Assassins the musical — Page 2

I agree with Frogs (a show I forgot about actually)--I really love the choral stuff from the 1970s original, but the new score (Ariadne aside) does nothing for me.

Gaveston, Passionobviously has a far simpler lyrical style than Sondheim is known for, but he seems to be trying to go back to that with Road Show, IMHO.

It's easy to forget about the supplementary songs he added to The Frogs (the original songs I like, sans Lane's bookwork, hackneyed political commentary, and schtick. "Hymn to Dionysus" is gorgeous). The newer stuff seems like a Sondheim parody. Perhaps that was his intention, but it doesn't read if it was and doesn't work.

I warmed up to Road Show from my initial reaction- but it's easy to improve from a zero. But it's still... lacking something, something that made so much of his work so great.

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Not only is Assassins one of the most exciting musicals ever written, in terms of its daringness and the sheerly compelling quality of the material, but I believe that it is the most dramaturgically sound of all the Sondheim shows.

...really? Because even though I like the concept of all the assassins hanging out, I don't think it's dramaturgically airtight.

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The parts of Road Show I admire involve the Addison/Hollis relationship, which is complex, compelling, and oddly sweet and genuine. It also seems to be an aspect of the show which was overhauled the least over the show's development.
The Willy stuff irks me. I know the brothers' downfall is rooted in history, but the musical doesn't give enough reason for Addison to keep going back to his brother's scams.

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See, I don't necessarily see that. I've always viewed the piece as structured as: introduction, establishment and exploration of the historical characters and events, drawing the conclusion ("Another National Anthem") and climax (book depository sequence), finale.

I think the inclusion of "Something Just Broke", which I've always agreed with, doesn't work in the change of attitudes concept.

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THe original production was a limited run in preparation for a transfer to Broadway. The reviews and the political climate (coloured by the Gulf war) scuttled plans for a Broadway run. I don't call a limited run at a non-profit off-Braodway theatrea flopw. In fact teh show was completely sold out for teh entire run even before teh first performance (as per a Variety story at the time.)

The Roundabout revival was set to begin rehearsals teh day teh 9/11 attacks happened and the producers decided it was not a good time to stage such a show. It was postponed to 2004 where it opened to great reviews and a Tony Awards for best revival. It was extended a few times but the Republican convention was slated for New York that summer and they apparently put pressure on Roundabout to close the show before the convention. There was fear that a much hated president being in town while a show called ASSASSINS was running might cause problems. (They also forbid their members from attending NAKED BOYS SINGING - a discount flyer was supposed to be added to their welcome kits but Republican organizers had the offer removed.)

The Roundabout revival was deemed non-profit so the hit/flop label doesn't really apply.

ASSASSINS will never be as popular s some of Sondheim's other shows (like INTO THE WOODS)but it is enjoying great success in regional and community theatre stagings across the USA and in Canada.

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Oh, I didn't think you were saying that, Gaveston.

I think Sondheim's score DEFINITELY embodies that conceit. In fact, the score could almost be a standalone song cycle that nails that. Sondheim subverts basically 100 years of American popular music to get the point across.

But it's Weidman's book that really weakens the piece, as a whole. While Sondheim's score is clearly cohesive, Weidman's book is less so. While the score messes with audience perceptions and juxtaposes popular music with darker themes, Weidman's book is less daring and cohesive. Until you had called the show a vaudeville, I had never really thought of it that way, but it's only sporadically presentational (the Balladeer, typically). The scenes are played straight. And until Mantello made the ghostly carnival midway the unifying location, the piece just sort of took place in a weird metaphysical nebulous... dimension, where time is nonexistent or vague.

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I'm in the Midwest, and our local university just put on a production.

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Thanks, tazber. I didn't mean to neglect your credit. I hope you can appreciate that I respected your advice enough to remember it.

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Kad, I didn't see either of the NYC runs, but in the many productions I've seen in LA, the vaudeville-like feeling came through even without obvious vaudeville references. I think it's because the songs are inherently presentational and even many of the scenes, since we know the assassins aren't actually interacting in real time. The Squeaky Fromme/Sarah Jane Moore scene is the perfect example of a vaudeville sketch.

Eric, "Something Just Broke" was added to the LA professional production and was well-sung. But it felt like an "entremes" (that's the Spanish word; what do we call it in English? Intermezzo?) rather than part of the piece as a whole. It was certainly moving to those of us who remember where we were when we heard Kennedy had been shot, but that's not the same thing as furthering the dramatic action of the play.

Updated On: 9/18/12 at 08:01 PM

Well said, Eric. I too have only heard "Something Broke" a few times, but I think i agree.

There's something about the terror of "Another National Anthem" and then that scene in the school book depository where one feels one can almost reach out and prevent the tragedy that simply do not call for the extended exposition of "Something Just Broke."

Better to send the audience out without the superficial "catharsis" of that song.

I don't doubt what you say for a moment, Owen.

But to me, the word "n*-lover" is the turning point of Booth's "Ballad" and an excellent example of Brechtian estrangement. I don't know how anybody retains any sympathy for Booth after that.

Perhaps the difference was felt in some of the later assassins, however, since some of them kill presidents we barely know and do so in a humorous manner.