Building on Black Swan’s success in presenting contemporary musical works (Next to Normal, Clinton: The Musical), comes the multiple Tony Award-winning theatrical tour-de-force, Assassins.
In a fairground, a rogue’s gallery of nine misfits gather. The Proprietor of the game entices them to play, promising that their problems will be solved by killing a President of the United States, with the song “Everybody’s Got the Right”. A revue-style portrayal follows of the many and varied ways that each of the men and women have committed (or attempted to commit) the ultimate crime. It is a highly entertaining diorama of America’s cult of celebrity through the ages and the means that some have used to obtain it.
Sondheim (Into the Woods, Sweeney Todd) is considered a ‘titan of musical theatre’. This work personifies his signature blend of intelligently stunning lyrics and beautiful music, embracing a range of American musical traditions from the 1860s to the 1980s, from marches to spirituals, to folk and rock.
Bold, original and alarmingly funny, Assassins is a timely reminder that those in power ignore the marginalised in society at their peril.
Details
DIRECTOR Roger Hodgman
MUSICAL DIRECTOR Jangoo Chapkhana
COSTUME DESIGNER Lynn Ferguson
LIGHTING DESIGNER Mark Howett
CAST INCLUDES Mackenzie Dunn, Brendan Hanson, Geoff Kelso
SUITABILITY 16+
WARNING Adult themes, coarse language, simulated executions and gun violence.
Playwrights Horizons, Inc. – New York City produced ASSASSINS Off-Broadway in 1990. Licensed exclusively by Music Theatre International (Australasia). All performance materials supplied by Hal Leonard Australia.