The I Love Assassins Thread!- Page 2

[KMF_NYC]

Posted: 9/7/04 at 7:42pm

five times for me....(sorry Pip)

[Matt_G]

Posted: 9/7/04 at 7:42pm

3 times.

[jayem1968]

Posted: 9/7/04 at 7:49pm

Original Off-Broadway production - 1 time.
Broadway production - 2 times (including final performance).

[Alix]

Posted: 9/7/04 at 7:54pm

I decided last minute before a NY trip to get tix and was soooooo glad I did. ASSASSINS is now one of my favorite shows and I feel so lucky to have seen it. I thought everyone in the cast was amazing and all worked very well together. NPH didn't hurt either :)

[uncageg]

Posted: 9/7/04 at 8:02pm

Flew in from Denver to see it. Had to! Saw 5 shows on my trip, but Assassins was the 1st ticket I bought!

[serendipity9]

Posted: 9/7/04 at 8:03pm

Wow, I definately shouldn't say how many times I was there (I have you all beat... though I'm not sure I should be proud of that or anything).
However, I did get to see it opening and closing nights which was awesome. (And the parties after defiantely didn't hurt!)

[LittleFish8386]

Posted: 9/7/04 at 9:15pm

Uncageg--- I did not see the show unfortunately. I really wanted to though. But I just got cast in Assassins, and I bought the CD and I love it soo much.

I also think that Michael Cerveris is just wonderful. His little part "What I did I did well...damn my soul..." is unbelievable!
Updated On: 9/7/04 at 09:15 PM

[Millie42]

Posted: 9/7/04 at 11:23pm

Assassins... always leaves me speechless.

It is so absolutely brilliant and incredible!

Matt_G, I truly enjoyed your story.

Little Fish: Michael cannot be praised too much. WONDERFUL.

[Spiritoflaw]

Posted: 9/8/04 at 1:31am

I saw Assassins twice and I was very impressed! In my opinion, Sondheim can do no wrong! (I also saw Frogs twice so far, and I could be easily persuaded to go one more time:)

[corfriends]

Posted: 9/8/04 at 2:23am

when i went to see assassins, it must have been like celebrity night. stephanie from ave q was there, donna murphey was there. oh and mr big from sex and the city, haha. maybe he was visiting mario cantone since they both were in that show, or maybe he just likes theater. oh well, it was a great night.

[serendipity9]

Posted: 9/8/04 at 8:49am

corfriends, I was at that same performance! I think it was the first Sunday night so all the theater people in shows were able to go. Audra McDonald and Tonya Pinkens were also there. (And Chris Noth/Mr. Big was sitting three seats next to me!)

[Chrysanthemum62001]

Posted: 9/8/04 at 9:02am

Oooo-me too, me too! I LOVE this show. It's BRILLIANT! I'm very critical when it comes to musical theatre but I couldn't find anything wrong with this show!
I only saw it once, it closed before I could make another trip to the city!

[wally]

Posted: 9/8/04 at 11:04am

Beautiful story, Matt.

I saw the show 8 times, including closing night.

[amasis]

Posted: 9/8/04 at 11:13am

I saw the original, but I didn't get a chance to see the recent Broadway production. Updated On: 9/8/04 at 11:13 AM

[cabarethed]

Posted: 9/8/04 at 1:27pm

Saw it 3 times, but the last time was so special b/c I got to be in the third row center tables. That especially means a lot if Studio 54 does get renovated.

I am so devastated that it's not still around. Even if it just lasted till September like the last extension specified. I can't even emphasize how much I enjoyed it.

Adding to the Kudisch love, but I only saw him once. He didn't come out the stage door...or maybe he did and I was too busy gushing over a particular actor to care. I met him outside Millie and he was very gracious.

[Plum]

Posted: 9/8/04 at 1:37pm

Mantello and the design team made a simply brilliant production of a flawed show, and, if nothing else, their production served as proof positive that "The Gun Song," with its mixture of sadness, humor, and a deeply twisted premise, ranks with anything Sondheim has written in his illustrious career.

[Sumofallthings]

Posted: 9/8/04 at 9:48pm

Assassins is truly a fantastic show. Not only the production that was recently revived but the entire piece as a whole is simply fantastic. Sondheim is in his element. Not since Sweeney Todd did he combine such grand themes, characters, controversy, humor, depth, darkness, and pure theatricality in a show. Some may argue that point but shows like Into The Woods did not play to be as psychologically compelling as Assassins was and is.

The strength of Assassins was prevalent in the original production with a fantastic cast including Victor Garber, Terrence Mann, Lee Wilkof, Patrick Cassidy and a wonderful Sondheim staple, William Parry. However, with the events of September 11th clearing ingraining what true terror is into the minds of not just New Yorkers but also Americans, the complexity and "ahead of its time" aspect of Assassins shown through more focused than before.

Assassins is at its heart, disturbing. Not disturbed. Disturbing. The show takes American anthems and themes and turns them around in the pure genius of Sondheim. It touches the sensitive parts of your brain and of your memory. Each assassin seems to represent every emotion we can handle. Lee Harvey Oswald is untested bitterness at a country but still innocence. Charles Guiteau is raw insanity with a sane aspect to it (truly disturbing). Samuel Byck is rage, a simmering pot of fury that boils over into desperation. John Wilkes Booth is cool, calculated and calm but still furious underneath the actors facade. Czolgosz (sp) is just misunderstood and resentful of the country that was supposedly the land of the free. Squeaky Fromme and Sara Moore are eager, enthusiasm but with a hint of insanity at the edges. The proprietor is the devil of the piece, urging the assassins to do their terrible deeds while the balladeer laughs at the assassins and their fleeting 15 minutes.

Sondheims brilliant tapestry of a score was perfectly enhanced to include a gospel and soul feel at the end of some of the songs. This worked very well. The cast was first rate of both original and the revivals.

The importance of Assassins as a piece is going to be ingrained in the minds of the theatregoers who had the chance to see the show and who had the chance to feel its pulsating energy. Touching the heart of undiluted Americana at its most sane and insane.