Assassins
Assassins is easily one of the most controversial musicals ever written and the Lane Cove Theatre Company have not shied away from the challenge of presenting it. With music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by John Weidman this show received very mixed reviews in the 1990s before eventually winning five Tony Awards when it was produced on Broadway in 2004. Some find this musical disturbing and unsettling for good reason. The benefit for Australian audiences at least is the comfort of knowing that our countrymen aren’t as obsessed with weapons as our American cousins are.
The three major themes in Assassins are the erosion of the American Dream, the loneliness of the individual assassins and the significance of media image and attention. This musical touches on the lives of nine men and women who either tried, or succeeded, in killing one of the Presidents of the Unites States over the course of more than a century.
The show starts with a carnival barker called the Proprietor (Austin Burrows) who is luring ‘contestants’ to a shooting gallery. There are promises of a ‘prize’ to those who are successful, along the lines of “Hit a Prez and Win a Prize’. Unfortunately Burrows, despite a confident stage presence, could hardly be heard in the opening number so this important context was largely lost to the audience. He gives the first gun to Leon Czolgosz (Max Waterson), who killed President William McKinley in 1901. Another gun goes to John Hinkley Jr (Heath Anderson), who made an unsuccessful attempt on the life of Ronald Reagan. Waterson maintains his anger and Polish accent throughout and his projection is excellent. Anderson’s obsession with Jodie Foster is highly believable and his body language always reveals his character’s lack of social confidence.
The Proprietor continues by dispensing a gun to Charles Giuiteau (Blake O’Brien), who aimed and hit his target James Garfield in 1881. Then Giuseppe Zangara (Konrad Ryzak), whose shot missed Franklin Roosevelt in 1933, followed by Samuel Byck (Tommy James Green), who wanted to hijack a plane in 1974 and crash it into the White House in the hopes of killing Richard Nixon. O’Brien does a good job of making the audience feel very uncomfortable during the ’Gun Song’ and Ryzak is highly convincing as the Italian immigrant with stomach pains. Green, however, is hard to beat as the nutcase in a Santa suit who is equal parts drunk, delusional and depressed.
Finally, guns are also handed to Lynette Fromme (Emma Flynn) and Sara Jane Moore (Melissa Glinn), both of whom made attempts on the life of Gerald Ford in 1975 and failed. The opening number ends with John Wilkes Booth (Jay Cullen) entering before excusing himself and shooting Abraham Lincoln. Flynn is lovely as the misguided lover and ardent slave of Charles Manson, and Glinn is entertaining as an unhinged woman with too many past careers, too many husbands, three children and a penchant for Kentucky Fried Chicken. Cullen is charismatic and maintains his Southern accent very well, particularly shining in Act 2 when he inspires the shooting of John F Kennedy.
James Burchett plays both the Balladeer (narrator of the show), before later transforming into Lee Harvey Oswald. Burchett’s voice is very easy to listen to and beautifully showcased. Far from just being a singer though, Burchett also displays great acting chops, particularly in Act 2. The cast is rounded out by a small ensemble playing a variety of roles, the standouts being Marie Hogan, Emma Gibbons and Keiden Cheung.
This is Miriam Rihani’s first direction of a musical and not the easiest of productions to cut her teeth on. That being said, she has assembled a strong cast and was ably supported by the musical direction experience of Jeremy Kindl and Gianna Cheung. A particularly poignant moment was the duet between Anderson and Flynn, ‘Unworthy of your Love’. As is always the case with Lane Cove Theatre Company the costumes were historically accurate and the intimacy of the performance space was used to full advantage. The addition of a few more scenic devices, even just an American flag or some bunting, would have broken up the black curtain visuals but this is a thought-provoking and entertaining production none-the-less. Cullen is charming, Burchett is very powerful and Green provides much needed levity to the otherwise dark story.
Assassins plays at The Performance Space @ St Aidan’s until the 28th of May.
9 prop guns out of 10.
Fiona Kelly
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