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Assassins

Ages: 13+
Closing: February 16, 1991

Assassins - 1990 Off-Broadway History , Info & More

A multiple Tony Award-winning theatrical tour-de-force, Assassins combines Sondheim's signature blend of intelligently stunning lyrics and beautiful music with a panoramic story of our nation's culture of celebrity and the violent means some will use to obtain it, embodied by America's four successful and five would-be presidential assassins. Bold, original, disturbing and alarmingly funny, Assassins is perhaps the most controversial musical ever written.

Assassins lays bare the lives of nine individuals who assassinated or tried to assassinate the President of the United States, in a one-act historical "revusical" that explores the dark side of the American experience. From John Wilkes Booth to Lee Harvey Oswald, writers, Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman, bend the rules of time and space, taking us on a nightmarish roller coaster ride in which assassins and would-be assassins from different historical periods meet, interact and inspire each other to harrowing acts in the name of the American Dream.

Its Broadway debut in 2004 won five Tony Awards, including Best Revival of a Musical.


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Cast Set For FreeFall's Production of Sondheim and Weidman's ROAD SHOW
by Stephi Wild - Jan 23, 2025


Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman’s much-traveled musical Road Show is directed by freeFall Artistic Director Eric Davis and is the fifth Sondheim musical produced by the company.

UN DÍA COMO HOY…: ¡Felicidades, STEPHEN SONDHEIM y ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER!
by Jose German Martinez Paneque - Mar 22, 2018


Hoy comparten cumpleaños los grandisimos compositores Stephen Sondheim y Andrew Lloyd Webber, sin los cuales el Teatro Musical no habria sido el mismo, y hacemos un repaso por sus carreras y, sobre todo, por las producciones que se han hecho en España de sus obras.

BWW Feature: Sondheim's Most Hummable Songs
by Matt Tamanini - Jan 25, 2015


After seeing the new INTO THE WOODS movie twice over the holidays, I posted on Twitter about how two of the songs had stuck with me. After a tweet conversation, my BWW colleague Jeff Walker and I decided to put our heads together to try and come up with a list of Sondheim's most hummable tunes. Despite not discussing it beforehand, Jeff ended up picking songs from the 1960s and 70s, and I filled in the gaps with numbers from the 80s and 90s.

FLASH SPECIAL: Sondheim By The Decade, Part 3 - 1990s & 2000s
by Pat Cerasaro - Dec 26, 2014


The feature film adaptation of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's beloved fairy tale musical INTO THE WOODS is coming to movie theaters nationwide on Christmas Day and BroadwayWorld celebrates the man behind the music and lyrics with a new series highlighting the work of the iconic composer and lyricist, finishing today with a look at his work in the 1990s and 2000s.

ROAD SHOW Comes to Theatre Rhinoceros, Now thru 2/19
by BWW News Desk - Jan 2, 2014


Theatre Rhinoceros presents the Bay Area Premiere of the Stephen Sondheim Musical ROAD SHOW, featuring Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and Book by John Weidman, and running today, January 2 - 19, 2014.

ROAD SHOW Comes to Theatre Rhinoceros, 1/2-19
by BWW News Desk - Dec 16, 2013


Theatre Rhinoceros presents the Bay Area Premiere of the Stephen Sondheim Musical ROAD SHOW, featuring Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and Book by John Weidman, and running January 2 - 19, 2014

AUDIO: Vintage Stephen Sondheim Interview from IN THE ROOM
by Nicole Rosky - Feb 27, 2012


The Dramatists Guild of America presents its In the Room series, broadcasting archived audio, unheard by the public since their original recording. In the Room features some of the most influential and celebrated playwrights, composers and lyricists in American theatre, sharing their insight to craft, process and personal stories behind creating some of their most celebrated work. Featured this week is a vintage interview with theatre legend Stephen Sondheim as he chats about lyrics back in 1971.

Spend An Evening With Sondheim At Indiana University 4/30
by BWW News Desk - Apr 30, 2009


Composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim, widely considered the most influential artist working in American musical theater over the past half-century, will visit Indiana University in April at the invitation of IU's Department of Theatre and Drama.

