Musical (1990)


Musique: Stephen Sondheim
Paroles: Stephen Sondheim
Livret: John Weidman
Production à la création:

The anachronistic show explores the lives of the nine presidential assassins and would-be assassins, weaving together fictional scenes where the characters interact among each other with real-life events.
The musical uses the premise of a murderous carnival game to produce a revue-style portrayal of men and women who attempted (successfully or otherwise) to assassinate Presidents of the United States. The music varies to reflect the popular music of the eras depicted.

Les auteurs évoquent les hommes et les femmes qui ont assassiné (ou tenté d'assassiner) un président des États-Unis. La musique s'adapte aux styles musicaux des différentes époques évoquées. Les assassins sont: Leon Czolgosz (1873 – 1901) : assassin de William McKinley (1843 – 1901) / John Hinckley (né en 1955) : tentative d'assassinat sur Ronald Reagan (1911 – 2004) le 30 mars 1981 / Charles Guiteau (1841 – 1882) : assassin de James Garfield (1831 – 1881) / Giuseppe Zangara (1900 – 1933) : tentative d'assassinat sur Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882 – 1945) le 15 février 1933 / Samuel Byck (1930 – 1974) : tentative d'assassinat sur Richard Nixon (1913 – 1994) le 22 février 1974 / Lynette Fromme (née en 1948) : tentative d'assassinat sur Gerald Ford (1913 – 2006) le 5 septembre 1975. / Sara Jane Moore (née en 1930) : tentative d'assassinat sur Gerald Ford le 22 septembre 1975. / John Wilkes Booth (1838 – 1865) : assassin d'Abraham Lincoln (1809 – 1865)

Synopsis complet

En s'attardant sur le caractère des hommes qui ont tenté et parfois réussi à assassiner les présidents des Etats-Unis, que l'on peut retrouver en analysant leur vie quotidienne, "Assassins" nous invite à considérer leur motivation." Sondheim affronte la douleur dans le but de tenter de cautériser la déchéance et de guérir la maladie qui se dissimule au coeur de la société américaine." Loin de l'humanisme de sa comédie musicale précédente, "Into the woods", Sondheim suggère que les assassins politiques sont le résultat de la culture politique américaine (Joanne Gordon).


As a panelist at producer Stuart Ostrow's Musical Theater Lab, Sondheim read a script by playwright Charles Gilbert. Sondheim asked Gilbert for permission to use his idea. Gilbert consented and offered to write the book; but Sondheim declined, having already had collaborator John Weidman in mind. Weidman had written the book for Pacific Overtures and would work with Sondheim again on Road Show.
Assassins opened Off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizons on December 18, 1990, and closed on February 16, 1991 after 73 performances. Directed by Jerry Zaks the cast included Victor Garber, Terrence Mann, Patrick Cassidy, Debra Monk, Greg Germann, and Annie Golden. According to the Los Angeles Times, "The show has been sold out since previews began, reflecting the strong appeal of Sondheim's work among the theater crowd." Frank Rich in his New York Times review wrote "Assassins will have to fire with sharper aim and fewer blanks if it is to shoot to kill."
On October 29, 1992, Assassins opened in London at the Donmar Warehouse with direction by Sam Mendes and a cast that included Henry Goodman as Charles Guiteau and Louise Gold as Sara Jane Moore. The show ran for 76 performances, closing on January 9, 1993.
Roundabout Theater Company's Broadway production was originally scheduled for 2001 but was postponed to April 22, 2004, because the content was sensitive in light of the events of September 11, 2001. After 101 performances at Studio 54, Assassins closed on July 18, 2004. Directed by Joe Mantello, with musical staging by Jonathan Butterell, Neil Patrick Harris starred in the roles of The Balladeer and Lee Harvey Oswald, with Marc Kudisch in an extended role as The Proprietor. Michael Cerveris played John Wilkes Booth, for which he received a Tony Award. The 2004 production was noted for a coup de théâtre: the Zapruder film of the death of John F. Kennedy projected onto Lee Harvey Oswald's t-shirt.
Other professional productions have included a 2006 production at Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, a 2008 production which ran from January 23 to February 2, 2008, at the Landor Theatre, London, and a production at the Union Theatre in Southwark, London, in July 2010. The South African premiere opened in December 2008 as the inaugural production of the NewSpace Theatre in Cape Town. This production was directed by Fred Abrahamse with a South African cast including Marcel Meyer as John Wilkes Booth, Riaan Norval as Lee Harvey Oswald, David Dennis as Charles J. Guiteau and Anthea Thompson as Sara Jane Moore. The Los Angeles premiere opened in 1994 at the Los Angeles Theatre Center and included Patrick Cassidy (the original Balladeer) playing Booth, and Alan Safier as Guiteau. A 2010 production in Toronto by BirdLand Theatre and Talk is Free Theatre won the Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding Production in the Musical Theatre Division.


