Review: ASSASSINS at Columbus Performing Arts Center

Stephen Sondheim issued a not-so-subtle warning to critics attending his musical ASSASSINS. In the song, "the Ballad of Booth," the balladeer questions the Abraham Lincoln killer for his motives: "Some say you killed a country, John/Because of bad reviews."

What critic in his right mind would give a negative review after that?

After watching their presentation of ASSASSINS, it is clear Imagine Productions of Columbus doesn't need to threaten anyone to get a great review. Sondheim's subtle message of the reckless pursuit of infamy made easy in a land where guns are so plentiful, rings through loud and clear thanks to the wonderful singing, acting, and staging in this Brandon Boring-directed musical.

ASSASSINS, a 90-minute, one-act musical, will be performed Nov. 11-20 at Columbus Performing Arts Center (549 Franklin Ave. in downtown Columbus). The musical examines the motivations and results of successful presidential killers John Wilkes Booth (Ryan Metzger), Leon Czolgosz (Stewart Bender), Charles J. Guiteau (Lexi Vestey) and Lee Harvey Oswald (Chris Russen), and would-be assassins Samuel Byck (Keith Robinson), Squeaky Fromme (Alex Seiffert), John Hinckley (Brian Horne), Sarah Jane Moore (Nancy Skaggs), and Giuseppe Zangara (Matthew Phillips). Each had their own twisted reason for gunning down POTUS.

John Weidman the librettist who worked with Sondheim on ASSASSINS, described the canvas of working on characters based on the people who tried to kill the President, a "playwright's feast." The Imagine Productions cast brings a wide spectrum of characters to life.

Booth and Oswald's reasons are well documented but the reasons behind some of the other attempts may be a little harder to decipher or even believe. Some left the audience chuckling, others gasping for air.

Byck, who tried to hijack a plane and fly into the Nixon Whitehouse, and Guiteau, who successfully assassinated James Garfield after believing he should be named the ambassador of France, suffer from delusions of grandeur. As Byck, Robinson looks like a deranged Steve Bannon in a Santa Claus suit and sounds unhinged as he makes tapes to Leonard Bernstein and Richard Nixon. Vestey plays Guiteau with a wild glint in her eyes and delivers a spirited, emotionally draining performance in "The Ballad of Guiteau."

ASSASSINS portrays Fromme, a member of Charles Manson's "family" who tried to gun down Gerald Ford, and Hinkley, who shot but failed to kill Ronald Reagan, as being driven by love. Horne, who probably looks the most like their character, expresses his love for actress Jodie Foster while Seiffert pines for the affections of Manson in "Unworthy of Your Love."

Other reasons included job dissatisfaction (Czolgosz), belly ache (Zangara) and to prove she was not a run-of-the-mill housewife (Moore). Skaggs is the comedic highpoint of the show, practicing for her assassination attempt on Gerald Ford on buckets of KFC (the colonel reminded her of her father) and throwing bullets at Ford when her gun jams.

That being said, ASSASSINS is often haunting and disturbing. Eric Neuenschwander, who plays the proprietor, bears a devilish, swarthy grin as he peddles a wide selection of pistols to the various assailants, encouraging them to pull the trigger: "Some guys think they can be winners/First prize often goes to rank beginners." Metzger is equally dark as Booth as he serves as the inspiration for the many assassins who want to follow his example. However, Russen's performance will stay with audience members for nightmares to come. His seamless transition from the balladeer, who takes the audience from killer to would-be killer, to Oswald at the end of the show is hauntingly effective.

ASSASSINS serves as an acting clinic, taking an act so dark and transporting it into something spellbinding, comic, and moving. It would be a crime to miss it. There, that's my review, Mr. Booth. Please put down the gun now.

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