Had Assassins transferred to Broadway in 1990... — Page 2

Yes. My days of J/K are over.

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In the world of my opinions, I am the Tony Committee.

And I like "Miss Saigon," "Aspects of Love," "City of Angels," "The Secret Garden," "Once On This Island," "Assassins," and even "Lestat" more than "The Will Rodgers Follies."

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I think that the Will & Grace episode that your signature quote is from is on.

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The CW but a new episode's on now. 8(

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Are people forgetting that Assassins got creamed by the critics in 1991? Even Frank Rich, as passionate a Sondheim fan as anyone, wrote a downbeat review in The New York Times. I vaguely recall that the only critics who wrote favorable reviews for it were Michael Kuchwara for Associated Press, and Ken Mandelbaum for TheatreWeek. The Golden Theatre was being held for it for a transfer, which didn't end up happening, and the show closed up shop at Playwrights after the end of its limited engagement. It was the release of the cast recording, with Michael Starobin's full orchestration (instead of the three piece accompaniment at Playwrights) that turned people around to the virtues of Sondheim's score, particularly in its fractured versions of American popular music over a 100 year period. Had it opened on Broadway, it probably would not have replaced any of the musicals that ended up getting nominated, although it could possibly have bumped out The Secret Garden, which also didn't open to especially strong reviews.

Assassins turned out to be a show that the critics eventually caught up with, giving much better reviews to the Roundabout revival - in some cases, earning respect from the same critics who dismissed it at Playwrights. (We're certainly living in a different world now). But had it moved to Broadway in '91, it would probably not have been much of a contender for the big awards.

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Updated On: 7/28/07 at 07:59 PM

Well, not with what is on the recording, which uses 30+ pieces for some songs. But I'd imagine they would have used a small band to fill out the sound. There is not much room at the Golden for any more than 9 or 10 pieces, at most. I believe the Roundabout production had an orchestra of 15?

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I'd also link Stephen Holden's appraisal of the Assassins cast recording in The New York Times, which helped turn around perception of the score. But the Times website is having some sort of problem pulling up that story. The headline though, is "Assassins is now dead right," which will give you an idea of the impact of that recording.

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