Beavercreek Community Theatre Presents Sondheim's Assassins 6/19-6/28

Assassins of United States presidents - along with some who tried and failed -- are getting together on the Beavercreek Community Theatre stage.

"Assassins," BCT's final show of the 2008-2009, is being presented by Edge of the Creek Productions, BCT's production arm dedicated to presenting more adult shows than the mainstream BCT productions.

The surreal, disturbing musical by Stephen Sondheim is based on a book by John Weidman, which in turn was based on an idea by Charles Gilbert, Jr.

The show, at 8 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and at 3 p.m. on Sundays from June 19 to June 28, lays bare the lives of nine individuals who assassinated or attempted to assassinate a president of the United States.

Directed by Jim Lockwood of Huber Heights, it explores the dark side of the American experience while bending the rules of time and space to allow assassins from different eras to come together to inspire each other into doing harrowing acts.

Chris Harmon of Beavercreek serves as the balladeer, leading the audience through a revue-style portrayal of men and women who attempted, both successfully and otherwise, to assassinate a president of the United States. Harmon also designed the set.

The cast also includes Shawn Hooks, Lynn Kesson, Tara Hall and John Falkenbach of Dayton, Matthew Owens and Al Guido of Beavercreek, John Bukowski of Washington Township, Michael Embree of Union, Richard Young of Kettering, Jeannine Geise of Englewood, Grayson L Throckmorton of Riverside, Ginger Hubbs of Tipp City, Zak Schneider of Cincinnati and Damon Barnett of Fairborn.

Working behind the scenes, the crew includes Richard Brock of Dayton as the assistant director and Dana Kragick of Beavercreek as the producer. Judy Varner of Bellbrook is the music director and Debra Strauss of Tipp City is the choreographer. Lou Anne Moody of Dayton is the costumer and John Falkenbach of Dayton is the light designer while Cheryl Mahoney of Oakwood is in charge of props and Hans Unser of Beavercreek is the stage manager.

Providing the live music for the production will be Jillian Varner and Mike Holz of Bellbrook, Chris Nilo of Enon, Mariann Hunt of West Carrollton, Chris Foster and Chris Fern of Kettering, Mel Goldfinger of Dayton and Dylan Griffith and Phil Woods of Bellbrook.

Beavercreek Community Theatre is located at 3868 Dayton-Xenia Road, in the Lofino Adult Enrichment and Cultural Arts Center.

Tickets are $12 for adults and $11 for BCT members, students, and senior citizens.

A group discount of $1 per ticket is available to groups of 10 or more purchased at the same time for the same performance.

Tickets can be reserved by calling BCT at (937) 429-4737 and leaving a message or by e-mailing boxoffice@bctheatre.org. For more information, visit the theater's Web site at www.bctheatre.org where tickets can also be purchased online.

Season passes will also be available for the 2009-2010 season, ranging from $34 for three shows to $72 for all seven shows, with further discounts for seniors, students and BCT members.

Photo (L): Chris Harmon

Photo (R): Lynn Kesson, Jeannine Geise, John Bukowski, Matthew Owens

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