Assassins revival.- Page 2
Assassins revival.
Owen22
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/24/11
#25Assassins revival.
Posted: 3/21/18 at 9:11pm
GeorgeandDot said: "The Menier Chocolate Factory production was glorious. It was a pretty immersive, terrifying experience. It was scary, loud, and violent. The British described our nation to a T. I would love for it to transfer with an American cast. I still have chills from the "birth of the nation" when the clown proprietor is birthed from a giant, glowing, decapitated clown doll head at the start of the show."
For some reason I have seen "Assassins" more times (at different theatres) than any musical (this includes all three New York City productions) If it's under 20 different productions it is JUST under. And the Menier Chocolate Factory was the greatest production of "Assassins" I have ever seen.
#26Assassins revival.
Posted: 6/19/19 at 10:49am
So sorry, My computer is acting up. I have been trying to get a hold of any video from the Chocolate Factory Production of Assassins and I have had zero success! Please let me know if you know anything or can point me in the right direction!
THANKS!
#27Assassins revival.
Posted: 6/19/19 at 12:37pm
Too controversial! Rewrite it to be about men's rights activist shooters. Just tweak the lyrics a little, you know, "Everybody's got the right to a girlfriend".
#28Assassins revival.
Posted: 6/19/19 at 3:33pm
Charley Kringas Inc said: "Too controversial! Rewrite it to be about men's rights activist shooters. Just tweak the lyrics a little, you know,"Everybody's got the right to a girlfriend"."
Assassins already has an incel song, the male half of "Unworthy of Your Love"
#29Assassins revival.
Posted: 6/19/19 at 5:22pmI’ve heard people say they’d really like a Marianne Elliot directed revival, which I’m sure would be awesome, but I recently realized that I’d love to see Rachel Chavkin do Assassins. I think she’s offer a potentially fresh and without a doubt exciting presentation of the show. Also, I get the feeling if she did it, she’d cast Patrick Page as the proprietor, which I’d love (I’ve recently come to the conclusion that there’s not a bass role out there I wouldn’t want to see that man play)
#30Assassins revival.
Posted: 6/19/19 at 5:28pm
Didn't John Doyle announce he was directing the next revival?
For all of those asking about an "immersive" revival, I'm curious what that word means to you. Because an intimate production with a smaller house doesn't mean immersive, you guys know that right? Unless the audience is in some way in charge of facilitating the story, or actively engaged in its telling--i.e, not just having some light audience interaction while people are sitting down watching a book musical--it's not immersive. Sorry, just a pet peeve of mine, as I feel this word is used as a buzzword so often than it's almost lost its meaning.
#31Assassins revival.
Posted: 6/19/19 at 6:37pmYes, I completely forgot John Doyle is doing it off broadway next year. I wonder if he’ll go for the actors as musicians approach for this show like he did with Sweeney Todd and Company.
#32Assassins revival.
Posted: 6/19/19 at 8:03pm
Hot Pants said: "Yes, I completely forgot John Doyle is doing it off broadway next year. I wonder if he’ll go for the actors as musicians approach for this show like he did with Sweeney Todd and Company."
I'd like to see them play instruments and fire guns at the same time. That would be something.
Fan123
Broadway Star Joined: 8/30/08
#33Assassins revival.
Posted: 6/20/19 at 2:39am
For those interested, I came across a review of a 2018 Austrian production of the show which sounds pretty provocative. Although, as the reviewer notes, such a production reads as a bit less controversial outside of the US than it would have within. (Quite possibly the article references this very thread as well, so, full circle.) The review is in German, which I for one don't speak, but Google Translate appears to do a decent job converting it to English.
https://theaterdistrikt.net/2018/04/20/attentaeter-in-linz/
#34Assassins revival.
Posted: 6/20/19 at 2:50am
ASSASSINS is no more pro-assassination than FOLLIES is pro-delusion. Both shows display the dark side of the American Dream though.
I think we can unclench our pearls now.
Fan123
Broadway Star Joined: 8/30/08
#35Assassins revival.
