DARK HORSE COMPANY THEATRE enthusiastically announces their production of the bold, timely and disturbingly funny, ASSASSINS, by Stephen Sondheim, directed by Anne Stewart Mark with musical direction by Steven Barlow.
“It’s a tragi-comic musical about nine Americans who attempted to assassinate the President of the United States.”
On paper, Assassins sounds like a hard sell. It shouldn’t be. Assassins represents a high water mark in the work of composer Stephen Sondheim. The score echoes the most tuneful, appealing chapters of the American songbook, from Steven Foster to The Carpenters. The music of Assassins evokes the sound of the American heart. Musically speaking, Assassins is a classic. The story and the subject matter, however, are unmistakably dark.
Assassins focuses on uncomfortable chapters of our history; it invites the audience to listen to—and even sympathize with—a handful of Americans who believed that things had gone so wrong for themselves, their careers, and their country that the only course of action was to shoot the President. But Assassins is far more than a history lesson. It may have been 33 years since the last publicized attempt when John Hinckley took a shot at Ronald Reagan, but the idea persists. Take a quick look at your Twitter feed. Enter an inflammatory hashtag and see how many people have posted a threat, veiled or outright, on the life of President Obama. The number is higher than you care to think. Assassins is a much-needed look at the dark heart of America.
We live in a nation split along partisan lines, that faces a growing economic divide, whose citizens desperately wrangle with the boundaries of the Second Amendment following the tragedy at Sandy Hook. Our shared vision for the country has blurred—there are as many American Dreams as there are Americans. Assassins shines a light on a part of our history and a part of ourselves that we would rather ignore. It gives us the chance to explore a perspective other than our own, however disturbing. Isn’t that what the Theatre is for?
Assassins plays February 14-17th at the Ziegfeld Theatre in Ogden, Utah $17- $20 per ticket
And February 28th-March 3rd at the Rose Wagner Theatre in Salt Lake City. $25 per ticket
To purchase tickets and for more information:www.darkhorsecompanytheatre.
Cast List:
The Balladeer…………………
John Wilkes Booth…………………….
Charles Guiteau…………………..
Leon Czolgosz………………….
Giuseppe Zangara…………………..
Lee Harvey Oswald……………………
Samuel Byck……………………..
John Hinckley………………….
Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme……………………
Sara Jane Moore…………………….
Proprietor/Ensemble………..
Emma Goldman/Ensemble…………..
Herold……………………
Ensemble………………….
Ensemble………………….
Boy………………………
Artistic Team:
Director – Anne Stewart Mark
Music Director – Steven Barlow
Set Designer –Daniel Simons
Lighting Designer – Gamyr Worf
Projections Designer – Arika Schockmel
Properties Designer – Curtis Kidd
Costume Designer – Aaron Swenson
Sound Designer – Mike Dupaix
Stage Manager – William Richardson
Post expires at 12:00am on Monday March 4th, 2013