Assassins (1991 Original Off-Broadway Cast) [CAST RECORDING]

Eddie Korbich, Lee Wilkof, Debra Monk, William Parry, Assassins (Related Recordings), Terrence Mann, Stephen Sondheim, Victor Garber

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 13, 1991)
• Original Release Date: August 13, 1991
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Cast Recording
• Label: RCA Victor Broadway
• ASIN: B000003F3N
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (85 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #5,208 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential recording

Leave it to Stephen Sondheim to make things difficult for himself. After writing his most accessible mature musical, Into the Woods, in 1987, he collaborated with author John Weidman on an extremely disturbing topic: Assassins, which depicts the various people who tried--with or without success--to kill a United States president. The characters, ranging from John Wilkes Booth to John Hinckley Jr., all express different motivations--love, fame, freedom from tyranny, stomach pain--but are united in their frustration with the idea of the American dream and believe that killing a president is the only way to achieve it. The songs the assassins sing cover a similarly wide range of Americana, including numbers in the style of Stephen Foster and Sousa, and as is common with Sondheim's music, many of the songs could pass for enjoyable casual listening out of context. (Best example: the lovely ballad "Unworthy of Your Love" could have been a hit for the Carpenters, but it's sung by Hinckley to Jodie Foster and by Lynne "Squeaky" Fromme to Charles Manson.) Careful attention, however, reveals a work of penetrating power. In addition to the musical numbers, this original cast recording includes an 11-minute nonmusical scene in which the older assassins confront and goad Lee Harvey Oswald in the Texas School Book Depository as JFK's car approaches. Not surprisingly, the original 1991 production of Assassins ran only 73 performances and the show didn't make it to Broadway until 2004. The booklet includes production photos and full lyrics. --David Horiuchi

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Provocative Musical Look at American "Assassins", September 17, 2000

By	Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

I originally picked up this CD because I was always interested in anything Stephen Sondheim wanted to try out. I consider "Sweeny Todd" to be his operatic masterpiece, but certainly he has no more underappreciated work than "Assassins."

At a carnival shooting gallery the assassins who have tried, successfully and not, to claim the lives of American Presidents come together. Each has their chance to tell their story in their own terms. Sondheim's brilliance is that he allows each assassin their own voice, which is best evidenced on the sweet duet "Unworthy of Your Love" between John Hinckley and Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme wherein each bemoans their unworthiness to be loved by, respectively, Jodie Foster and Chalres Manson. Sondheim uses the simple melody in ironic contrast to the true meaning of the lyrics to powerful effect.

The integrity of "Assassins" comes from giving each character their say, from the vitrolic attack upon the memory of Abraham Lincoln by John Wilkes Booth ("The Ballad of Booth") to the bitter fury of Giuseppe Zangara on his way to the electric chair ("How I Saved Roosevelt").

As John Wilkes Booth, Victor Garber ("Godspell," "Sleepless in Seattle," "Titanic") is the most recognizable name in the original cast, which also includes Jace Alexander, Patrick Cassidy, Terrence Mann and Debra Monk. "Assassins" began performances at Playwrights Horizons in December 1990. John Weidman did the dialogue with Sondheim doing the lyrics and music.

What got me really hooked on this CD was the inclusion of the show's climax, "November 22, 1963," when Booth and the other assassins show up at the Texas Book Depository to persuade Lee Harvey Oswald to join their ranks. It was a masterstroke to provide this on the album, which draws together the episodes of the show and underscores the irony of the final song, a reprise of "Everybody's Got the Right."

I have seen several productions of "Assassins." Unlike most traditional Broadway shows that are packaged for the hinterlands, each production of "Assassins" is unique, with the characters open to various types of interpretation. It is fascinating to see who gets to sing which songs and where they go for jokes in each production. If you have a chance to see a production in your neck of the woods, please do so.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Powerful, original piece of musical theatre, January 29, 2004

By	Mark Andrew Lawrence "Theatre Reviewer" (Toronto) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

How is it that so many people - even Sondheim fans - do not understand this show?

It is not a traditional book musical, being more like a revue in structure but that should not upset people.

Some seem to think it glorifies (encourages?) assassination attempts. This is nonsense. It does ask audience members to take a critical look at a nation where "any person can grow up to kill the president." Could it be that some people just are not prepared to think about what is really being presented here?

Not liking the show, or not understanding it is fine, but why misrepresent what it is? ASSASSINS was NOT a flop on Broadway: THIS production never played on Broadway. It was scheduled for a limited run off-Broadway in December 1990 and January 1991, and all performances were sold out even before the run began. That makes it a hit! A new production finally brough the show to Studio 54 on April 22 and garnered RAVE reviews, even from the same critics who did not like the show in 1991! (It just goes to show waht an unpopular president and an unpopular war can do to people's perceptions!!)

In telling the stories of American Presidential assassinations (or attempted assassinations) Sondheim uses many American music forms: ballads to cakewalks to marches to bubblegum pop and each segment has its own unique flavour.

The recording is another first rate affair from RCA Victor with excellent program notes, a detailed synopsis, histories of the assassins and a full libretto. For the most part it features only the musical segments but does include the entire final scene: A dramatic showdown between Lee Harvey Oswald and the other assassins. A shame it did not include Sam Byck's two hysterical (in both senses of the word) monologues.

Some listeners object to all the dialogue that is included here. It amounts to one track that can easily be skipped. The disc does not include the number "Something Just Broke" because it was not written until the 1992 London production.

Of course the best way to appreciate ASSASSINS is to see it live in the theatre, and the current Broadway production will give people a chance to do just that.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a Wonderul Invention!, August 30, 2000

By	John Adams "Farley Flavors" (Fort Lauderdale, Florida United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I have seen many bizarre concepts for musicals. Some unique. (ie. Witches of Eastwick) Some obvious. (ie. Saturday Night Fever) And Some that are just plain pointless (ie Carrie: the Musical.) But Sondheim with his many talents have displayed to us his knack for the most surreal concepts for musicals ranging from the world of fairy tales, burlesque entertainment, and the true story of a homicidal pair who killed, cooked, and ate their victims. But in Assassins we are given, once again, a new and inventive concept, filled with lyrics and dialogue that's both dark, humorous, melancoly, and disturbingly inciteful. Probably the most powerful scene in the play is the scene enclosed in the CD whereas all the assassins of the past and future egg on Lee Harvey Oswald to turn the gun away from himself and towards the president. Along with an electric and delightful score by Sondheim. Which supplies a variety of contemporary music from each timeframe. And now for the performances. The one that sticks out the most has to be Victor Garber (Titanic, Godspell, Sweeney Todd) as disgruntled southern actor and infamous assassin John Wilkes Booth. and also Terrence Mann (Les Miserables, Cats, Chorus Line) as Czolgosz. But obviously I couldn't mention every single divinely decadent performance. So I'll leave you with the obvious statement that I leave with practically every review I leave. BUY THIS CD. LISTEN TO THIS MUSICAL.