Assassins July 5, 2008

'Assassins' is a musical by Stephen Sondheim and lyricist John Weidman. The show explores the history of American presidential assassinations and the notion that the most notorious killers in our culture are as much a product of that culture as the famous leaders they attempt to murder. As the musical opens, a crowd is gathering at a carnival shooting gallery which features a revolving wheel on which various Presidents are depicted. Attempting to entice customers towards his stand, the proprietor of this little shooting gallery shouts out loudly, "C'mere and kill a President!" From this nightmarish beginning, the play goes on to examine the lives of various men and women who have committed--or attempted to commit--the ultimate crime. Sondheim and Weidman show little regard for historical accuracy, freely mixing characters from different periods in a kaleidoscopic, hallucinatory revue. From Samuel Byck who hijacked a plane and tried to kill Nixon by crashing into the White House to Charles Manson groupie Squeaky Fromme to the infamous John Wilkes Booth--each presidential assassin is made to confront the fact that his or her act of meaningless violence failed to bring about the desired results.