Assassins: No Ballad for Oswald?

[BroadwayBound06]

Posted: 12/17/04 at 7:32am

Why no ballad for Oswald? Every other assassin that sucessfully killed their president got a ballad, but not Oswald. Oswald did get an amazing scene in the original but it was utterly torn apart in the revival. But why no ballad for Oswald?

[Jon]

Posted: 12/17/04 at 9:30am

I think they thought folks would be offended if Oswald suddenly started singing. In the original (with him NOT doubling as the Balladeer)he did not participate in any of the early ensemble numbers. You never saw him until his big scene.

Remember, virtually everyone in the audience at the original was alive when JFK was killed, and remembered it vividly. You can view Booth, Guiteau, Czolgosz with detatchment - they were so long ago. You can view Zangara, Fromme, Moore, Byck, and Hinkley with amusement - they screwed up. You can't look at Osawld that way.

[BroadwayBound06]

Posted: 12/17/04 at 10:07am

I guess thats true. But wouldn't if they were going to be offended, wouldn't they be offended either way? I just thought it lost contiunity in the structure because he didn't have a song with the Balladeer. However I can understand that the Balladeer is used to carry the Assassin's story, but everyone knows Oswalds story, or at least think they do.

[jacobtsf]

Posted: 12/17/04 at 10:46am

It was to add suspense.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 12/17/04 at 11:10am

Fine. In the next revival we'll give Oswald his own "Hunt me down, smear my name... say I did it for the fame..." okay? Happy?

[Joshua488]

Posted: 12/17/04 at 12:21pm

Ew. (My reaction after reading that post.) Someone's awfully snooty.

[BroadwayBound06]

Posted: 12/17/04 at 1:09pm

Sorry... didn't mean to offend anyone. I was just asking.

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 12/17/04 at 1:38pm

Yeah, the reason supposedly is that they thought it would be too weird/offensive to have a singing Lee Harvey Oswald. However, the way the show is constructed, he really doesn't need a song anyway. His long scene is much more dramatic than any song would be, I think.

[uncageg]

Posted: 12/17/04 at 2:04pm

I agree with Distinctive. I saw it in April and that image of Neil Patrick Harris with the the image of Kennedy in the car on his t-shirt (I forget what the reel is called) stuck with me for a few months after. He didn't need a ballad after that!

[Jon]

Posted: 12/17/04 at 2:11pm

The Zapruder film.

[uncageg]

Posted: 12/17/04 at 4:37pm

Thanks! It came to me after I posted!

[Plum]

Posted: 12/17/04 at 8:37pm

I don't know how the original production worked, but in the revival Oswald was set apart from the other assassins in that he didn't come in until the end. Besides, not every assassin got his or her own song. Sara Jane Moore didn't, and neither did Byck, as I remember things. Updated On: 12/17/04 at 08:37 PM

[LittleFish8386]

Posted: 12/17/04 at 8:46pm

Well, if you want to be Technical: Hinckley and Fromme didn't have a Ballad either...I mean, they failed, but they only had a love to song to one another.

[Plum]

Posted: 12/17/04 at 10:25pm

Not to each other. :)

[Joshua488]

Posted: 12/17/04 at 10:27pm

BroadwayBound, you didn't offend me! I was referring to CATSNYRevival's post. He seemed awfully snobbish in his response to your legitimate inquiry.

[BroadwayBound06]

Posted: 12/17/04 at 10:38pm

Well it's true that not EVERY *attempted* assassin got a song, but the 3 that actually suceeded did get a song. I guess the video in the revival was justice to change Oswald's scene. In the original it was my favorite thing on the cd. I wonder what it would be like if Oswald did have a song.

[Plum]

Posted: 12/18/04 at 12:13am

Maybe you can think of "Something Just Broke" as Oswald's song.