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How will Assassins be received?

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#1

How will Assassins be received?

Posted: 3/31/04 at 9:47pm

The first preview is taking place as I type this. It's a mediocre Sondheim score at best in my humble opinion, and not the kind of musical that will attract the general public. Flop? Perfect for our current political climate?
#3

re: How will Assassins be received?

Posted: 3/31/04 at 11:10pm

Just got back (Wednesday night), KB, and I agree with you--completely mediocre score. But what is there to sing about in this perverse and unsavory show--not just because of its wrongheaded subject matter but because it offers only the most simplistic of "insights" over and over for two hours. It's like the work of two college sophomores. The show never pulls you in in any compelling way nor does the audience know how to respond. And the final scene with Oswald et al is interminable and pure melodramatic b.s.
Studio 54 is simply too big for the show: whatever comic horror that can be gotten with the guns going off is lost in this space. Finally, if Something Just Broke is supposed to provide the evening's catharsis, it utterly fails. Good, hard-working cast, very smooth performance for an early preview, but sub-par show all the way.

Updated On: 4/1/04 at 11:10 PM

#4

re: re: How will Assassins be received?

Posted: 3/31/04 at 11:24pm

Well, I guess that's that, then. Thanks once again for your incredible pre-opening insights, Msquared.
Twitter @NamoInExile Instagram none
#5

re: re: re: How will Assassins be received?

Posted: 3/31/04 at 11:32pm

How was Denis O'Hare?
I will see it just to see him and Marc Kudisch as they are both very talented performers.
#6

re: re: re: re: How will Assassins be received?

Posted: 3/31/04 at 11:37pm

Listen, who wouldn't want to see something MusicMan says is "perverse and unsavory?" It's as if Phyllis Schlafly (look her up, kids!) has taken to blurbing musicals.
Twitter @NamoInExile Instagram none
#7

re: re: re: re: re: How will Assassins be received?

Posted: 4/1/04 at 12:36am

I have never thought this was a good idea for a show.
I adore Sondheim and I understand where he is coming from as this type of show seemed relevant around the time of Reagan's attempted assasination but I still wish it well even though I will not be seeing it.
#9

re: re: re: re: re: re: re: How will Assassins be received?

Posted: 4/1/04 at 7:54am

The cast is supposed to be fantastic. I love Sondheim....but I'm not crazy about the premise of this show. It may be just me, but I don't see it lasting too long on B'way.
"Do Real Magic....Live Your Dreams"
#10

re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: How will Assassins be received?

Posted: 4/1/04 at 9:15am

After reading MusicMan's review (I'm wondering what is so perverse and wrongheaded about the show), I realized I'd probably like it. I saw a production of Assassins at the Edinburgh Festival a few years ago and I loved the show. A decent performance from Oxford students and staged very well in a tiny venue. I like the Assassins score better than some of his others. His use of various styles of American music throughout the score with attention to period was quite ingenious. Especially his incorporation of Sousa's El Capitan. The show is merely a hypothesis and doesn't try to be anything else. I found it thought-provoking and entertaining. I wish I could see the current production, but unless it is extended for a month or two, I'll have to miss it. Too bad MusicMan found it so sophomoric. Perhaps he will grace us with a better show someday.
"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian
#12

re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: How will Assassins be received?

Posted: 4/1/04 at 10:03am

"but I don't see it lasting too long on B'way. "

I really do hate to be THIS person... but here goes.

It's a limited run.

Hey, if this comes true, I'm going to audition to be a psychic friend. :: I don't see it lasting much beyond June. ::
Hamlet's father.

Updated On: 4/1/04 at 10:03 AM

#13

re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: How will Assassins be received?

Posted: 4/1/04 at 10:16am

Mediocre Sondheim is head and ears over 95% of all the other music being written out there today.

Also, I feel that is one of the few truely brilliant shows written in the last 20 years.

At least that's my opinion, I may be wrong.

TWOGAAB
"A Class Act" will never die!

TWOGAAB "A Class Act" will never die!
#15

re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: How will Assassins be received?

Posted: 4/1/04 at 10:21am

My hunch is that MisterMatt was suggesting that you provide us with a good show in the professional career you have already told me personally that I have supported with my hard earned cash (although you wouldn't tell me when or where). So get to work and give us a show, dance monkey, dance!

I like the Assassins score too, Matt.
Twitter @NamoInExile Instagram none
#21

violent ozians

Posted: 4/1/04 at 11:24am

"the women of glitter are about beating?"

ck, that made my morning!
r.i.p. marco, my guardian angel.

...global warming can manifest itself as heat, cool, precipitation, storms, drought, wind, or any other phenomenon, much like a shapeshifter. -- jim geraghty

pray to st. jude

i'm a sonic reducer

he was the gimmicky sort

fenchurch=mejusthavingfun=magwildwood=mmousefan=bkcollector=bradmajors=somethingtotalkabout: the fenchurch mpd collective
#22

re: violent ozians

Posted: 4/1/04 at 12:17pm

more accurately, The Women Of Glitter Are All Bananas
"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian
#24

re: re: re: violent ozians

Posted: 4/1/04 at 12:55pm

There's a REALLY obvious pun in answer to the original topic question. I'm surprised I haven't seen it yet.
"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian
#25

re: re: re: re: violent ozians

Posted: 4/1/04 at 1:14pm

Personally I feel very strongly about Assassins because it's been one of my favorite shows for several years. I sat in tech rehearsals and saw a run thru on Tuesday night and I think the show is amazing. Joe's direction is unbelievably beautiful. The show is only powerful if you are willing to listen to it. I'm seeing it again on Thursday. And I can't wait.
"I did it to make people listen... Nobody would listen!"
Do not do unto others as you would that they should do unto you. Their tastes may not be the same. ~G.B. Shaw

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