"Tales of the gun"
Newsday
April 16, 2004
By Blake Green
photo Ari Mintz

The controversial musical 'Assassins,' yet another ominous Stephen Sondheim work, recalls the successful and failed attempts on the lives of American presidents.

For actors who prefer to play the villain, "Assassins" is a feast: There are few others but villains in the musical by Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman, making its long-delayed Broadway debut Thursday at the Roundabout Theatre's Studio 54. The dark plot concerns nine lost souls, each intent on assassinating an American president.

As history attests, four of the assassins were successful. For their efforts, of the nine, one was hanged, two were electrocuted, two were shot to death - although not as court-sanctioned executions - one killed himself and three remain in prison. It may not be a pretty picture - but it's an enticing one.

"I was drawn to it because of the outrageous subject matter," says Michael Cerveris, who is playing Abraham Lincoln assassin, John Wilkes Booth.

Lee Harvey Oswald, who killed John F. Kennedy and rivals Booth for king of this unsavory heap, is portrayed by Neil Patrick Harris, who says "the fact that some love the show and some hate it is terrific."

Even the character known as the Proprietor, who runs the tawdry carnival midway that features the shooting gallery where the assassins hang out, is despicable. "C'mere and kill a president," goads Marc Kudisch as he spins a wheel of chance. When an assassin scores, the board lights up. When an attempt fails, taunts ring out, such as "Gee, honey, I forgot to duck," uttered by Ronald Reagan after John Hinckley shot and wounded him.

To master the use of their one essential prop - the gun - the cast was sent to "a kind of gun tutorial," says Alexander Gemignani, who plays Hinckley. "I'd never even picked up a gun before." At Jauchem & Meeh Inc., a theatrical special-effects company in Brooklyn, they learned about gun safety - crucial even when only blanks are fired.

"Before we had that session, we were like kids brandishing toys," says Jeffrey Kuhn, who plays Giuseppe Zangara, Franklin D. Roosevelt's would-be assassin. "Then everything changed. There was a newfound respect." Several cast members were surprised to discover that holding a gun "felt very empowering," Kuhn says.

"Like the song says, 'All you have to do is move your little finger ... and you can change the world,'" says James Barbour, who sings "Gun Song" as Leon Czolgosz, William McKinley's assassin.

"Assassins" has had a star-crossed journey to Broadway. It received mixed reviews when it debuted at Playwrights Horizon in 1991 during the first Gulf War. The following year, Sam Mendes staged a successful production in London.

The production scheduled for Broadway in 2001 was canceled after the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center only a few days before rehearsals were to start. The show includes a vignette about Sam Byck, who had planned to kill Richard Nixon by crashing a jet into the White House.

Director Joe Mantello and most of the cast hung on through the subsequent delay, juggling other projects. "It was always the thing I wanted to do over many things," says Becky Ann Baker, who plays Sara Jane Moore, whose shot at Gerald Ford in 1975 was deflected by a bystander.

JOHN HINCKLEY JR.
Target: Ronald Reagan, March 30, 1981, outside the Washington (D.C.) Hilton.

Outcome: Hinckley fired six shots, wounding Reagan and three others. He was found not guilty by reason of insanity and has been committed to a mental hospital in Washington. He was recently granted unsupervised visits with his parents outside the hospital.

Background: A 26-year-old loner, Hinckley had become obsessed with actress Jodie Foster and decided to impress her with a presidential assassination. He first stalked Jimmy Carter but was arrested at an airport with handguns in his luggage.

Actor: Alexander Gemignani, whose father, Paul Gemignani, is Sondheim's longtime collaborator and this show's musical director.

Preparation: Watched video footage, read books about assassinations and "Breaking Points" by Hinckley's parents.

Perspective: "The most interesting thing to me is that his parents didn't have any idea; they were more shocked than anyone. They thought he was just shy and quiet. All the characters have a sympathetic side; you find part of you identifying with them, and you have to remind yourself you're not as troubled as these people are.

SARA JANE MOORE
Target: Gerald Ford, Sept. 22, 1975, outside a hotel in San Francisco.

Outcome: A bystander deflected her shot. Moore is also serving a life sentence.

Background: Moore, 45, had many careers, political interests and ex-husbands. Having been exposed as an FBI informant, she was trying to re-enlist as a political radical.

Actor: Becky Ann Baker. Preparation: Read "American Assassins" and scoured the Internet. Perspective: "She was grabbing at a lot of possibilities out of some kind of need. I think what she really wanted was what happened: to get arrested. She didn't want to kill Ford. She'd called the police and told them she was going to shoot him. I think this piece is an overview of the disenfranchisement and powerlessness that we all feel."

GIUSEPPE ZANGARA
Target: Franklin D. Roosevelt, Feb. 15, 1933, in Miami.

Outcome: Bullet missed Roosevelt, hit and killed Chicago Mayor Anton Cernak. Zangara, 33, was electrocuted in March 1933.

Background: Long a sufferer of chronic stomach pains, which he blamed on the upper classes, Zangara, 33, had plotted to kill Italian King Victor Emmanuel III before he immigrated into the United States. He initially planned to kill Herbert Hoover, then FDR.

Actor: Jeffrey Kuhn.

Preparation: Read "The Five Weeks of Giuseppe Zangara," which includes previously classified government files and his prison diaries.