"Everybody's Got The Right" – Proprietor and Assassins (save Oswald)
"The Ballad of Booth" – Balladeer and Booth
"How I Saved Roosevelt" – Zangara, Proprietor and Ensemble
"The Gun Song" – Czolgosz, Booth, Guiteau and Moore
"The Ballad of Czolgosz" – Balladeer and Ensemble
"Unworthy of Your Love" – Hinckley and Fromme
"The Ballad of Guiteau" – Guiteau and Balladeer
"Another National Anthem" – Balladeer and Assassins (save for Oswald)+
"November 22, 1963" – Assassins
"Something Just Broke" – Ensemble ++
"Everybody's Got The Right" (Reprise) – Assassins

+ In most productions, the lead part among the Assassins for "Another National Anthem" is sung by Byck. However, in the 2004 Broadway production the lead is played by the Proprietor.
++ Added for the 1992 London production

JOHN WILKES BOOTH - An actor and passionate champion of the South during the Civil War.
GIUSEPPE ZANGARA - A short (under five feet) immigrant who failed to kill Franklin Roosevelt because he had to stand on a chair and it wobbled.
LEON CZOLGOSZ - The son of Polish immigrants, a worker in a glass factory and supporter of anarchist groups.
JOHN HINCKLEY - A man who shot President Reagan and three others to impress a girl he'd never met.
CHARLES GUITEAU - A Republican who wrote a campaign speech for President Garfield and ended up shooting him to promote the sales of his book.
SARA JANE MOORE - A five-times married FBI informer who tried to kill President Ford to re-establish her radical credentials.
LYNETTE "SQUEAKY FROMME - A member of the "family" of disciples of the mass murderer Charles Manson, who pulled a gun on President Ford so she could call Charlie as a witness.
SAMUEL BYCK - An unemployed loner who picketed the White House on Christmas Eve dressed as Santa Claus and died trying to implement his assassination plan at Baltimore-Washington International Airport.
LEE HARVEY OSWALD - A stock boy in the Texas School Book Depository.
THE BALLADEER - A singing witness to national catastrophe.
THE PROPRIETOR - The insinuating barker of a fairground shooting gallery.
DAVID HEROLD - Booth's accomplice.
EMMA GOLDMAN - An anarchist celebrity.
GERALD FORD - Briefly President of the United States, 1974-1977.
JAMES GARFIELD - President of the United States, briefly, in 1881.
BYSTANDERS, CITIZENS, etc.

Aucun dossier informatif complémentaire concernant Assassins


Version 1

Assassins (1990-12-Playwrights Horizons-Off Broadway)

Type de série: Original
Théâtre: Playwrights Horizons (Broadway (Off) - Etats-Unis)
Durée : 2 mois
Nombre : 73 représentations
Première Preview : Inconnu
Première : mardi 18 décembre 1990
Dernière : samedi 16 février 1991
Mise en scène : Jerry Zaks
Chorégraphie : Paul Gemignani
Producteur :
Commentaires longs: Avec Victor Garber, Terrence Mann, Lee Wilkof, Patrick Cassidy, Debra Monk, Greg Germann, and Annie Golden. Toute la série s'est jouée sold out…. Il faut dire que la salle est très petite (moins de deux cent places).
1991 Drama League Award: Distinguished Achievement in a Musical, Stephen Sondheim

Version 2

Assassins (1992-08-Gunston Arts Center-Arlington)

Type de série: Revival
Théâtre: Gunston Arts Center - Theatre Two (Arlington - Etats-Unis)
Durée : 1 mois 2 semaines
Nombre :
Première Preview : Inconnu
Première : jeudi 20 août 1992
Dernière : samedi 03 octobre 1992
Mise en scène : Eric Schaeffer
Chorégraphie : Eric Schaeffer
Producteur :

Version 3

Assassins (1992-10-Donmar Warehouse-London)