Posted: 6/20/19 at 7:10pm
As I interpret it, the posters here don't personally think that the show is pro-assassination, but rather that the show is likely a hard sell for those not already in the know about that.
There's going to be an actor-musician production in the UK later this year, directed by Bill Buckhurst.
https://www.watermill.org.uk/assassins
#36Assassins revival.
Posted: 6/20/19 at 7:19pm
I found the most recent Encores! production to be absolutely thrilling beyond words. And that cast was INCREDIBLE (especially Erin Markey and Victoria Clark). I almost have no desire to see this show again because that cast was just so great.
"There’s nothing quite like the power and the passion of Broadway music. "
#37Assassins revival.
Posted: 6/20/19 at 9:54pm
Fan123 said: "As I interpret it, the posters here don't personally think that the show is pro-assassination, but rather that the show is likely a hard sell for those not already in the know about that....
"
I'd like to think you are right, Fan, but if you read the posts on the previous page ("I hope no liberator is inspired by (ASSASSINS) (emphasis added)), I think you'll find the posts to which I was responding.
It's true the musical play invites us to identify with the killers, but only briefly and only in the context of understanding how the idea that "Everybody's got the right to be happy" can betray us as well as inspire us.
That doesn't mean the piece is saying it's okay to assassinate the President (not even the current one), and in fact the play isn't structured as a polemic that will send us home to grab our guns. (See, for contrast, Odets' WAITING FOR LEFTY, which quite consciously challenges the audience to stand and declare their support for some hypothetical strike.)
I will grant the point that audiences may find ASSASSINS very unsettling during times of national trial (such as the first couple of seasons post-9/11). But I don't think we should pretend the piece is even structured to provoke rebellion. It isn't. Thought-provoking, certainly, but the musical is hardly a call to violence.
#38Assassins revival.
Posted: 6/20/19 at 10:38pm
It's not pro-assassinations, but it's also kind of not really pro-anything (pro-vocative, maybe). The thesis has always felt so muddled to me. There's something ironically flaccid about their ultimate call to arms being about being remembered, particularly in the face of the current spree of shooters - there's so many of them now that they kind of blur together.
Ledaero
Featured Actor Joined: 11/20/14
#39Assassins revival.
Posted: 6/21/19 at 2:32am
Charley Kringas Inc said: "It's not pro-assassinations, but it's also kind of not really pro-anything (pro-vocative, maybe).The thesis has always felt so muddled to me. There's something ironically flaccid about their ultimate call to arms being about being remembered, particularly in the face of the current spree of shooters - there's so many of them now that theykind of blur together."
I think the show's thesis is pretty clearly about the fallout of the American Dream, and looking at those who can't receive what they were promised. It's a pretty clear analysis of it, starting with the era of Manifest Destiny with Booth and taking it all the way to the peak revival/fallout of the American Dream with Kennedy's assassination, silencing any spark of the naive hope that people were holding onto. The show is way too complicated to be pro-anything. I guess it's pro-empathy and understanding, but it's certainly not pro-assassination. It's simply an analytical piece, an essay depicting the rise and fall of the American Dream and the delusion that existed in the vision.
Owen22
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/24/11
#40Assassins revival.
Posted: 6/21/19 at 2:47amI think in simpler terms, the thesis of Assassins is that the promise of America does not work for everyone.
#41Assassins revival.
Posted: 6/21/19 at 10:01am
GavestonPS said: "I'd like to think you are right, Fan, but if you read the posts on the previous page ("I hope no liberator is inspired by (ASSASSINS) (emphasis added)), I think you'll find the posts to which I was responding."
Well, now I have to explain an intentionally cryptic comment from more than a year ago. 
What I actually wrote was: But I wouldn't want any potential liberator to see it. What I left out, because it was suggested in the context of the thread up to that point, was "...because it's actually pretty tough on the assassins."
A year later - to anyone who may be reading this - I do not stand by the full implications of this remark, and I guess I should be grateful that it was misinterpreted.
#42Assassins revival.
