Gunslinger Limbo Takes Aim North of the River
Review by Daniel Greenways
Music & Lyrics: Stephen Sondheim
Libretto: John Weidman
Concept by: Charles Gilbert Jr.
Director: Sarah Dowling
Music Director: Mackenzie Tennessen
Choreographer: Samantha Ketsa
Cast: Cameron Chapman, Brian Christensen, Alyson Horne, Anthony Hurst, Bella King, Nico Maionara, Damon Pitcher, Dustyn Tennessen, Michael Vetsch, Aran Wilson-McAnally
Stage Manager: Kandice Laurie
ArtsHub Ortona (Venue 36)
until August 23
(Real) Runtime: 98 minutes
★★★☆☆ 3/5 stars
Ever since its off-Broadway premiere in 1990, Assassins has been a cold-blooded killer in the musical scene. Its concept is daring, its arrangement is rich and inventive, and it rides on that evergreen critique: the American dream and its malcontents. The musical puts the spotlight on nine presidential assassins (in some cases, would-be assassins). Before your very eyes are the people whose names are etched in infamy from John Wilkes Booth, who assassinated Lincoln, to John Hinckley, who attempted to assassinate Reagan in 1981.
After this, the musical does not include any further assassination attempts (because they hadn’t happened yet, and that’s how theatre works), but the audience must have been musing about how Thomas Matthew Crooks might fit into the picture after he attempted to assassinate Trump one year ago. As we learn, he would have no trouble joining this group, who see themselves as reflections of the zeitgeist; a cult of misfits and outcasts who each contributed to the direction of history in their own way. We watch as they stage their assassinations, from conception to execution, and how they pat each other on the back along the way. As they see things, this is part of a great revolution for the oppressed; another national anthem, as they put it.
The musical was composed by the legendary Stephen Sondheim, a monolith in the American musical world. After writing the lyrics to West Side Story in his 20s, he led a star-studded career and became one of the leading composers and lyricists in the second half of the 20th century. Assassins was one of his later productions. His music is not just invigorating, but extremely challenging to perform. He is probably the most recognizable composer who uses polyphony and chromaticism in almost every number. One must always tip their cap when a young troupe decides to stage his work.
The Edmonton production was put on by Uniform Theatre, which is closely linked to MacEwan’s Theatre Arts program, being founded by alumni (under a different name) in 2012, and running a cast mostly made of MacEwan alumni to this day. They mention in their program that they will be producing a full season of musical theatre soon, so we must keep our eyes peeled!
Despite the difficulty of their source material, the young troupe carried the show’s vocals quite well. Perhaps the best singer was Aran Wilson-McAnally, who played the chipper ‘Balladeer’ and showed great range as the production evolved. About half of Assassins is spoken, and there were many actors who shone in these sections. Some highlights included Michael Vetsch’s depiction of Samuel Byck which was naturally funny and rolled with a very real tension. Bella King’s performance radiated with the aura of Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme’s obsession with Charles Manson, and managed to convert her naïve cult follower vibes into some really funny moments. Cameron Chapman brought a clarified anger and a keen authenticity to his depiction of Giuseppe Zangara. One would also be remiss not to mention Nico Maiorana’s performance as John Wilkes Booth, which was an iron from the fire and bore a kind of consistency that seemed to come from Booth’s own generation.
The ensemble was brave and electrified, but unfortunately their mics and speakers were not quite as electric. One major challenge in the production was the audio mix. Sitting near the middle of the audience, quite far from the band, the music was so loud and unbalanced that it was impossible to understand about 1/3 of the lyrics, especially in louder numbers. The fault here is probably shared between the sound design and technical limitations of the brick venue, which has tough acoustics and no easy place for the orchestra to be housed.
Another issue was the production’s set, which was rather bare. This is more than an aesthetic quip. It’s true that, at most Fringe productions, audiences are used to black-box sets and creative workarounds due to the need to strike the stage within minutes of the curtain. This is no big deal, as minimal sets can lead to some real gems, but they need to retain and evoke what is essential about the play’s setting. When done right, little is lost and much is gained. The strange thing, here, is that Assassins is the only show running at the Ortona, so they could have put much more on stage than a few boxes and a window. Sure, these set-pieces come to serve a notable scene near the end of the play, but there are numerous scenes in the script that would seriously benefit from some degree of set development. The most glaring example is the opening, which is supposed to be set in a fairground shooting gallery. In many productions of the play, this fairground set is omnipresent, since the idea of a carnival game, and its metaphorical prize-shelf, are driving motivations for the characters and create a certain satirical distance from the heavy subject matter. Apart from an outfit that the ‘Proprietor’ dons partway through the opening number, this symbolism was basically lost in the Uniform production. Without it, the play’s guns were no longer artifacts from a game in a carnivalesque midway, but had to be read as literal guns distributed by an ephemeral personification of America. Not entirely incorrect, but lacking much of the poetry in Gilbert Jr.’s concept.
Nevertheless, the brilliant, provocative nature of Assassins shone through in many scenes, and much of the audience gave a standing ovation. If you like musicals, you must race to buy tickets, as all but the last night are sold out.
