I saw Sondheim's ASSASSINS at Classic Stage Company yesterday. Thoughts:
1. Seeing a show LIVE is still the best thing in the world!
2. This cast is stellar! Sitting inches away from theater greats working their craft like Ethan Slater, Steven Pasquale, Will Swenson, Judy Kuhn, Brandon Uranowitz, etc... #theaterNerdJoy
3. Why do they cast extraordinary stage singers like Judy Kuhn (or Victoria Clark in the Encore's production) in a role that doesn't even have a solo? - what am I missing?
4. Tavi Gevinson is terrifying and hilarious as Squeaky Fromme.
5. Steven Pasquale is the greatest leading man striding the boards these days....
6. Will Swenson's performance as the deranged Charles Guiteau was my top favorite work by any male performer I've yet seen this year! Plus, I had random thought how great it would be to live in a home where Swenson and Audra McDonald are the parents??!
7. Ethan Slater is great throughout as the Balladeer (who knew he could play guitar?) but when he becomes Lee Harvey Oswald, he is breath-taking....
8. This score is not top drawer Sondheim, BUT its Sondheim so, it always bears rewards...
9. Seeing a musical presented in this intimate way, with almost NO amplification at all, was THRILLING! Pasquale's singing with no microphone intruding, spittle flying, adam's apple bobbing, hitting glorious notes with no visible effort, most of all conveying the wounded ego of John Wilkes Booth like nobody's business.
10. I am so glad I got to see this!