Assassins

Assassins — Plot

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.

• Release date
• December 18, 1990
• Runtime
• 90 min
• Director
• Jerry Zaks

Assassins — Cast

Patrick Cassidy Balladeer Victor Garber John Wilkes Booth

W

William Parry Leon Proprietor Terrence Mann Leon Czolgosz Greg Germann John Hinckley Jonathan Hadary Charles Guiteau

E

Eddie Korbich Giuseppe Zangara Lee Wilkof Samuel Byck