Assassins: Killer Sondheim Show for Miranda

Miranda Musical Society is staging Stephen Sondheim’s revue-style musical Assassins, based on the men and women who have attempted, successfully or otherwise, to assassinate American presidents, at Sutherland Memorial School of Arts from June 13 – 22, 2014.

Winner of three Drama Desk Awards and five Tony Awards, including Best Revival of a Musical, Assassins features a Stephen Sondheim score and a book by John Weidman, bringing to the stage a (shooting) gallery of some of history’s most notorious men and women who have attempted to kill presidents of the United States of America.

Three members of Miranda's ‘killer cast’, Nathan Farrow (John Wilkes Booth), James Jonathon (Leon Czolgosz) and Tim Wotherspoon (Charles Guiteau), recently shared their thoughts on the show with Stage Whispers.

Why did you want to do this show?

Nathan: It’s always been one of my favourites. The dark, wry humour coupled with social commentary appeals to me. Stephen Sondheim is my favourite writer of musical theatre. I haven’t done a show for a while but this one was enough to bring me back.

James: Sondheim is known as the “Shakespeare of musical theatre” and being a Shakespeare fan myself I had to take on a Sondheim musical eventually in my career. Assassins is now my first. His shows provide three-dimensional characters with clear motivations, goals and thru line. These are the characters I am attracted to and the fact that I am playing a character (Leon Czolgosz) who actually existed (as Assassins is based on true events) is a bonus. The challenging character research and the meticulous singing required to do Sondheim’s score justice is what will make MMS’ 2014 production of Assassins an incredible experience.

What is different about this show to others you have done?

Nathan: This show is a homecoming for me. I grew up at Miranda Musical Society and was raised at the foot of the stage. This will be my first show with the company in more than ten years.

James: Most of the shows I have done have required a huge cast. For example my last 3 shows have been Jesus Christ Superstar, Oklahoma! and The Phantom of the Opera. All were performed at the Sutherland Entertainment Centre (an 800+ seat venue) and required at least 40-50 people in the cast with at least a twenty piece orchestra to bring those large production numbers to life. Assassins has a cast of approximately 20 people and an orchestra of 9 instruments at the Sutherland Memorial School of Arts (a 150+ seat venue). Much more intimate and all about the subtext in the dialogue and subtleties each actor brings to his/her character.

Tim: I tend to do traditional type musicals but the music is so intense being a Sondheim fan I have also done Sweeney Todd before which was just as theatrically dramatic.

What do you see as the challenges for producing this show?

Nathan: Sondheim always creates complex shows, complex harmonies and lyrics. He also never shies from looking deeply into the darker tensions that bind people together and to the world around them. The greatest challenge is doing justice to the material.

Tim: As with most community theatres , the challenge is to do creatively challenging work like this that engages our audiences whilst covering our costs.

James: I notice a lot of people these days, particularly the younger generation, are not a fan of the theatre in comparison to the film and TV world and even the social media world with Facebook, Twitter, etc. I think producing any theatrical show is a challenge. Therefore, they will only see the shows they know or have heard about or know such as The Lion King, The Phantom of the Opera or Wicked. Assassins does not fit those “epic” shows. What I have noticed though, particularly in Sydney, is that this city has a following for community musical theatre. Producing this show to the musical theatre fans here in Sydney and also those many Stephen Sondheim fans will be wonderful.

What do you hope the impact of this show will be on audiences?

Nathan: Firstly, I hope they’ll enjoy it, laugh, maybe even come out humming some of the tunes. More than that, I hope it prompts people to think about the society we continue to build, about who we exclude and push the margins of society, how far the dreams we sell ourselves might be from reality, and what the long term effects of that might be.

Tim: To take our audiences inside the mind of someone who thinks assassinating an American President is a good idea.

James: With art, whether it be theatre, film, TV, dance, even a pencil drawing, it must give the audience something for them to take and use in their lives. That’s our ultimate goal with theatre. To change/motivate/inspire people. To sum this show up is basically this “Violence is not the answer”. The assassins in our show had clear motives as to why they murdered (or attempted too murder) those American presidents and they (like people in today’s society) turned to violence to create attention and raise awareness. Therefore I hope our audience will walk away with a sense of understanding that change is never brought about by violence.

Who should see this show?

Tim: This show is definitely relevant for HSC students that could be studying it.

James: I think anyone who loves seeing a show that is new to them, a show that is unheard of, just basically completely fresh where they can watch the show with an open mind and not compare it to past productions. This is for them.  This production can also be considered a lesson in history accompanied to an amazing Sondheim score.

Nathan: Anyone who has ever considered killing a politician.

ASSASSINS

JUNE 13th - 22nd - SUTHERLAND MEMORIAL SCHOOL OF ARTS

Director - Garth Saville

Musical Director - Andrew Howie

Choreographer - Emma Paull

Bookings – www.mirandamusicalsociety.com.au

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