FUSE Productions director Richard Biever refers to the upcoming production of Assassins as ‘a tough show, very in-your-face.’
In the framework of a dark, creepy carnival game, the musical takes an imaginary look into the thoughts and motivations of individuals who, successful or not, made attempts to kill American presidents. Nine attackers joined by their accomplices/supporters, a proprietor who supplies weapons, a balladeer who relates historical fact, the son of one attacker and an ensemble divulge the thought processes and actions leading to each attempted killing. The catchy, thought-provoking Stephen Sondheim score punctuates the action and expands on the character’s mental pathways.
”Assassins’ tries to highlight what these people went through that led them to believe they had no other options,’ Biever said.
John Wilkes Booth, played by FUSE lighting designer Tyler Sperrazza, sets the precedent for presidential killings.
‘It’s a challenge to find Booth’s humanity,’ Sperrazza said of the man who killed Abraham Lincoln.
In the nightmarish fantasy world of this show, Booth eventually convinces Lee Harvey Oswald, played by Justin Shondeck, to shoot Kennedy. In a video produced by FUSE, Shondeck discussed his exploration of the character and shared his thoughts.
‘Oswald tried really hard to make and to do great things, but nothing really worked out for him,’ he said, ‘the only way that he could feel worthy was to kill the president of the United States.”
Other assassins appear. They support each other’s insecurities, disappointments and twisted rationalizations. The most notable attackers include Ronald Reagan shooter John Hinckley, played by Steve Travis, and Squeaky Fromme, who tried to shoot Gerald Ford. Cat Rokavec, a veteran FUSE performer, portrays the notoriously brainwashed Charles Manson devotee Fromme.
‘Manson offered her a family,’ said Rokavec, ‘and she developed a crazy obsession with winning his approval.’
The five remaining assassins don’t typically make it into most history texts. Sam Byck (Jonathan O’Harrow) tried to kill Richard Nixon. Sara Jane Moore (Kat Shondeck) attempted and failed to kill Ford. Giuseppe Zangara (Tim Vetere) tried to kill Franklin D. Roosevelt. William McKinley’s assassin Leon Czolgosz is played by Kyler Sherman-Wilkins. Perhaps the most disturbed and disturbing of all presidential attackers, Charles Guiteau, shot James Garfield twice from behind.
‘He believed God chose him to remove the president,’ said James McCready, who plays Guiteau.
“He believed he was chatty and gregarious, but he was really creepy and no one wanted him in the room.’
Rokavec added that, while watching this show, ‘if you don’t learn about the assassins, you will learn something about yourself.’
The details of each attacker’s motivation may vary. But, as Biever explained, ‘These people confused the right to pursue happiness with the right to happiness itself.’
IF YOU GO
What: Fuse Productions’ “Assassins”
When: Tuesday, Sept. 27-Saturday, Oct. 1
Where: Penn State Downtown Theater
More info: www.fuseproductions.org
