What goes through the mind of a madman before he commits his defining act? What drove John Wilkes Booth, for example, to slink into the presidential booth at Ford’s Theatre and put a bullet in the back of Abraham Lincoln’s head? Assassins, a revue-style musical with book by John Weidman and music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, examines the motivations of nine presidential assassins - successful or attempted - and their place in history. The show is being performed at Saint Joseph’s University through October 28. It’s said that bad reviews sent Booth over the edge and into madness; based on the quality of the performances in Cap & Bells’ version of the play, there is little danger of inspiring a new killer.

That is not to say that the show itself is flawless. It’s far from Sondheim’s best work - his lyrics are choppy and his melodies awkward in most numbers - and the scripted vignettes that lead into each assassination are in most cases less than affecting, with the exception of the final scene, where the assassins team up on Lee Harvey Oswalt and convince him to pull the trigger on JFK. But the quality of the acting in this particular production raises the standards of the source material and makes it watchable, and in the last scene making it a tense, emotional experience.

David Sucharski is a delightfully mad presence on stage, playing Booth with a quiet reserve that keeps him relatable throughout the play. Nick Virginio, as would-be James Garfield assassin Charles Guiteau, is a surprising comic presence, devouring the scenery in each of his appearances. Mark Maher and Matthew Duncan, as John Hinckley (Reagan) and Samuel Byck (Nixon), respectively, fully embrace their character studies and turn in extremely convincing performances. Rob Mateja ties the characters together as the Balladeer; his relaxed tenor is among the best singing in the show.

Technically, the production missteps as often as it succeeds, the former largely due to the inclusion of a projection screen casting PowerPoint images, distracting from the action onstage, and canned dialogue that plays back with distortion over the sound system. Digital technology can either be the best friend or the worst enemy of a stage play; here, it botches the best efforts of the actor’s performances.

Nearly done in by the unnecessary additions under the hood, Cap & Bells’ production of Assassins is a satisfying experience to watch, as the actors carry what is otherwise just an average show.

Trackback This Post | Subscribe to the comments through RSS Feed