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"'ASSASSINS': HIT AND MISS "
The New York Post
April 23, 2004
By Clive Barnes
April 23,
2004 -- 'ASSASSINS," which got a spirited revival by the
Roundabout Theater at Studio 54 last night, is said to be Stephen
Sondheim's favorite among his musicals - but that doesn't make
it among his best. There's more ironic style here than theatrical
substance, and the total effect is like a master marksman shooting
blanks.
The musical
is largely governed by John Weidman's book, which sets not merely
the scenario but the tone of this musical revue, a survey of presidential
mayhem.
Music and
lyrics play a subsidiary role in this relentless saga of the shots
that stopped a nation, from Wilkes Booth and Lincoln to Oswald
and Kennedy.
One can see
how Sondheim was attracted to the theme. He often likes to explore
the darker side of the moon: "Anyone Can Whistle," "Passion"
and "Sweeney Todd" dealt brilliantly with madness in
all its degrees.
In "Assassins,"
Sondheim has come up with stylish, trenchant lyrics and music
that is quintessentially American, right down to a couple of Sousa
marches.
The scope
of the play runs from the oddly jaunty with a band of sicko killers
cheerfully singing, "Everybody's got the right to be happy
. . . everybody's got the right to their dream," to a beautifully
plaintive duet for John Hinckley and Lynette "Squeaky"
Fromme, expressing their twisted love for Jodie Foster and Charles
Manson.
This hour-and-45-minute
intermissionless musical has only nine Sondheim numbers - revealing
how much Weidman's simplistic book drives the action with its
proposition that these assassins had a motive as plain as the
fabric on a psychiatrist's couch.
Seems everyone
in this litany of presidential killers and would-be killers is
a loser. Surprise!
However deranged
they were, their stories were more complicated than "Assassins"
lets on as it depicts the Great American Dream's occasional descent
into the Great American Nightmare as a satirical sideshow.
Despite the
presence of a Proprietor and a Balladeer, nothing connects the
stories except the constant and contrived setting of a shooting
gallery.
This symbolic
fairground is submerged in history, starting with some haunting
calliope music and a sardonic barker, offering a chance at dark
fame and dusty immortality with the suggestion: "Feelin'
blue . . . C'mere and kill a president."
The show's
flaws were apparent back in 1991, when it was first produced by
off-Broadway's Playwrights Horizons. But Sondheim's score was
there (minus one song that was added later), and even then - with
just three musicians and a synthesizer - "Assassins"
made a fascinating cast album.
This revival
not only has an orchestra, but full staging - a magnificent staircase-sweeping
design by Robert Brill, clever costuming by Susan Hilferty, and
tensely dramatic lighting of Jules Fisher and Peggy Eisenhau.
It's all been deftly and dazzlingly directed by Joe Mantello.
By nature
an ensemble piece, it's been well-cast, and though I missed Victor
Garber as the original Booth, the present crew is very good indeed.
I was particularly
taken by the merry craziness of Denis O'Hare as Charles Guiteau
(who was hanged for killing James Garfield), the Brechtian presence
of Marc Kudisch as the fairground Proprietor, and the strong voice
and pervasively sinister charm of Neil Patrick Harris as both
the Balladeer and the oddly innocent Lee Harvey Oswald.
Also compelling
was the non-stop nuttiness of Mario Cantone as Samuel Byck - the
man who, 30 years ago, tried to hijack a jet and fly it in into
the White House to kill Richard Nixon, and, tragically, got far
too little attention for his attempt.
If only the
CIA went to off-Broadway musicals . . .
ASSASSINS
2 1/2 Stars
Roundabout
Theater Company at Studio 54, 254 W. 54th St. (212) 239-6200.
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