Avery Lux as Fromme and Kimmie Kidd-Booker as Moore are a hilarious comedy team. Layla Mason commendably plays Billy, Moore’s child.
In addition to giving a striking attitude to the proprietor of the shooting gallery, Eileen Engel designed the eclectic, witty costumes. My favorite characterizing touch is Guiteau’s wearing two vests. What sort of a person would do that?
Music Director Colin Healy leads an accomplished 11-piece band in an impressive rendition of Sondheim’s score. Healy is also credited with media and SFX design. Additional contributors to the immersive quality of the production include Brian McKinley (assistant director and production manager), Tony Anselmo (lighting design), Trey Marlette (Secret Service), Rachel Downing (stage manager and light board operator), and Angela Brandow (box office and front-of-house manager).
The lyrics are sometimes obscured in the .ZACK’s unforgiving acoustic. Projected supertitles would have been welcome.
Assassins continues at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sunday through July 23. The running time is under 2 hours without an intermission.
—Gerry Kowarsky
The Ballader (Stephen Henley) alongside a projection of his cellphone screen in Fly North Theatricals’ production of Assassins. Photo by John Gramlich.
