He's got a killer smile.

Jeffrey Kuhn stands outside of Studio 54, where he's currently playing one of the title characters in Assassins, the Stephen Sondheim/John Weidman musical opening Thursday night.

This vaudeville-styled show tells the stories of the nine individuals who killed (or tried to kill) nine American presidents and is shaping up to be the most controversial entry of the current Broadway season.

"But hey," grins the 34-year-old Canadian actor, "no one ever thought of this as being a feel-good Broadway hit."

Assassins was first produced in December 1990, right in the middle of the Gulf War. The last thing the country wanted to see then was a show that examined the nightmare underneath the American Dream, and it closed quickly.

Years later, a revival was supposed to go into rehearsal in the fall of 2001, but 9/11 put an end to that. And now, in the middle of an election year, another Middle Eastern conflict and a war on terrorism, how will the audience react?

"That's the $10 million question," admits Kuhn, as we settle into his dressing room before a recent preview. "Nobody connected with this production has any idea how people are going to respond.

"The country is percolating. People are angry and desperate and disenfranchised. They're frustrated by a lot of things, but by the Bush administration in particular."

Kuhn plays Giuseppe Zangara, who tried to kill President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt on Feb. 15, 1933, a few weeks before his inauguration. He missed F.D.R., but one of his bullets struck Anton Cermak, mayor of Chicago, who died.

Zangara was executed in the electric chair on March 20, 1933. His final words were, "All capitalists lousy bunch of crooks. Go ahead, push the button."

It may be hard to picture the same actor who delighted Toronto audiences as the chattering Zasu in The Lion King to be playing a homicidal anarchist, but — as Kuhn himself concedes — "a lot of times in my career, parts come up which at first I think I'm wrong for, but I wind up playing them anyway, and in the end, I'm always glad I did."

One thing, however, which Kuhn never had any doubts about was whether he was in the right profession. He grew up in a small Mennonite town called St. Clements, near Kitchener, but still made his way onto the stage at an early age.

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`No one ever thought of this as being a feel-good Broadway hit'
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"I've been a character actor since I was 10 years old. In the sixth grade, I played the Scarecrow in The Wizard Of Oz, and I found the whole experience intoxicating and thrilling and freeing."

Things really kicked into high gear when Kuhn went to Elmira High School and discovered the drama program there headed by Gordon Davis.

"He was a fantastic visionary, and I remember our involvement in the Sears Drama Festival each year. It seemed like we always made it into the finals, and boy, that got us out of our rural shell."

Ryerson Theatre School followed and a performance in the title role of Dr. Faustus that resulted in his being cast immediately at the Stratford Festival.

"I was terrified and thrilled. There I was right out of theatre school sharing a stage with Colm Feore. I grew so rapidly because I had to get onto his playing field."

Kuhn spent three happy seasons there and was asked to return for a fourth, but "I was antsy because I had grown up in that area. I was itching to spread my wings, and Richard Monette generously said `There's a whole world for you to taste, so go out there and try it.'"

He bounced around the regional theatre scene for a while, did two workshops of Ragtime, understudied the Cousin Kevin role in the Toronto production of Tommy, played it on tour and then wound up back with Ragtime in time for its Broadway opening.

It seems like a bit of a breathless ride, but Kuhn has a sensible attitude about the whole process.

"I feel like a lot of times I've been in the right place at the right time. I've said yes to the right things and no to the wrong things."

I ask him what message he thinks Assassins is trying to convey, and after a moment, he speaks in measured tones. "This is what happened. These are the people who initiated those events. And this is what they thought and felt about this country."

But in the end, it all comes down to the guns.

"We had been in rehearsal for a few weeks," Kuhn recalls, "when we went to the special effects shop and fired our weapons. The next day, everything changed. Even though the guns were empty, we had a newfound respect for their power. When you're the one doing the shooting, a certain stillness and calm comes over you."

He points an imaginary firearm in my direction and he's instantly transformed; the cheerful actor turns into a cold-eyed psychotic.

"It's like we sing in the show: `All you have to do is move your little finger and you can change the world.'"