Assassins revival.
Assassins revival.
RJ14
Understudy Joined: 2/3/16
#1Assassins revival.
Posted: 11/9/16 at 9:16am
<<edited by BWW staff>>
Updated On: 6/19/19 at 09:16 AM
trpguyy
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/25/05
#3Assassins revival.
Posted: 3/18/18 at 10:27pm
trpguyy said: "You're really nailing it with the horrible"jokes""
The new thread about about what show people would like Sher to direct next had me thinking and Assassins popped into my head. I’ve never seen any production of it and suspect he might not be a natural fit (but would love to hear from people more familiar with the show). I suspect that this would be a hard sell on Broadway these days, but I would love to experience a Broadway revival someday. Do you think Doyle or Paulus would be good fits for directing it? Also, would this show lend itself to an immersive off-Broadway production like the current Sweeney Todd playing at the Barrow Street Theatre?
#4Assassins revival.
Posted: 3/18/18 at 10:29pm
At the end of a recent production starring David Campbell in Sydney, the proprietor pointed to a magazine cover with the white house on it that said "Who's Next?" - then he lent back and touched a wooden board. Was this a subtle suggestion that Trump should have an assassination attempt? One of the most controversial things I think I've ever seen in a theatre.
The show has aged very, very well. It feels like it was just written, except that it is missing the last few presidents of course.
"You can't overrate Bernadette Peters. She is such a genius. There's a moment in "Too Many Mornings" and Bernadette doing 'I wore green the last time' - It's a voice that is just already given up - it is so sorrowful. Tragic. You can see from that moment the show is going to be headed into such dark territory and it hinges on this tiny throwaway moment of the voice." - Ben Brantley (2022)
"Bernadette's whole, stunning performance [as Rose in Gypsy] galvanized the actors capable of letting loose with her. Bernadette's Rose did take its rightful place, but too late, and unseen by too many who should have seen it" Arthur Laurents (2009)
"Sondheim's own favorite star performances? [Bernadette] Peters in ''Sunday in the Park,'' Lansbury in ''Sweeney Todd'' and ''obviously, Ethel was thrilling in 'Gypsy.'' Nytimes, 2000
Updated On: 3/18/18 at 10:29 PM
#5Assassins revival.
Posted: 3/18/18 at 10:33pm
"You can't overrate Bernadette Peters. She is such a genius. There's a moment in "Too Many Mornings" and Bernadette doing 'I wore green the last time' - It's a voice that is just already given up - it is so sorrowful. Tragic. You can see from that moment the show is going to be headed into such dark territory and it hinges on this tiny throwaway moment of the voice." - Ben Brantley (2022)
"Bernadette's whole, stunning performance [as Rose in Gypsy] galvanized the actors capable of letting loose with her. Bernadette's Rose did take its rightful place, but too late, and unseen by too many who should have seen it" Arthur Laurents (2009)
"Sondheim's own favorite star performances? [Bernadette] Peters in ''Sunday in the Park,'' Lansbury in ''Sweeney Todd'' and ''obviously, Ethel was thrilling in 'Gypsy.'' Nytimes, 2000
#6Assassins revival.
Posted: 3/18/18 at 10:36pm
qolbinau said: "At the end of a recent production starring David Campbell in Sydney, the proprietor pointed to a magazine cover with the white house on it that said "Who's Next?" - then he lent back and touched a wooden board. Was this a subtle suggestion that Trump should have an assassination attempt? One of the most controversial things I think I've ever seen in a theatre.
The show has aged very, very well. It feels like it was just written, except that it is missing the last few presidents of course."
Relevant, yes. But as much as I hate Trump, I don’t want him assassinated. However, I could see people convince themselves into thinking any revival was advocating just that. That kind of backlash would likely ruin any chances this show would have at a successful revival. But maybe an immersive off-Broadway show could thrive?
BroadwayConcierge
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/24/15
#7Assassins revival.
Posted: 3/18/18 at 10:38pm
Last summer's City Center production made me realize how interminably long some of this show's book scenes are. Like, really endless. Sondheim's score is great, but not among his finest, in my opinion. I could do without a revival of this one.
#8Assassins revival.