Perspective: "As an immigrant myself [Canadian], I sometimes also feel frustrated as an outsider. I was surprised at how moved I am by all their plights. Their struggles are not unlike things all of us experience. The difference is the degree it affects them and how they chose to react."

JOHN WILKES BOOTH
Target: Abraham Lincoln, April 14, 1865, during a performance at Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C.

Outcome: Lincoln died a few hours later from gunshot wounds. Booth escaped but was discovered two weeks later hiding in a Virginia barn and was killed.

Background: A well-known actor, Booth, 27, was an ardent supporter of the Confederacy who previously had plotted to kidnap Lincoln.

Actor: Michael Cerveris, like his character, is a native of Maryland and the brother of another actor.

Preparation: Read a collection of Booth's writings, including his journal when he was on the run. His brother has written a one-man show about Booth.

Perspective: "He thought his world was being destroyed by a president he felt had grossly abused his power. I discovered Lincoln was not the much-loved and admired president we think of today."

LEE HARVEY OSWALD
Target: John F. Kennedy, Nov. 22, 1963, in Dallas during a motorcade.

Outcome: Kennedy was assassinated and Gov. John Connally was wounded. Oswald, who had fired from the Texas School Book Depository where he worked, escaped and killed a police officer. Two days later, after his arrest, he was killed by nightclub proprietor Jack Ruby. The Warren Commission ruled that Oswald was the sole assassin, but conspiracy theories abound.

Background: Oswald, 24, was a former Marine who became a Marxist and lived briefly in the Soviet Union.

Actor: Neil Patrick Harris.

Preparation: Read books on JFK's assassination, bought tape of Oswald's only radio interview.

Perspective: "He was a sad individual. So many of the conspiracy theories just don't interest me, but I did too much research. The director kept reminding me I was complicating things, so he ended up a much more simple person than he actually was."

SAMUEL BYCK
Target: Richard Nixon, Feb. 22, 1974, at Baltimore-Washington International Airport.

Outcome: Byck's intention was to hijack a plane and crash it into the White House. He killed a guard, forced his way onto a Delta flight for Atlanta, killed the co-pilot and wounded the pilot. The plane never left the ground; he was shot by guards, then killed himself.

Background: Byck, 44, was an unemployed sales- man recently divorced. He had picketed the White House in a Santa Claus suit and had sent tapes to celebrities outlining his hijacking plan.

Actor: Mario Cantone, also 44.

Preparation: Read James Clarke's "American Assassins." Watched a TV documentary about Byck. Listened to some of Byck's tapes.

Perspective: "It's amazing that he had this plan long before the 9/11 terrorists. He was a pathetic person who couldn't hold on to anything. One of the big points in the play is what happens when things seem out of our control."

LYNETTE "SQUEAKY" FROMME
Target: Gerald Ford, Sept. 5, 1975, outside a hotel in Sacramento, Calif.

Outcome: Fromme pulled the trigger, but there was no ammunition in the chamber of her gun. She was immediately captured and is serving a life sentence.

Background: Fromme, 27, of Santa Monica, Calif., was an enthusiastic member of the Manson Family cult. She sought publicity for his political theories; her plan involved having him testify at her trial, but he did not. Actress: Mary Catherine Garrison.

Preparation: Read books about the Manson Family, watched documentaries, visited Fromme's Web site and corresponded with her in prison.

Perspective: "I had read so much about her she really doesn't scare me. Even if she is a criminal, I am sympathetic. She's a good writer. I'm not saying she doesn't have a screw loose, but she was so angry and frustrated with the bureaucracy. A lot of these characters just wanted someone to hear them."

CHARLES GUITEAU
Target: James Garfield, July 2, 1881, at the Washington, D.C., train station.

Outcome: Garfield, president for less than a year, died 2 1/2 months later. Guiteau, 33, was hanged the following year.

Background: A lawyer, evangelical preacher and writer, Guiteau had been a Garfield supporter. Considered emotionally unstable, he believed he should be named the ambassador to France.

Actor: Denis O'Hare, Tony winner for "Take Me Out."

Preparation: Read books. Grew a beard. Perspective: "He was unqualified and insane. But I have real empathy for him. He felt he was going on to a wonderful redemption. I don't think this play has a political agenda."

LEON CZOLGOSZ
Target: William McKinley, Sept. 6, 1901, at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo.

Outcome: McKinley died eight days later. Czolgosz was electrocuted less than two months afterward.

Background: The son of poor Polish immigrants, Czolgosz, 28, went to work in a factory at 10 and became interested in socialism, particularly the teachings of anarchist Emma Goldman. He claimed McKinley was "an enemy of the good working people."

Actor: James Barbour.

Preparation: Books and Internet research. Has a photograph in his dressing room of a badly beaten Czolgosz after his capture. Tried to buy replica of Czolgosz's revolver.

Perspective: "He was so committed and passionate, actually quite intelligent. He wasn't insane. My justification for playing such a horrific character is to bring to life a folly. The only person [this act] did any service was Teddy Roosevelt," who became president.

WHEN&WHERE The Roundabout Theatre's production of "Assassins" is in previews at Studio 54, 254 W. 54th St., and opens Thursday. Call 212-719-1300, or visit www.roundabouttheatre.org.

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