Assassins

Overview

This darkly satirical musical reframes American history through the eyes of those who attempted – successfully or not – to kill US presidents. Structured as a surreal carnival sideshow, the piece weaponises American musical traditions – vaudeville, folk ballads, barbershop quartets, patriotic Sousa-style marches and Bacharach pop – to undercut the myth of the “American Dream,” exposing how frustration, alienation and entitlement can curdle into violence. By giving voice to figures from John Wilkes Booth to Lee Harvey Oswald, Assassins invites audiences not to condone their acts but to confront the unsettling continuity between personal disillusionment and national mythology, turning the musical stage into a mirror for America’s darkest obsessions.

Cast

Patrick Cassidy

Balladeer

Victor Garber

John Wilkes Booth

N/A

William Parry Leon

Proprietor

Terrence Mann

Leon Czolgosz

Greg Germann

John Hinckley

Jonathan Hadary

Charles Guiteau

N/A

Eddie Korbich

Giuseppe Zangara

Lee Wilkof

Samuel Byck

Annie Golden

Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme

Debra Monk

Sara Jane Moore

Jace Alexander

Lee Harvey Oswald

N/A

Marcus Olsen

David Herold