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This is a great musical. Only about 10,000 people saw it on Broadway, but it is definitely a moving, comic series of character studies of all the men who have killed or have tried to kill a President of the USA. A truly odd, mesmerizing, and all-American Show

Unbelievable -- stunning, tragic, poignant, frightening; Sondheim and Weidman take one of the most bizarre subjects for a musical and make it totally accessible. It's a piece of theatre which doesn't just revolve around assassination, but examines what it is and what it means (or should mean) to be an American. There are moments of high hilarity (the almost vaudevillian comedy teaming of would-be Gerald Ford assassins Sara Jane Moore and "Squeaky" Fromme) as well as moments of heartbreak and pathos (the monologues of Sam Byck, who highjacked a jetliner and attempted to crash it into the White House in order to kill Richard Nixon). Certainly not a piece of musical theatre for all audiences or all tastes, but one which is compelling, innovative, and thought-provoking. A must for all fans of Stephen Sondheim's work, or for deep and complex works of theatre in general.

I have read and re-read the play, and have memorized the CD. It is quite entertaining, as well as educational. It shows us that no matter how demented a person is, they still have the right to be happy in America. It does not really stand up for the assassins, but it teaches you what they believed. I suggest anyone that likes American history either buy the CD or read the play.

Unfortunately, too few people in mainstream America have ever heard of 'Assassins' the darkly-comic musical theatre masterpiece by Stephen Soundheim and John Weidman. While it is sad, the public's apathy toward this ingeniously-written musical actually came in useful to me this past year. A participant in high school Speech, my partner and I were searching for the 'perfect' piece that would give us success, something achieved in past years, but not to the highest levels. Veterans of the Speech circuit, and this being my final year in the program, we were looking for something that would really stand out from the competition. Almost by accident, I came across a copy of 'Assassins' and soon saw its potential. Scene 16 (a seemingly-impossible exchange between Kennedy assassin Lee Harvey Oswald and Lincoln killer John Wilkes Booth) is one of the most creative scenes of any play I have ever seen, and after examination by both my partner and I, we knew we had a winner. In addition to its unusual setting (something judges love), it blended the right amount of humor, suspense, and irony to put all other speakers simply out of the race. Thanks to Soundheim and Weidman, Nick Cook and Brad Mariska (that's me!) took home first place trophies at a number of meets during the regular season and advanced through the sub-seciton, section, and state prelims, into the final round of the state speech tournament. While we didn't take home the title, we were crowned as the 5th best speech team in Minnesota, and all audience members there that day certainly agreed (despite the results) that 'Assassins' was the most unusual and interesting piece competing that day. And we couldn't be happier.

Being a Sonheim fan, I expected to like the music, and did. You need to get the CD even if you don't like the script. It stands on its own merits. My favorite: The Gun Song, a delightful little ballad about how easy it is to shoot someone. "All you have to do is crook your little finger." The script is equally compelling, though I imagine the subject matter may make it too controversial for many community theaters. (I hope not, as I intend to suggest it for next season in our little theater here.) The play does not promote assassination, nor does it present assassins in a good light. Instead, it shows these historical figures as what they are: madmen, with all the weaknesses of other humans, but somehow flawed in their logic. Consider Charles Guiteau, who assassinated President Garfield, in part to promote the sales of his book. Superficially, as good a justification as any, but, let's face it, crazy as a bedbug. The writing is superb, and the action varies from the absolutely hilarious scene between "Squeaky" Frome and Sarah Jane Moore, to the powerful confrontation between John Wilkes Booth and Lee Harvey Oswald. EXCELLENT, EXCELLENT, EXCELLENT!!!