Type de série: Original Europe
Théâtre: Donmar Warehouse (Londres - Angleterre)
Durée : 2 mois 1 semaine
Nombre : 76 représentations
Première Preview : Inconnu
Première : jeudi 29 octobre 1992
Dernière : samedi 09 janvier 1993
Mise en scène : Sam Mendes
Chorégraphie : ???? ????
Producteur :
Avec : Paul Bentley (Proprietor), Jack Ellis (Leon Czolgosz), Michael Cantwell (John Hinckley), Henry Goodman (Charles Guiteau), Paul Harrhy (Giuseppe Zangara), Ciaran Hinds (Samuel Byck), Cathryn Bradshaw (Squeaky Fromme), Louise Gold (Sara Jane Moore), David Firth (John Wilkes Booth), Sue Kelvin (Emma Goldman), Anthony Barclay (Balladeer), Gareth Snook (Lee Harvey Oswald)
Commentaires : C'est avec ce spectacle que Sam Mendes a commencé son rôle, exceptionnel, de directeur artistique au Donmar Warehouse. Il a fait ressortir le côté humour noir et brillant de l'œuvre et l'a ainsi sauvée de l'opprobe critique qui l'avait accablée lors de la créatiojn américaine. La chanson "Something Just Broke" a été ajoutée dans cette production.
The original workshop production took place off-Broadway in January 1991 to a limited sold-out run, greeted variously as “a lethally brilliant musical” and “an aimless project”, but generally regarded as a bit of a flop. The London version was only slightly re-written and included an extra song - “Something Just Broke”.
It, too, was a total sell out, but this time received almost nothing but praise, and won the Critics Circle London Drama Award as the Best Musical.

Awards:
>1992 Critics' Circle Award: Best New Musical
> 1993 Laurence Oliver Award: Best Actor in a Musical (Henry Goodman)
> 1993 Laurence Olivier Award nomination: Best Director of a Musical (Sam Mendes)
> 1993 Laurence Olivier Award nomination: Best New Musical (Assassins)

Version 4

Assassins (1993-10-Library Theatre-Manchester)

Type de série: Revival
Théâtre: Library Theatre (Manchester - Angleterre)
Durée : 4 semaines
Nombre :
Première Preview : Inconnu
Première : vendredi 01 octobre 1993
Dernière : samedi 30 octobre 1993
Mise en scène : Charles Miller
Chorégraphie : David Needham
Producteur :
Commentaires longs: Avec Glenn Hugill (Leon Czolgosz) / Demetri Goritsas (John Hinckley) / Peter Benson (Charles Guiteau) / Ray Mangion (Guiseppe Zangara) / David Fleeshman (Samuel Byck) / Alexandra Sumner (Lynette 'Squeaky' Fromme) / Jill Martin (Sarah Jane Moore) / Julie Jupp (Emma Goldman) / David Arneil (Lee Harvey Oswald) / Anthony O'Driscoll (The Balladeer)

Version 5

Assassins (1997-07-New End Theatre-London)

Type de série: Revival
Théâtre: New End Theatre (Londres - Angleterre)
Durée : 3 semaines
Nombre :
Première Preview : jeudi 10 juillet 1997
Première : jeudi 10 juillet 1997
Dernière : dimanche 03 août 1997
Mise en scène : Sam Buntrock
Chorégraphie :
Producteur :
Avec : Stephen Watts (Proprietor), Mark Davidson (Leon Czolgosz), Andrew Newey (John Hinckley), Peter Straker (Charles Guiteau), Adrian Beaumont (Giuseppe Zangara), Nigel Williams (Samuel Byck), Fiona Dunn (Squeaky Fromme), Sharon Eckman (Sara Jane Moore), Garth Bardsley (John Wilkes Booth), Paul Keating (Balladeer), Tom Rogers (Lee Harvey Oswald)
Commentaires : This performance in the tiny New End Theatre was much praised, with, again, acclaim for Paul Keating (previously seen in “Tommy”). The critics all felt that Sondheim shows seem to work so much better in smaller, fringe-type stagings.

Version 6

Assassins (2000-09-Landor Theatre-London)

Type de série: Revival
Théâtre: Landor Theatre (Londres - Angleterre)
Durée : 1 mois 1 semaine
Nombre :
Première Preview : jeudi 07 septembre 2000
Première : jeudi 07 septembre 2000
Dernière : samedi 14 octobre 2000
Mise en scène : William Chappell
Chorégraphie : Darren Royston
Producteur :
Avec : Paul Brereton (Leon Czolgosz), Craig Adams (John Hinckley), Nick Barnes (Charles Guiteau), Nick Stoter (Giuseppe Zangara), David Bradshawe (Samuel Byck), Lorraine Graham (Squeaky Fromme), Dian Perry (Sara Jane Moore), Cade Siemers (John Wilkes Booth), Samuel Board (Balladeer), Lara Hazell, Isaac Davis

Version 7

Assassins (2004-04-Studio 54-Broadway)

