Interview: Logan Vaden of ASSASINS at The Garden Theatre

In the vibrant heart of Houston’s cultural landscape, the Garden Theatre stands out as a beacon of artistic innovation and community engagement. Today, we have the pleasure of speaking with its esteemed artistic director, Logan Vaden, who is not only steering the theatre into exciting new territory but is also at the helm of a daring production of Stephen Sondheim’s Assassins. With a unique vision that marries classic storytelling with contemporary relevance, Logan Vaden is set to explore the complex themes of the musical, which delves into the minds of those who have attempted to assassinate American presidents. Join us as we discuss the artistic journey behind this production, the importance of Sondheim’s work in today’s society, and the future of the Garden Theatre.

---

What initially drew you to Assassins by Stephen Sondheim, and what made you decide to bring this particular production to the Garden Theatre?

This slot was actually supposed to be an entirely different show up until February. It wasn’t until a friend heard the dates of the show that he said to me, “You know, that’s awfully close to the election, and Assassins hasn’t been done in Houston in a long time…” That’s when it clicked for me that we should be doing Assassins. I love to do things that are relevant to our times. It’s why I chose Reefer Madness to open over 4/20 weekend back in April. Now that show/holiday is a little more silly than what Assassins has to offer, but I know audiences will feel the relevancy of this production within the opening number. 

Not to mention, our very first full production was Into The Woods. I am a Sondheim super fan, and I thought it was just perfect to go back to our Sondheim roots and open our fourth season the same way as our first- with a work by the master of musical theatre. 

How do you approach directing a musical as complex and provocative as Assassins? Are there specific themes or elements you focus on in your direction?

You know, it’s interesting because this happens to be the second musical we’ve done in two years that deals with historical, real-life murderers. With both of these projects, I knew that the audience was coming in with preconceived notions of how terrible these people are, but the actors can’t play that. The actors have to play these characters as if their intentions are pure, because in their minds, they are. In the rehearsal room, we talk a lot about intention and the “why,” but we don’t necessarily focus on the evil. These were real people who truly thought they were doing the right thing, whether that was out of love, patriotism, or genuine hurt.

As far as themes go, we are focusing in on a few things. Sondheim has been pretty clear that a large part of this show was written to be about gun violence and how prevalent it has been, even for the most powerful person in the country, since the beginning of our nation’s history. There is also, of course, a glimpse into the celebrity culture in the United States. Our news cycles have continually sensationalized the people that commit such heinous crimes. I think it’s perhaps more prevalent than ever with the popularity of true crime TV shows, documentaries, and podcasts.

Stephen Sondheim's work often delves into dark and challenging subject matter. How do you balance the gravity of the material with the need to engage and entertain the audience?

Tackling a Sondheim piece is never easy, whether you’re on the stage or off. The immense care he takes of his characters is unmatched, so there is so much to explore, no matter the level of darkness. What Sondheim and book writer, John Weidman, do in this work in regards to setting up the story telling is extraordinary. They take all of these assassins or would-be-assassins and ask, “What if they all existed in this weird limbo space?” So we see them interact quite a bit, regardless of time period. While it can be absurd, it’s often times darkly comical. And to top it all off, it’s framed within a dark carnival game. The engagement and entertainment aspect is written into the piece, which is just the magic of Stephen Sondheim.

Can you talk about your vision for the set and costume design in this production? How do these elements contribute to the overall tone and message of the musical?

There is very much a creepy carnival tone built into the show. Our technical director, Nicholas White, who designs our sets and lights, has created a world with lots of string lights, flags, and of course red, white and blue. The audience will feel truly immersed in our world from the moment they step into the theatre. 

Costume Designer, Ryan Richard, has the particularly hard task of costuming across several time periods. In one scene, you’ll see someone dressed in ‘70s attire standing next to someone from the 1800s. This show bends time and space, and Ryan’s job is truly to show that in their design. It’s been fascinating to watch their process. 

How did you collaborate with your cast to ensure that each character's motivations and backstory were effectively portrayed on stage?

This cast is full of actors who can sing, which is an incredible thing! They come in with the training of what it takes to create these characters. So much of what we are doing is based on real life events. Then there are the moments that Sondheim and Weidman have taken creative liberty on. Those moments in particular have been exciting to create, because although they didn’t actually happen, they are still rooted in realness. We’ve had to dig deep to create motivation for why these fictional moments occur in our show. The cast has more than risen to the occasion, and we’re lucky to have them all. 

What were some of the most challenging aspects of staging Assassins, and how did you overcome these challenges?

