‘Assassins’ looks at killers’ personalities

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

It may seem a bit macabre to create a musical about presidential assassins, but the result is not only entertaining, but thought-provoking as well.

Assassins, with book by John Weidman and music by Stephen Sondheim, opened Thursday at the Van Wert Civic Theatre and provides an intimate look at the personalities of those who killed U.S. presidents, or tried to do so. It’s a story of obsession and the seeking of attention told through music.

Those assassins featured include John Wilkes Booth (Drew Kantonen), who plays a pivotal role in the musical as the both the first presidential assassin and an influence on some of the others. Other characters include Leon Czolgosz (Doug Grooms), who killed William McKinley; Lee Harvey Oswald (Chad Rode), who murdered John F. Kennedy; Giuseppe Zangara (Jon David Faeth), who tried to kill Franklin Roosevelt, but murdered Chicago Mayor Anton Czermak instead; Charles Guiteau (Doug Norton), who killed James Garfield; Sara Jane Moore (Julie Crawford) and Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme (Kristin Lee), who both tried to kill Gerald Ford; Samuel Byck (Jonathan Hodges), who tried to kill Richard Nixon; and John Hinckley Jr. (Christopher Butturff), who wounded Ronald Reagan.

Also in supporting roles were Sarah Glover, who played anarchist Emma Goldman, a love interest and mentor of Czolgosz; David Herold (Joseph Klir), an accomplice of John Wilkes Booth, and Jamie Emerick, who played Moore’s young son, while a chorus that includes Glover, Klir, Stacy Rife, Emily Penton, Steve Faul, and Deb Duncan-Faul is also there to provide musical support.

Director Christa Manning and Music Director Dee Fisher have brought together an excellent cast to portray the mostly troubled and disturbed people who, for whatever reason, either killed or tried to kill an American president.

The show’s set is carnival where the Proprietor (Jeff Kerr), a gun salesman and carnie, sells guns to each assassin as part of a demented carnival game and they all join in singing “Everybody’s Got the Right” that talks about individual rights, but perverted to the right to kill American presidents. Duncan-Faul also plays the Proprietor’s assistant.

The music and dialogue focus on each of the assassins — their obsessions, troubles, need for attention, anger that ultimately lead them to attempt to kill a U.S. president.

Each of the assassin vignettes is tied together by the Balladeer (Joe Warnement), who provides social comment during the musical. Both Kerr and Warnement do a yeoman’s job in extremely difficult roles.

The assassins are all obsessed with something: Byck tapes obsessive imaginary conversations with composer-conductor Leonard Bernstein, Hinkcley is obsessed with actress Jodie Foster, Guiteau is obsessed with attention, Booth is obsessed with getting revenge for the fall of the Confederacy, Czolgosz is obsessed with the oppression of the worker, Fromme is obsessed with guru Charles Manson, and Moore is obsessed with getting her father’s approval.

While the musical itself is somewhat flawed, the Civic Theatre production emphasizes the power of the intrinsic idea with some excellent performances, both musical and dramatic.

Outstanding were Grooms as Czolgosz, Kantonen as Booth, Norton as Guiteau, and Hodges as Blyck, with Crawford and Lee going the extra mile in their characterizations of Moore and Charles Manson follower Fromme.

Crawford provides some needed comedy relief as the “soccer mom who shops until she drops” who is always accidentally firing her gun and seemingly blunders into attempted assassination rather than being focused on that goal. Her counterpoint is Lee’s Fromme, who is continually spouting off counter-culture phrases fed to her by Manson.

The singers are well supported by an ensemble that includes Fisher as conductor and on keyboards, Eli Knodell on keyboards, Jeff Squire and Jane Stevens on reeds, and Elliott Mueller on percussion.

The carnival set design by Manning is spooky and inspired, while light design by May Ann Falk, prop design by Sarah Bennett and Duncan-Faul, and sound design by Burdette Bolenbaugh all aptly convey the somewhat manic tone of the musical.

Assassins is well worth viewing, if only for an insight into the minds of those who attempt to kill presidents — mindsets probably similar to more recent shooters who commit mass murder — and some excellent music and acting. 

Performances remain for tonight and Saturday night, on Sunday afternoon, and the weekend of October 3-6. Tickets can be purchased by calling the VWCT box office at 419.238.9689 from 2-6 p.m. Monday through Friday, or online at www.vwct.org.