Posted: 3/18/18 at 10:43pm
Imagine if a revival happened and Trump tweeted about the show/criticised it. It'd be the best publicity any show could ask for. They could use it on billboards and marquee quotes.
"You can't overrate Bernadette Peters. She is such a genius. There's a moment in "Too Many Mornings" and Bernadette doing 'I wore green the last time' - It's a voice that is just already given up - it is so sorrowful. Tragic. You can see from that moment the show is going to be headed into such dark territory and it hinges on this tiny throwaway moment of the voice." - Ben Brantley (2022)
"Bernadette's whole, stunning performance [as Rose in Gypsy] galvanized the actors capable of letting loose with her. Bernadette's Rose did take its rightful place, but too late, and unseen by too many who should have seen it" Arthur Laurents (2009)
"Sondheim's own favorite star performances? [Bernadette] Peters in ''Sunday in the Park,'' Lansbury in ''Sweeney Todd'' and ''obviously, Ethel was thrilling in 'Gypsy.'' Nytimes, 2000
#9Assassins revival.
Posted: 3/18/18 at 10:44pm
BroadwayConcierge said: "Last summer's City Center production made me realize how interminably long some of this show's book scenes are. Like, really endless. Sondheim's score is great, but not among his finest, in my opinion. I could do without a revival of this one."
Thanks for your input. I am intrigued by it. Do you think it would ever lend itself to an immersive production?
#10Assassins revival.
Posted: 3/18/18 at 10:48pm
qolbinau said: ""
Love the pic. Thanks! Is this from the Sydney production? I believe it also played on the West End in the last two or three years, correct?
#11Assassins revival.
Posted: 3/18/18 at 10:51pm
That is from a Sydney production, yes. And there was a production at the Menier Chocolate Factory in London a couple of years ago with Aaron Tveit as Booth (the same theatre that was the origin for the Broadway revivals of: Sunday in the Park (2008?), A Little Night Music (2009), and La Cage Aux Folles (2010).
"You can't overrate Bernadette Peters. She is such a genius. There's a moment in "Too Many Mornings" and Bernadette doing 'I wore green the last time' - It's a voice that is just already given up - it is so sorrowful. Tragic. You can see from that moment the show is going to be headed into such dark territory and it hinges on this tiny throwaway moment of the voice." - Ben Brantley (2022)
"Bernadette's whole, stunning performance [as Rose in Gypsy] galvanized the actors capable of letting loose with her. Bernadette's Rose did take its rightful place, but too late, and unseen by too many who should have seen it" Arthur Laurents (2009)
"Sondheim's own favorite star performances? [Bernadette] Peters in ''Sunday in the Park,'' Lansbury in ''Sweeney Todd'' and ''obviously, Ethel was thrilling in 'Gypsy.'' Nytimes, 2000
#12Assassins revival.
Posted: 3/18/18 at 10:55pm
qolbinau said: "Imagine if a revival happened and Trump tweeted about the show/criticised it. It'd be the best publicity any show could ask for. They could use it on billboards and marquee quotes.
"
Well, that certainly didn’t help Michael Moore’s show. Even though it was a limited run, it didn’t exactly set any box office records (not that it probably needed to as a) the overhead was likely low and b) I suspect that Moore was not on Broadway to make a huge profit).
GeorgeandDot
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/13/16
#13Assassins revival.
Posted: 3/18/18 at 10:58pmThe Menier Chocolate Factory production was glorious. It was a pretty immersive, terrifying experience. It was scary, loud, and violent. The British described our nation to a T. I would love for it to transfer with an American cast. I still have chills from the "birth of the nation" when the clown proprietor is birthed from a giant, glowing, decapitated clown doll head at the start of the show.
#14Assassins revival.
Posted: 3/18/18 at 10:58pm
qolbinau said: "That is from a Sydney production, yes. And there was a production at the Menier Chocolate Factory in London a couple of years ago with Aaron Tveit as Booth (the same theatre that was the origin for the Broadway revivals of: Sunday in the Park (2008?), A Little Night Music (2009), and La Cage Aux Folles (2010)."
