Is he an ALW type or an Elton John type?
Is he an ALW type or an Elton John type?
Is he an ALW type or an Elton John type?
*slaps self*
That's better. Not your fault, don't worry.
No, he is nothing like ALW or Elton John. He writes music that is very complex with beautiful and fascinating lyrics. His music is usually quite beautiful, and always interesting to listen to. To me, anyway. His music is certainly not for everyone, and is not hummable most of the time (I tend to say otherwise, as I hum his songs everywhere I go). On to Assassins:
Assassins was written around 1989-1991. It is basically a revue of songs strung together by the main theme, presidential assassins. The nine main characters are all real assassins (or would-be assassins). Oswald, Booth, Czolgocz, Guiteau, Moore, Byck, Hinckley, Fromme, and Zangara. Booth, Czolgocz, Guiteau, and Zangara have songs about themselves, Hinckley and Fromme have a duet, Byck has his monologues, and Moore sings very little. Oswald doesn't come in until the end.
The music is very complex, but very powerful. The opening, "Everybody's Got the Right" is kind of the sarcastic message of the show, as the assassins claim "Everybody's got the right to some sunshine; not the sun, but maybe one of it's beams-rich man, poor man, black or white, pick your apple, take a bite-everybody's got the right..." They are using the American dream and pushing it too far. The opening takes place at a sort of carnival, with the Proprietor (played by Marc Kudisch in the revival) handing them their guns and pointing them towards their respective targets. Booth emerges as the sort of leader of the assassins.
The Ballad of Booth is next, where The Balladeer (NPH!!!!) begins to help narrate the story. Booth is in a barn, right after killing Lincoln, giving his reasons for shooting the President. His reasons make sense; the audience feels a bit uncomfortable finding themselves somewhat agreeing with what he has to say, almost sympathizing with him and understanding why he did it. The balladeer writes him off as mad (which, though to a lesser extent than the others, he was).
The scenes in between the songs concern the assassins pretty much hanging out with each other, even though many did not live at the same time. Booth returns after his song, and convinces Guiseppe Zangara to shoot President Roosevelt. His delightful song, "How I Saved Roosevelt", follows, as citizens who saw the (attempted) assassination tell their tales on the radio. Guiseppe says he did it because of the pain in his stomach. Nothing helped his pain, so he chose to assassinate Roosevelt. He is put in the chair and electrocuted.
Leon Czolgocz is next up. He is not from America, and has trouble finding money. He wants to do something about his situation and the plight of the working man. He follows the anarchist and speaker Emma Goldman all over the U.S. on her tour, and finally meets up with her. She supposedly influenced Leon to assassinate President William McKinley. Before this song, "The Ballad of Czolgocz", where he shoots McKinley, four of the assassins sing about the wonders of the gun in "The Gun Song".
Sara Jane Moore and Squeaky Fromme, who both attempted to shoot Gerald Ford in the 70's, bond over KFC chicken. Their scenes together are hilarious.
Squeaky and John Hinckley, who attempted to take the life of Reagan, sing a love duet called "Unworthy of Your Love". It is beautiful, but very creepy. Hinckley is singing to his picture of Jodie Foster, the actress who he wants to impress by killing the President (). Squeaky sings to her beloved Charlie Manson, the mass murderer. They are hopelessly devoted to them.
Charlie Guiteau sings "The Ballad of Guiteau". He is an optimist, even as he climbs the stairs to his hanging for killing President Garfield. He wanted to be the Ambassador to France because he had written a terrible speech that Garfield had read. If played right, Guiteau is absolutely terrifying.
Sam Byck, who tried to fly a plane into the White House (Nixon era), has two monologues; sending tapes to Bernstein and Nixon himself. They are littered with curses and huge laughs. They also reveal a lot about Byck (as a character in the show).
"Another National Anthem" is next. A very strong, bone-chilling number. During the song, the assassins turn The Balladeer, who was always the cheerful onlooker, into Lee Harvey Oswald, who is about to commit suicide. What follows is a brilliant scene involving Booth goading Oswald into not killing himself, but killing Kennedy instead. All the assassins appear to encourage him, saying that he will make them important people in history, and not just a bunch of crazy people. The music crescendos, and Oswald assassinates Kennedy.
The song added in the London production, "Something Just Broke", is beatiful; it is told from the standpoint of average citizens. They tell where they were when they heard about Kennedy's death. It ruins the momentum going into the finale, but is great nonetheless.
The show ends with the assassins reprising "Everybody's Got the Right".
It is meant to show that, although some of them (Booth, Czolgocz) had good reasons behind their assassinations, most of them were off their rockers. It does not sympathize with the assassins or ask the audience to as some have suggested. It truly is a startling piece of work. It, again, is not for everyone, but those who appreciate it adore it. It is still one of my favorite shows.
Updated On: 11/6/04 at 11:36 PM
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