For a musical that has been done hundreds of times in our country, there surprisingly is no road map to Assassins, and I think that’s because it’s history we live everyday. The story means something different each time it’s produced. So that’s definitely the first hurdle is making it relevant to today. 

Another large hurdle is that we’re staging a musical that there are nearly a dozen guns onstage at it’s peak. In the stage directions in our licensed script (which I can only assume were written from the 2004 Broadway production), there are several times that it blatantly says that a character, or multiple characters, point a gun directly into the audience. That is no longer acceptable in 2024 as it makes audiences extremely uncomfortable as we’re faced with gun violence daily, and not to mention the incident on the Rust film set. Ensuring that the audience feels safe is paramount in a production like this, but is challenging because we’re also in a very intimate space and in a thrust configuration (audience on three sides). While the guns we are using in the show are very authentic looking (all are exact replicas of the guns the assassins used), most of them are actually made completely out of rubber. They all are inoperable and were never built to be operable. Taking it a step further though, we are rising to the difficult challenge of ensuring a gun is never pointed into the audience a single time. All of the staging has been designed so that they are aimed into aisle ways and the upstage area where there is no audience.

How do you handle the portrayal of real historical figures in the musical? What considerations did you make in order to handle these characters with sensitivity and respect?

As I mentioned before, we’re just trying to get to the “why” and “how” of every moment. Of course these acts they committed were despicable to say the least, but their stories prior range from heartbreaking to angering. Some of these people did this because they loved so deeply. Some were insanely racist. You mention the word respect, but do these people deserve our respect? As a society, I would think the answer is a hard no. They changed history in a very negative way. But in the rehearsal room, we’re learning to give them a certain level of respect so that we can tell this story authentically. 

Can you share any moments from rehearsals or performances that particularly stood out to you or that you are especially proud of?

Doing this piece is brave. Our auditions were literally the day after the first assassination attempt of one of our presidential nominees, and as I answer these questions we are only a couple of weeks from the second assassination attempt on that same nominee. When I planned this show, I knew it was relevant because of election season, but never in a million years would I have expected there to be not only one, but two assassination attempts on a former president during this process. Because this piece is so relevant, our actors are coming into rehearsal everyday knowing that audiences are either going to love this or hate it, but that hasn’t deterred anyone from working hard and moving forward. Smart questions are being asked everyday in the rehearsal room, and there’s just a general excited buzz as each day passes. I’m proud of every Garden show, Production Team, and cast, but this one in particular is living through the history that we’re telling, and I think that makes me even more proud of them.

What do you hope audiences take away from this production of Assassins? Are there any specific reactions or thoughts you aim to provoke?

I never love to tell an audience how they’re supposed to feel. My favorite theatrical experiences are when I see things with friends, and we all have completely different thoughts and opinions on what the piece is trying to say. An ironic example of this was the recent (and final) Sondheim piece, Here We Are. I saw the show in New York with a friend and it took us walking out of the theatre and going several blocks before we could really talk about it. And when we did, our thoughts on the show were so different. I’m absolutely sure that was intentional on Sondheim’s part, as he says in an hour-long documentary about Assassins that he wrote this particular piece to be loved or hated. There really isn’t an in-between. All of this to say that I suppose my biggest hope for audiences is that it creates discussion. I hope the car ride home after will be filled with deep thoughts and solid debates. Theatre was created to be political, and Assassins, which has been dubbed the “most controversial musical” is definitely no exception to that.

Looking ahead, are there any other works or projects you’re excited about directing at the Garden Theatre? How does this production fit into your broader vision for the theatre?

My background is almost exclusively in musical theatre, so I typically handle the musicals at The Garden Theatre. The next musical coming up is truly such a special one. It’s an original musical about the bravery of children of the Holocaust called While Childhood Slept. This show was originally written in the late ‘90s here in Houston. After a few productions here (including the last time the show was seen prior to The Garden in ’05, which I was part of as a teenager) and an Off-Broadway reading, the show was never done again. We brought it back to life in our first season in ’22 as a kind of workshop with a live audience. It was so well received, and we’re excited and honored to bring it back in the summer of ’25 with some revisions and a larger production.

Our mission at The Garden is that we want to tell stories as diverse as the City of Houston, the most diverse city in the country. I like to think that we’ve been successful in that up to this point. We always are doing a little bit of everything- plays and musicals, classic and contemporary. I’m always looking ahead to how we can continue to accomplish this. For example, though we are just starting the 4th season, our 5th season is already planned. And trust me… it’s going to be just as great as the 4th!

To post a comment, you must register and login.