Assassins

About

With innovative style, Stephen Sondheim unites nine real-life assassins across history to tell stories of the motivations, dreams and justifications behind their actions. Disturbing, daring and touching, this highly modern use of the musical form has received mixed reception from audiences all over the world. Its bold imagining of the people behind such violence brought it to Broadway in 2004, earning it five Tonys, 14 years after its original Off-Broadway run in 1990. Based on an idea by Charles Gilbert Jr., Sondheim invited collaborator John Weidman to write the book for the revue-style show, which addresses the uncharacteristic material in the style of a violent carnival game. It is an investigation of the American Dream, how we decide what gives our lives meaning, and what it means to be an outsider.