Type de série: Revival
Théâtre: Studio 54 (Broadway - Etats-Unis)
Durée :
Nombre : 26 previews - 101 représentations
Première Preview : mercredi 31 mars 2004
Première : jeudi 22 avril 2004
Dernière : dimanche 18 juillet 2004
Mise en scène : Joe Mantello
Chorégraphie : Aucun
Producteur :
Commentaires longs: La version mise en scène par Joe Mantello à Broadway avait été programmée en 2001 mais a été postposée de trois ans suite aux attaques terroristes du 11 septembre 2001.
Dans cette production, de nombreux changements ont été introduits par rapport aux deux grandes version précédentes (Broadway 19000 et Londres 1992).
Presse : BEN BRENTLEY of the NEW YORK TIMES says “A very impressive achievement.” CLIVE BARNES of NEW YORK POST says “There's more ironic style here than theatrical substance.” HOWARD KISSEL of NEW YORK DAILY NEWS says “A show both repellent and riveting.” ELYSA GARDNER of USA TODAY says “Squalid splendor.” FRANK SCHECK of THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER says "Demands to be seen." MICHAEL SOMMERS of STAR-LEDGER says "Extremely thoughtful fun." MICHAEL KUCHWARA of Associated Press says "Stunning, gut-punch of a musical ."

Version 8

Assassins (2008-01-Landor Theatre-London)

Type de série: Revival
Théâtre: Landor Theatre (Londres - Angleterre)
Durée : 1 semaine
Nombre :
Première Preview : Inconnu
Première : mercredi 23 janvier 2008
Dernière : samedi 02 février 2008
Mise en scène : Ben Carrick
Chorégraphie : ???? ????
Producteur :

Version 9

Assassins (2010-06-Union Theatre-London)

Type de série: Revival
Théâtre: Union Theatre (Londres - Angleterre)
Durée : 3 semaines
Nombre :
Première Preview : Inconnu
Première : mercredi 30 juin 2010
Dernière : samedi 24 juillet 2010
Mise en scène : Michael Strassen
Chorégraphie : ???? ????
Producteur :
Avec : Adam Jarrell (Leon Czolgosz), Paul Callen (John Hinckley), John Barr (Charles Guiteau), Joe Alessi (Giuseppe Zangara), Nick Holder (Samuel Byck), Alison Larnder (Squeaky Fromme), Leigh McDonald (Sara Jane Moore ), Glyn Kerslake (John Wilkes Booth), Nolan Frederick (Balladeer ), Lisa Stoke (Emma Goldman), Marc Joseph (Lee Harvey Oswald), Davis Brooks, Neil Canfer, Anthony Delaney, Hannah Bingham, Holly Easterbrook

Version 10

Assassins (2014-12-Menier Chocolate Factory-London)

Type de série: Revival
Théâtre: Menier Chocolate Factory (Londres - Angleterre)
Durée : 3 mois
Nombre :
Première Preview : vendredi 21 novembre 2014
Première : lundi 01 décembre 2014
Dernière : samedi 07 mars 2015
Mise en scène : Jamie Lloyd
Chorégraphie :
Producteur :
Avec : Aaron Tveit (Booth), Stewart Clarke (Giuseppe Zangara), Harry Morrison (John Hinckley), Jamie Parker (Lee Harvey Oswold/The Balladeer), Carly Bawden (Squeaky Fromme), Simon Lipkin (The Proprietor), Mike McShane (Samuel Byck), Andy Nyman (Charles Guiteau), David Roberts (Leon Czolgosz) and Catherine Tate (Sara Jane Moore from 21 November to 8 February only), Marc Akinfolarin, Greg Miller Burns and Melle Stewart (Bystanders).
Presse : "Amid a terrific ensemble, Catherine Tate adds welcome levity as the spaced-out Sara Jane Moore...The diminutive Andy Nyman twinkles with mischief as the irrepressible Guiteau...and as Samuel Byck...Mike McShane strikes the perfect anti-festive note of crabby, scary discontent, a quite unforgettable sight in his soiled Santa outfit." Dominic Cavendish for The Telegraph

"This revival, played without an interval, is fleet, but Sondheim’s revue format can feel scrappy, and necessarily often lacks depth; not all characters convince or are fully explored. But this is crackling production is certainly more hit than miss." Holly Williams for The Independent

"In Lloyd’s interpretation, on a set by Soutra Gilmour that resembles the fairground in a horror film, it feels thrilling." Henry Hitchings for the Evening Standard

"Jamie Parker sings soulfully as the Balladeer; Aaron Tveit makes an indignant, composed Booth. This being the Menier, the show is staged with elan and the music is tightly played." Quentin Letts for the Daily Mail

 Pas encore de video disponible pour ce spectacle


1) 1990-12-Original Off-Broadway Cast
2) 2004-04-Original Broadway Cast