Assassins: No Ballad for Oswald?

#1

Assassins: No Ballad for Oswald?

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?

#2

re: Assassins: No Ballad for Oswald?

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.

#3

re: Assassins: No Ballad for Oswald?

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.

#4

re: Assassins: No Ballad for Oswald?

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

It was to add suspense.

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David walked into the valley With a stone clutched in his hand He was only a boy But he knew someone must take a stand There will always be a valley Always mountains one must scale There will always be perilous waters Which someone must sail -Into the Fire Scarlet Pimpernel

#5

re: Assassins: No Ballad for Oswald?

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?

#6

re: Assassins: No Ballad for Oswald?

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

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

#7

re: Assassins: No Ballad for Oswald?

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

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

#8

re: Assassins: No Ballad for Oswald?

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.

#9

re: Assassins: No Ballad for Oswald?

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!

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Just give the world Love. - S. Wonder

#10

re: Assassins: No Ballad for Oswald?

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

The Zapruder film.

#11

re: Assassins: No Ballad for Oswald?

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

Thanks! It came to me after I posted!

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Just give the world Love. - S. Wonder

#12

re: Assassins: No Ballad for Oswald?

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

#13

re: Assassins: No Ballad for Oswald?

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.

#14

re: Assassins: No Ballad for Oswald?

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

Not to each other. :)

#15

re: Assassins: No Ballad for Oswald?

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.

#16

re: Assassins: No Ballad for Oswald?

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.

#17

re: Assassins: No Ballad for Oswald?

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

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