Spend An Evening With Sondheim At Indiana University 4/30
by Gabrielle Sierra - Mar 26, 2009


Composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim, widely considered the most influential artist working in American musical theater over the past half-century, will visit Indiana University in April at the invitation of IU's Department of Theatre and Drama.

THE FIREBRAND OF FLORENCE Begins 3/12
by BWW News Desk - Mar 12, 2009


On March 12, 2009 at 7:00 p.m., The Collegiate Chorale appears with The New York City Opera Orchestra at the newly renovated Alice Tully Hall in a performance of Kurt Weill and Ira Gershwin's 1945 Broadway operetta The Firebrand of Florence. The performance, led by guest conductor Ted Sperling, stars baritone Nathan Gunn, soprano Anna Christy, baritone Terrence Mann, and soprano Victoria Clark. Krysty Swann, David Pittu and Patrick Goss complete the cast, and narration will be provided by Stage Director Roger Rees. Boasting a score by Kurt Weill, lyrics by Ira Gershwin, and a book by playwright and screenwriter Edwin Justus Mayer, The Firebrand of Florence had a short run on Broadway in 1945. The work was subsequently not heard for over a half-century until three presentations - Ohio Light Opera (1999), the BBC Symphony Orchestra in London (2000) and the Radio Symphony Orchestra in Vienna (2000) - shed new light on the relatively obscure work. The performances were not only accepted, but widely acclaimed, thus giving hope for a new life in a new century. Variety's theater critic Steven Suskin says 'I have long believed that Firebrand in concert should be a dazzling delight.' Benvenuto Cellini, the great Florentine artist, is sentenced to hang, but he is pardoned when the duke realizes that he has not completed a previously commissioned sculpture. Freed, he is able to turn his attention to his favorite model (and object of his affections), Angela. The Duke also is interested in Angela. In a typical operetta plot, Cellini swashbuckles around the stage, keeping the Duke away from Angela, keeping himself away from the Duchess, and escaping yet another death sentence by fleeing to Paris, as the end of the show recapitulates the beginning.

THE FIREBRAND OF FLORENCE Begins 3/12
by Gabrielle Sierra - Jan 26, 2009


On March 12, 2009 at 7:00 p.m., The Collegiate Chorale appears with The New York City Opera Orchestra at the newly renovated Alice Tully Hall in a performance of Kurt Weill and Ira Gershwin's 1945 Broadway operetta The Firebrand of Florence. The performance, led by guest conductor Ted Sperling, stars baritone Nathan Gunn, soprano Anna Christy, baritone Terrence Mann, and soprano Victoria Clark. Krysty Swann, David Pittu and Patrick Goss complete the cast, and narration will be provided by Stage Director Roger Rees. Boasting a score by Kurt Weill, lyrics by Ira Gershwin, and a book by playwright and screenwriter Edwin Justus Mayer, The Firebrand of Florence had a short run on Broadway in 1945. The work was subsequently not heard for over a half-century until three presentations - Ohio Light Opera (1999), the BBC Symphony Orchestra in London (2000) and the Radio Symphony Orchestra in Vienna (2000) - shed new light on the relatively obscure work. The performances were not only accepted, but widely acclaimed, thus giving hope for a new life in a new century. Variety's theater critic Steven Suskin says 'I have long believed that Firebrand in concert should be a dazzling delight.' Benvenuto Cellini, the great Florentine artist, is sentenced to hang, but he is pardoned when the duke realizes that he has not completed a previously commissioned sculpture. Freed, he is able to turn his attention to his favorite model (and object of his affections), Angela. The Duke also is interested in Angela. In a typical operetta plot, Cellini swashbuckles around the stage, keeping the Duke away from Angela, keeping himself away from the Duchess, and escaping yet another death sentence by fleeing to Paris, as the end of the show recapitulates the beginning.

Assassins History

Other Productions of Assassins

1989   New York Reading
New York
1990   Off-Broadway Original Off-Broadway Production
Off-Broadway
1992   Regional (US) Regional Revival
Regional (US)
1992   West End London Revival
West End
2001   Broadway Roundabout Revival [Cancelled]
Broadway
2004   Broadway Roundabout Revival
Broadway
West End London
West End
2017   Off-Broadway Encores! Off-Center Revival
Off-Broadway

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