The Garden Theatre Will Bring ASSASSINS to The Stage

The Garden Theatre, one of Houston's newest theatre companies, has announced plans to bring the semi-historical musical, Assassins, to life at MATCH. Featuring the stories of America's real-life villains, the production will run October 11-27, 2024 at Midtown Arts and Theater Center Houston (3400 Main St.), just in time for election season.

"I always try to program at least one show a season that fits in with current events," says Founding Artistic Director Logan Vaden. "Whether that's to correspond with a silly, made up national holiday, or to correspond with a historical event, like an election."

"I chose this show prior to the assassination attempt made on one of our current presidential candidates," Vaden continues. "The core of this musical shows that America has always been this way. These types of events have always happened, going all the way back to Abe Lincoln. It is now more timely than ever, and we could not be more thrilled to bring this story to the stage through the words of the brilliant Stephen Sondheim."

A multiple Tony Award-winning theatrical tour-de-force, Assassins combines Sondheim's signature blend of intelligently stunning lyrics and beautiful music with a panoramic story of our nation's culture of celebrity and the violent means some will use to obtain it, embodied by America's four successful and five would-be presidential assassins. Bold, original, disturbing, and alarmingly funny, Assassins is perhaps the most controversial musical ever written.

​

Assassins lays bare the lives of nine individuals who assassinated or attempted to assassinate the President of the United States, in a one-act historical musical that explores the dark side of the American experience. From John Wilkes Booth to Lee Harvey Oswald, writers Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman bend the rules of time and space, taking us on a nightmarish roller coaster ride in which assassins and would-be assassins from different historical periods meet, interact, and inspire each other to harrowing acts in the name of the American Dream.

Assassins has music and lyrics by the late musical theatre genius Stephen Sondheim, with a book by John Weidman. Sondheim and Weidman based their musical off of an idea by Charles Gilbert, Jr. Originally opening Off-Broadway in 1990 starring Victor Garber, Patrick Cassidy, and Debra Monk, the piece also enjoyed a Broadway run in 2004 starring Neil Patrick Harris, Dennis O'Hare, and Mario Cantone, featuring a revised script and additional music. The 2004 Broadway production earned five Tony Awards, including Best Revival of a Musical. The musical has received high acclaim across the US and Europe, where it has enjoyed countless successful productions.

Leading the cast of Assassins are all local professionals including Ethan Spell as The Balladeer, Gabriel Mullen as John Wilkes Booth, Matthew Lawrence as Charles Guiteau, Brandon Collins as Leon Czologosz, Matt Peña as Giuseppe Zangara, Dalton Hutto as Samuel Byck, Gillian Grace as Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, Kelsey Heaton as Sara Jane Moore, Baker Morrison as John Hinckley, and Robby Black The Proprietor. The ensemble features Caden Casey, Jake Cummings, Morgan Kaupert, Saroa-Dwayne Sasa, Faith Taylor, and Dallis Williams. Rounding out the cast are swings, Andrew Cannon and Snow Adeera. The Production Team consists of Logan Vaden as director, Brandon Tanner as music director, Courtney Chilton as choreographer, Nicholas White as technical director/design, Ryan Richard as costume designer, Alyssa Peyton as assistant director, and Sara Denton as stage manager.

Assassins will run for sixteen performances from October 11-27, 2024 at MATCH (Midtown Arts and Theater Center Houston; 3400 Main St. Houston, TX 77002). Adult tickets are $30. Student and senior tickets are $25. Pay-what-you-can pricing is available at select performances. Tickets are available on the theatre's website at www.thegardentheatre.org or by calling the MATCH box office at 713-521-4533.

To post a comment, you must register and login.