The Arts / Reviews

Green Room's 'Assassins' hits the mark

By Melissa Coulter | Wednesday, August 13, 2008 | () comments

David Turley and Melissa Anderson Clark portray John Hinckley and Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme in The Green Room Theatre's production of "Assassins." (Contributed photo)

“Assassins” is the most fun you’ll have with a history lesson. OK, the Tony Award-winning Stephen Sondheim musical is a little more Oliver Stone than American History 101. But it’s undeniably entertaining, and The Green Room Theatre’s spectacular cast makes this a must-see.

“Assassins” tells the stories of the men and women who either attempted or succeeded in assassinating a U.S. president. They are connected by the desire to be heard and taken seriously, and, in Sondheim’s world, they are spurred by John Wilkes Booth, the original presidential assassin.

Louis Hare plays Booth as a villainous mastermind and pulls the audience into the show with his famous standoff scene in a burning barn. The Balladeer (Ryan Westwood) offers guitar-accompanied objectivity to balance the rhetoric of Booth and other assassins throughout the show. Westwood is an engaging storyteller with a delightful voice.

Melissa Anderson Clark and Jackie Madunic make a comical pair (considering the subject matter, this show has plenty of laughs) as Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme and Sara Jane Moore as they plot to take out Gerald Ford. Clark, a white-clad waif, unabashedly spews the filth-riddled proclamations of her lover, Charlie Manson, as if she were quoting Bible verses. Madunic, as the giggly, gullible, uncoordinated Moore turns the non sequitur into an art form.

Along with the better-known assassins come Leon Czolgosz (Curtis Oelschlaeger), Charles Guiteau (Mark Ruebling) and Giuseppe Zangara (Michael Callahan). This is where a little encyclopedia refresher could do an audience member good. Czolgosz shot William McKinley at the 1901 Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, N.Y., using a handgun hidden in a handkerchief. Guiteau shot James A. Garfield in 1881, after the president denied him the ambassadorship to France. Zangara attempted to slay Franklin D. Roosevelt, but he killed Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak instead.

Some brilliant casting here has Callahan as an angry, anti-capitalist Italian immigrant, delusional with stomach pains. He almost foams at the mouth as he delivers his electric chair rant. The fallacy of killing for fame and notoriety is never more apparent than when Reubling’s daft and dandy Guiteau proclaims from the gallows, “I shall be remembered.”

The duet sung by Fromme and John Hinckley (David Turley), “Unworthy of Your Love,” is passionate and beautiful, and it would bring tears to your eyes if they weren’t singing about Charlie Manson and Jodie Foster, whom Hinckley stalked. It’s that warped take on everyday emotions that puts you inside the head of these assassins, even if you don’t want to be there. Songs such as “Something Just Broke,” however, bring back the perspective of average citizens struggling to cope with the murder of their leader by a madman.

Eddie Staver’s second monologue as the Santa-suited, fast-food guzzling Sam Byck strikes a timely note. As he barks a message to “Dick Nixon” into his tape recorder, he asks how he can believe either party’s election year promises. The endless lies and betrayal of trust leave him with no other option than to hijack a plane and crash it into the White House. Staver never falters as Byck goes from manic to sarcastic to angry to lost.

If there’s one thing The Green Room’s “Assassins” could use more of, it’s gunshots. Most of the toy guns used as props don’t even fire caps, which takes the tension out of what should be very uncomfortable moments for the audience.

Director Derek Bertelsen compresses “Assassins” into the intimate Green Room space with just the right balance of isolation and claustrophobia. Music Director Tyson Danner leads a quartet of able musicians accompanying a cast as adept at singing as acting. Lighting Designer Tristan Tapscott uses red gels and footlights to cast a macabre light on the murderous bunch.

Reserve your tickets well in advance for The Green Room’s “Assassins.” Two performances — 7:30 p.m. Aug. 15 and 2:30 p.m. Aug. 17 — have been added to meet demand. Friday night’s opening was sold-out before 7 p.m.

This show more than hits the mark.

IF YOU GO

What: “Assassins” by Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman

When: 7:30 p.m. Aug. 8, 9 and 15; 2:30 p.m. Aug. 9, 10 and 17

Where: The Green Room Theatre, 1611 2nd Ave., Rock Island

How much: $15

Information: (309) 786-5660 or TheGreenRoomTheatre.com

COMING UP

The Green Room Theatre’s 2008-2009 Season

-- “Misery” by Stephen King, adapted by Simon Moore, Sept. 25-28.

-- “Angels in America” by Tony Kushner. Part I: “Millennium Approaches,” Oct. 31, Nov. 1, 2 and 6-9. Part II: “Perestroika,” Dec. 5-7 and 11-14.

-- “Songs for a New World” by Jason Robert Brown, Jan. 9-11 and 16-18

-- “Steel Magnolias” by Robert Harling, Feb. 20-22, 26-28 and March 1.

-- “Doubt” by John Patrick Shanley, March 27-29 and April 2-5.

-- “Honk!” a children’s musical by George Stiles and Anthony Drewe, May 8-10 and 15-17.

-- “Hair” by James Rado, Gerome Ragni and Galt MacDermot, June 19-21 and 25-28.

-- “Cabaret” by John Knader, Fred Ebb and Joe Masteroff, July 31 and Aug. 1, 2 and 6-9, 2009.

Melissa Coulter can be contacted at (563) 383-2243 or mcoulter@qctimes.com. Comment on this review at qctimes.com/goanddo.