Sondheim's ASSASSINS Next Up for Street Theatre Company
By: Jeffrey Ellis May. 10, 2016
Coming off of its tremendously successful season opener In The Heights, Street Theatre Company stages its second show of the 2016 season, Stephen Sondheim's provocative musical Assassins, May 20 through June 5.
With music and lyrics by Sondheim (Sweeney Todd, Into the Woods), the production opened off-Broadway before moving to London's West End. The show created such a buzz that it reopened in New York, this time on Broadway, where it won multiple Tony and Drama Desk awards.
Jason Tucker directs the musical this summer, the first show under his direction in his new role as Street Theatre Company's artistic director.
"I chose Assassins, along with In The Heights, as a way of showing Nashville the kind of theater they can expect from STC moving forward," says Tucker. "Street has always been about cutting edge, but it's also about challenging our audience, prompting thought, and sharing in a conversation. Assassins asks an audience to engage and consider in a very compelling way."
With a book by John Weidman and based on an idea by Charles Gilbert, Jr., Assassins centers around the men and women who attempted (successfully or not) to assassinate United States Presidents. The story unfolds through Sondheim's revuestyle music that changes styles based on the eras in which the assassinations occur.
"Nashville is central to a lot of America's history, both dark and light," says Tucker, who directed Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, a musical about President Andrew Jackson's controversial history, on STC's stage last year. "Nashvillians have suffered as much as any Americans under the brutal choices made by our most notorious killers."
Assassins promises to make its audience laugh out loud, but perhaps more importantly, it promises to challenge its audience, Tucker suggests.
"Assassins asks us to simply consider what might lead a normal American to commit such a grand and violent act," says Tucker.
Assassins is at Street Theatre Company, currently in residence at Holy Trinity Community Church (6727 Charlotte Pike), May 20 through June 5. The show is rated PG13 for strong language and adult themes. Parental guidance and discretion is encouraged. Showtimes are Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 5 p.m. Tickets are $20 for adults and $16 for students and seniors, and Thursdays are PayWhatYouCan. Tickets are available by contacting the box office at (615) 5547414 or by visiting www.streettheatrecompany.org.
Pictured (left to right) are Taylor Kelly, Corinne Bupp, Jordan Ravelette, Patrick Kramer, Evan Williams, Mike Baum, Sara Catherine Wheatley, Curtis Reed and Jack Chambers. - photo by Kenn Stilger/Heavenly Perspective Photography
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