by Michael Buzzelli
“Only Connect” – E. M. Forster
A Balladeer (Asher Alcantara) summons America’s most infamous ne’er-do-wells, presidential assassins (including some almost assassins), onto a stage as they recount their tales (manifestos) in Stephen Sondheim and John Weidner’s off-Broadway “Assassins.”
Playwright Charles Gilbert Jr. revolves his play around a malevolent cabal of notorious villains, which include John Wilkes Booth (Allan Snyder), Charles J. Guiteau (Connor Bahr), Giuseppe Zangara (Anthony Marino), John Hinckley, Jr. (Corwin Stoddard), Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme (Mae Ryness), Sam Byck (J. Alex Noble), Sara Jane Moore (Zanny Laird), Leon Czolgosz (Griffin Frye) and Lee Harvey Oswald (Alcantara in a duel role).
All of these sad assassins are looking to connect. Unfortunately, they use violence and murder instead of finding more socially acceptable ways to express their opinions. In the shooting gallery (our stage), the public enemies get to redress their issues through monologues and song. Not all of these crackpots were crack shots.
For example, Sam Byck, a South Philly dropout, sent recorded tapes to Leonard Bernstein delineating his plan to crash a plane into the White House in the hopes of killing then-president Richard M. Nixon. “Assassins” turns the recordings (or the idea of the recordings, since they aren’t completely canon) into madcap monologues, brilliantly recited by Noble. Byck was arrested before he could complete his mission.
In the song, “The Ballad of Booth,” wherein John Wilkes Booth, laying the entirety of the Civil War at Lincoln’s feet, laments, “Damn you, Lincoln,
And damn the day. You threw the ‘U’ out Of U.S.A!”
In “Assassins,” timelines converge and overlap, and Booth gives a speech to Oswald in the book depository. Squeaky Fromme and Sara Jane Moore bond over a shot-up bucket of KFC.
The actors are on point here, doing amazing work. Everyone in the ensemble gets their shot in the spotlight. It’s a high-caliber cast, including the ensemble. If you rifle through the digital program, you can grab the names of your favorite cast or crew members.
Alacantara is shooting toward stardom with his nuanced portrayal of a conflicted Lee Harvey Oswald. His job as the Balladeer is strong, resonant, and beautiful. His rendition (along with Snyder) of “The Ballad of Booth” is mesmerizing.
Snyder’s Booth is a stately, measured man who wants the world to regard him as a hero, but, sadly, he goes into the annals of history as a notorious gunman yelling “Sic Semper Tyrannis!” after slaying the Log Cabin Republican.
Noble is firing on all cylinders as Byck. He gets to have several rambunctious rants throughout the play, peppering his monologue with pop-culture aphorisms, all while dressed as a deranged Kris Kringle in a disheveled Santa suit. He’s killing it as the attempted murderer.
You can’t muzzle Bahr. His over-the-top rendition of Guiteau contains genius, madness, and magic. It’s a delightfully loony performance.
Laird brings the far-out hippie chick vibe to the proceedings as the granola-crunching attempted murderer Sara Jane Moore. Laird and Ryness have great chemistry together (both Moore and Fromme attempted to kill President Gerald Ford within days of one another).
Stoddard does his personal best as the Jodie Foster-loving Hinckley.
Frye gives an excellent performance as Leon Czolgosz. He, along with Alacantara, are faces to watch.
Without an intermission, the musical barrels to a conclusion with rapid-fire pacing from director Michael McKelvey. McKelvey designed sound and stage. He draws out brilliant work from most of his actors.
The set is a beautifully constructed carnival arcade shooting gallery game, and the masterful period costumes from Sydney de Haan are exquisite touches to the whole production.
There are some Trigger warnings (figurative and literal); aside from the very loud gunshots, themes of child abuse, murder, racism, and suicide are woven into the DNA of “Assassins.” It’s no secret that John Wilkes Booth is a racist, but it’s easy (rightfully so) to recoil from the character when you hear a white man shouting racial epithets. Please note: There are unnerving moments when the guns are pointed out into the audience.
Musicals like “1776” and “Hamilton” focus on America’s bloody history with people regarded as famous heroes. “Assassins” swings in the opposite direction and takes a deep dive into history’s villains. The show starts with a bang and never lets up. It’s a total blast.
Some people will tell you that the arts in Pittsburgh are diminishing. While some great venues may have been paved over, flowers are blooming between the cracks. Rogue Artists Theatre of Pittsburgh & Doctuh Mistuh Productions burst forth from the concrete with a beautiful, black bouquet.
If you like dark, mad musicals with a whimsical and sly sense of humor, you might be the target audience for “Assassins.” You should get a rea bang out of it.
-MB
“Assassins” runs until Sunday, August 23, at the Greer Cabaret Theatre, 655 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15222. For additional information and tickets, click here.