Wish I could’ve seen that. I actually went to London for the first time in May 2016 and I believe I may have missed its run by a few months.
#15Assassins revival.
Posted: 3/18/18 at 11:06pm
GeorgeandDot said: "The Menier Chocolate Factory production was glorious. It was a pretty immersive, terrifying experience. It was scary, loud, and violent. The British described our nation to a T. I would love for it to transfer with an American cast. I still have chills from the "birth of the nation" when the clown proprietor is birthed from a giant, glowing, decapitated clown doll head at the start of the show."
That sounds awesome. If it got a Broadway revival who would you like to direct? Who was the director of the West End production?
#17Assassins revival.
Posted: 3/18/18 at 11:17pm
imeldasturn said: "Jamie Lloyd directed the off West End revival "
From what I know of the show, he’d seem like a great fit. I saw Doctor Faustus (starring Kit Harington) directed by Jamie Lloyd in London in May 2026. I’m looking at my framed signed poster right now. 
Consistency
Understudy Joined: 7/2/13
#18Assassins revival.
Posted: 3/18/18 at 11:56pm
It's long been one of my favorite Sondheim scores. I've only seen two community productions of it, but I think the book is actually pretty strong and holds up quite well.
Still, it'd probably be impossible to do a Broadway revival of it right now without a lot of people who haven't seen it making (false) assumptions about the meaning and message of the show.
I mean... Any major production of this show is bound to be controversial, and potential producers may welcome that to a certain extent - but it does seem like a particularly historically fraught time for it.
Or maybe I just don't want to see a show I really like smeared and dragged through the mud by ignorant, pontificating pundits.
...Now an intimate, immersive (and more under-the-radar) off-Broadway production, as someone else suggested, could work.
#19Assassins revival.
Posted: 3/20/18 at 8:10am
I love Assassins and would welcome a revival in any venue. But I wouldn't want any potential liberator to see it.
#20Assassins revival.
Posted: 3/20/18 at 8:24am
In a way, it's both a protest show and the opposite of a protest show- it's hard to stage it successfully in times of political turmoil. The message is incendiary, but easily taken in the opposite way that Sondheim intended.
KnewItWhenIWasInFron
Leading Actor Joined: 6/23/14
#21Assassins revival.
Posted: 3/20/18 at 12:06pm
A production just closed in Minneapolis and it does, indeed, feel like the show was written yesterday:
http://www.startribune.com/theater-latt-da-hits-the-bull-s-eye-with-assassins-musical/473933413/
#22Assassins revival.
Posted: 3/20/18 at 12:19pm
Assassins is one of my favorite shows of all time, but I agree: any major production in this political climate (or any, I suppose) is bound to be attacked by people who only see it at surface level, or haven't even seen it at all. It would be extremely difficult to do, and I feel like everyone involved would be tip-toeing around the whole time to make sure no one gets mad.
Fan123
Broadway Star Joined: 8/30/08
#23Assassins revival.
Posted: 3/21/18 at 3:43am
Personally, I first got to know Assassins (via cast recording and libretto) during a time of political optimism. I ended up loving the show, but beforehand I nearly passed it over altogether because of then-current events; I wasn't in the mood to process something that might have glorified political assassination (it didn't). Maybe it's a Catch-22 with this show: during good political times, newbies won't be rushing to see it; and during bad times, some will want to see it for all the wrong reasons.
#24Assassins revival.
Posted: 3/21/18 at 10:59amWho would you like to direct if this ever got a revival? Lloyd? Paulus? Doyle?
Owen22
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/24/11
#25Assassins revival.
Posted: 3/21/18 at 9:11pm
GeorgeandDot said: "The Menier Chocolate Factory production was glorious. It was a pretty immersive, terrifying experience. It was scary, loud, and violent. The British described our nation to a T. I would love for it to transfer with an American cast. I still have chills from the "birth of the nation" when the clown proprietor is birthed from a giant, glowing, decapitated clown doll head at the start of the show."
For some reason I have seen "Assassins" more times (at different theatres) than any musical (this includes all three New York City productions) If it's under 20 different productions it is JUST under. And the Menier Chocolate Factory was the greatest production of "Assassins" I have ever seen.
