Review: ASSASSINS at Spinning Tree Theatre

"Assassins" from Spinning Tree Theatre is a star vehicle with both outstanding and troubling performances, but then this play is also both of those things. Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman teamed up in 1990 to write a disturbing look at the individuals from American history who have either attempted or succeeded in murdering the President of the United States. America was not quite ready for "Assassins" and it languished off Broadway or unproduced for 13 years.

Against a three story projected image of the American Flag, we meet a character known as the Proprietor (Zachary York). The Proprietor sings the first song "Everybody's Got The Right (To Be Happy)" and introduces us to our merry crew of "Assassins." As they are identified, the projection dissolves and a shooting gallery emerges while each is handed a weapon.

Assassinator of Abraham Lincoln is actor John Wilkes Booth (Jerry Jay Cranford), the Pioneer of assassins and lead character. Housewife Sara Jane Moore (Julie Shaw) and Charlie Manson Acolyte Squeaky Fromme (Liz Golson) are less successful in their quest to eliminate Gerald Ford. A man of many professions including salesman, preacher, and author, Charles Guiteau (Robert J. Hingula) succeeded in doing away with Civil War General and President James Garfield.

Barely twenty years later, Leon Czolgosz(Jordan Fox) shot William McKinley twice in the chest causing his eventual death eight days later and leading to Theodore Roosevelt becoming President. The Great Depression set the scene for an unsuccessful attempt to kill Theodore's cousin Franklin Roosevelt by unhappy immigrant Giuseppe Zangara (Steven Eubank). Zangara missed FDR and instead murdered the man seated next to him, Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak.

The disgruntled and depressed Samuel Byck (Andy Penn) threatened Richard Nixon and unsuccessfully attempted to hijack an airliner at Baltimore Airport before committing suicide. Ronald Reagan was, of course, wounded by John Hinckley (TyleR Rower) outside the Washington Hilton Hotel in a deluded attempt to attract the attention of actress Jodi Foster. And Lee Harvey Oswald (Daniel Eugene Parman) successfully murdered John Kennedy on November 22, 1963 before being himself killed in the Dallas Police basement garage by Jack Ruby on live television.

All this is presided over a character known simply as The Balladeer (Michael David Allen). He attempts to fill in the blanks and describe some of the motivations of some of the Assassins.

The music is definitely Sondheim. It is difficult to sing. Like many of Sondheim's scores, it is almost a recitativo with echoes of ensemble harmonies familiar from other Sondheim compositions. There is little in melodic line to follow for the singers. I describe this in tribute to all the singers who have the opportunity to act and sing this score.

Everyone in this cast is good. Several of the performances are outstanding. Michael David Allen's Balladeer is clear and heartfelt. Liz Golson as Squeaky Fromme is appropriately goofy and threatening. Golson is a both a vocal and acting force whose presence is to be reckoned with. Newcomer TyleR Rowe, as the disturbed John Hinckley, has a voice that can only be described as ethereal. The real Hinckley was ironically released from St. Elizabeth's Mental Hospital in Washington only recently.

Additional praise must be heaped upon Steven Eubank as Giuseppe Zangara, the accidental killer of Anton Cermak. One of the show's most iconic scenes is Zangara's execution by electric chair in 1933. Eubank resurrects Zangara and opens his twisted mind to the people in the theater seats. Andy Penn as attempted Nixon assassinator Samuel Byck shows us the senselessness of sad, disturbed, people who threaten the American republic.

But "Assassins," the Musical depends on the performance of Jerry Jay Cranford's John Wilkes Booth. Cranford's calm, yet remarkable presence as the personification of evil commands the audience and his fellow assassins. Cranford dominates the production with his competence and professionalism. Cranford's solidness helps make this troubling show hang together.

Director Michael Grayman - Parkhurst has created something powerful and fully realized. His casting choices are right on. The choice of a minimalist set with just projections and a few wheeled set pieces works. Scene changes are choreographed, slick, and do not interrupt the action. The set pieces are appropriate and despite a flat stage along with projections are exactly what is necessary. Blocking is multidimensional and presents interesting stage pictures.

Audiences were not ready for "Assassins" in 1990. The original off-Broadway production ran only 77 performances with actors as important as Victor Garber in the Booth role. Today's political climate somehow seems to make"Assassins" more contemporary than ever. It is one of those shows where you leave the theater and you must still make up your own mind about what you saw. I am still unsure of what Sondheim and Weidman were driving at, but it doesn't seem to matter. The quality of the performance allows for thought and reflection.

"Assassins" from Spinning Tree Theatre continues at the Just Off Broadway Theatre through June 11. Tickets are available online at http://spinningtreetheatre.com/ or by telephone at (816) 569-5277.

Photos courtesy of Andy Grayman-Parkhurst - Spinning Tree Theatre

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