Posted: 6/21/19 at 10:03am
That’s always felt like the weakest element to me - the show wants to just be like, “look at this mess!”, but that leaves a gap where a firm viewpoint ought to be. I have the same problem with Pacific Overtures, where its hard to tell what epiphany I’m meant to be having. It’s almost like there’s no punchline - the theme song has the same meaning at the beginning as it does at the end.
A non traditional staging would be welcome! I feel like I’ve never been able to connect with this show.
#43Assassins revival.
Posted: 6/22/19 at 1:53am
kdogg36 said: "GavestonPS said: "I'd like to think you are right, Fan, but if you read the posts on the previous page ("I hope no liberator is inspired by (ASSASSINS) (emphasis added)), I think you'll find the posts to which I was responding."
Well, now I have to explain an intentionally cryptic comment from more than a year ago.
What I actually wrote was: But I wouldn't want any potentialliberator to see it.What I left out, because it was suggested in the context of the thread up to that point,was "...because it's actually pretty tough on the assassins."
A year later - to anyone who may be reading this - I do not stand by the full implications of this remark, and I guess I should be grateful that it was misinterpreted.
"
Sorry, kdogg, I didn't notice the date on your original post. I wasn't accusing you of grossly misrepresenting the play; I only invoked your post because of your creative-but-apt use of the word "liberator", which stuck in my mind and freed me from having to go back and quote any of the several posts to which I was referring.
I'm sorry I put you in a position where you felt you had to explain yourself.
#44Assassins revival.
Posted: 6/22/19 at 1:59am
Charley Kringas Inc said: "It's not pro-assassinations, but it's also kind of not really pro-anything (pro-vocative, maybe).The thesis has always felt so muddled to me. There's something ironically flaccid about their ultimate call to arms being about being remembered, particularly in the face of the current spree of shooters - there's so many of them now that theykind of blur together."
It was confirmed to me by a frequent collaborator of Sondheim's that the point of the play is to point out the dangers of what is often called "American exceptionalism". If "everybody's got the right to be happy", then some will inevitably be disappointed and their sense of betrayal may lead to violence.
So it's "pro-responsibility" and "pro-realistic expectations"; but I agree that isn't easy to gleam from the text. I only understood it myself after seeing several productions and reading the libretto countless times while teaching it in a course on post-modern dramaturgy.
#45Assassins revival.
Posted: 6/22/19 at 7:44am
GavestonPS said: "I'm sorry I put you in a position where you felt you had to explain yourself."
No worries at all!
Theatrefanboy1
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/2/15
#47Assassins revival.
Posted: 6/22/19 at 11:15pm
Theatrefanboy1 said: "I would love to see Jonathan groff in this"
I would love to see Jonathan Groff in anything--even better, in nothing at all!
#48Assassins revival.
Posted: 6/23/19 at 3:11pm
Theatrefanboy1 said: "I would love to see Jonathan groff in this"
I’m assuming as the balladeer? I’m certain he would do a great job. I know I might be alone, but I’d actually be interested to see him as Booth. I think it could be a very exciting example of playing against type. Also I’d like to see a younger Booth, given the fact that he was only in his 20s when he died.
#49Assassins revival.
Posted: 6/23/19 at 7:14pm
Hot Pants said: "Theatrefanboy1 said: "I would love to see Jonathan groff in this"
I’m assuming as the balladeer? I’mcertain he would do a great job. I know I might be alone, butI’d actually be interested to see him as Booth. I think it could be a very exciting example of playing against type. Also I’d like to see a younger Booth, given the fact that he was only in his 20s when he died."
I don't know that Groff as Booth would be "playing against type". The role was originated by Victor Garber, who has played his share of good-looking, leading man roles.
The trick of "The Country Is Not What It Was" is that Booth is entirely sympathetic, singing his song of patriotic despair until he uses the "N-word" and instantly reverses how we see him. That would work for Groff as well as it worked for Garber. (It's entirely a Brechtian device, brilliantly done, which Sondheim will never admit because he's too busy telling us he hates Brecht.)
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