"Assassins" at the Berkshire Theatre Festival

Print Story | Email Story
Rarely has a cast of actors slipped into the skin of a more desperate and menacing group of characters than those in the Berkshire Theatre Festival's production of Stephen Sondheim's "Assassins" at the Unicorn Theatre running August 6-29. The villains include John Wilkes Booth (Abraham Lincoln), Charles Guiteau (James Garfield), Leon Czolgosz (William McKinley), Guiseppe Angara (Franklin D. Roosevelt), Lynette Alice "Squeaky" Fromme (Gerald Ford), Sara Jan Kahn Moore (Gerald Ford), John Hinckley (Ronald Reagan) and Lee Harvey Oswald (John F. Kennedy). Assassins -book by John Weidman-premiered off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizons on December 18, 1990. The play opened to a sold-out run of 73 performances, but did not transfer to a larger house. The United States was on the verge of the Persian-Gulf War, and a musical about murdering the country's leader wasn't exactly in line with the rush of patriotism. In fact, it was not until the war ended and the soundtrack was released that Assassins truly began to receive critical acclaim. ASSASSINS Director Timothy Douglas returns to the BTF after directing last summer's Insurrection: Holding History. For Douglas, Sondheim's rogues are as much a product of their American cultures as are the leaders they targeted. Born in 1937, Playwright Stephen Sondheim is the winner of seven Grammy Awards, seven Tony Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and an Academy Award. His work has been featured in countless musical revues, revivals and in several feature films. Mr. Sondheim's work as a lyricist includes: West Side Story (1957), Gypsy (1959), Do I Hear a Waltz (1965) and Candide (1974). His musical and lyrical work includes: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1962), Anyone Can Whistle (1964), Company (1971), Follies (1971), A Little Night Music (1973), The Frogs (1974), Sweeney Todd (1979), Merrily We Roll Along (1980), Sunday in the Park with George (1984) and Into the Woods (1987). Sondheim also collaborated with John Weidman, who wrote the book for Assassins, in 1976 on Pacific Overtures and with George Furth on the play The Doctor is Out in 1995. His awards include the Kennedy Center Honors, the National Medal of Arts, and numerous Drama Critics Circle Awards. Mr. Sondheim was the president of the Dramatists Guild from 1973 to 1981. Director Timothy Douglas serves as the Associate Director for Actors Theatre of Louisville where he has staged A.M. Sunday, ART, Crimes of the Heart, Fit For Feet, Jitney, The Lively Lad and The Piano Lesson. His regional credits include Blues For An Alabama Sky The Crucible, Jitney and A Lesson Before Dying at Syracuse Stage, In the Blood at the Guthrie Theater, BOCON! at the Mark Taper Forum (Director in Residence 1994-'97), The Game of Love and Chance at San Jose Rep, Shakespeare's R&J, Sorrows and Rejoicings and A Raisin in the Sun at Pittsburgh's City Theatre, Portia Coughlin and The Cripple of Inishmaan at Pittsburgh Irish and Classical Theatre (Associate Artist), Valley Song at Berkeley Rep, Mules at Downstage (New Zealand), as well as projects for the New York Shakespeare Festival, Denver Center Theatre Company, ACT, Magic Theatre, ASK Theatre Projects, the Folger Shakespeare Library, Toi Whakaari (New Zealand) and the O'Neill National Playwright's Center. He has been the recipient of an Andrew W. Mellon Foundation fellowship, as well as a participant in the NEA/TCG program for directors during which time he served as Resident Director at New Dramatists. Junghyun Georgia Lee is providing both the scenic and costume design. Some of her recent works include: costume designs for Somewhere Someplace Else (Clubbed Thumb); Omnium Gatherum (Naked Angels); Siegfried's Nerve (set and costume, Target Margin Theater); Cheap Sunglasses (McCarter Theater); Heaven (Yale Repertory Theater). Currently Georgia is designing costumes for the Off-Broadway production of Omnium Gatherum. Lighting designer Thom Weaver's New York credits include: Heat Lightning, Harlem Duet, 3 O'clock in Brooklyn, That Damn Dykstra, The Transparency of Val, Rough Draft, Strangerhorse, Chen Shi-Zheng's Ghost Lovers, The Marriage of Figaro, , Kandinsky: Sounds, An Intimate Evening with Frank Wildhorn and Friends, The Normal Heart, A New Brain and The Country Wife. He received Entertainment Design Magazine's 2002 Tyro Talent for Lighting Design Award. The cast of ASSASSINS includes the following cast members previously seen in BTF's Unicorn production of Tommy: Michael Baker (John Wilkes Booth), Joe Jung (Balladeer and Lee Harvey Oswald); and Aric Martin (Charles Guiteau). Also appearing in ASSASSINS are Jill Michael (Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme); Jonathan Kay (Giuseppe Zangara); Eric Loscheider (John Hinckley); Kasey Mahaffy (Samuel Byck); Andrew Michael Neiman (Leon Czolgosz); and Megan Ofsowitz (Sara Jane Moore). Jill Michael and Joe Jung were also seen earlier this season in American Primitive. The ASSASSINS ensemble will feature the following 2003 BTF apprentices: Henry P. Cyr, University of Connecticut; Sarah Kauffman, Southwest Missouri State University; Brad Kilgore, University of Connecticut; Michael McComiskey, University of Connecticut; Lessie B. Tyson, Worcester State College; and Meg Wieder, University of Connecticut. ASSASSINS runs in the BTF's Unicorn Theatre August 6 - 29 (press opening August 7). Evening performances Monday through Saturday at 8 PM. Matinees on August 16 and August 23 at 2 PM. All tickets general admission $35. Tickets are available by calling the BTF box office at 413.298.5576. For further information and/or to purchase tickets online, visit the BTF website at www.berkshiretheatre.org.
Share
If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

Lanesborough Fifth-Graders Win Snowplow Name Contest

LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — One of the snowplows for Highway District 1 has a new name: "The Blizzard Boss."
 
The name comes from teacher Gina Wagner's fifth-grade class at Lanesborough Elementary School. 
 
The state Department of Transportation announced the winners of the fourth annual "Name A Snowplow" contest on Monday. 
 
The department received entries from public elementary and middle school classrooms across the commonwealth to name the 12 MassDOT snowplows that will be in service during the 2025/2026 winter season. 
 
The purpose of the contest is to celebrate the snow and ice season and to recognize the hard work and dedication shown by public works employees and contractors during winter operations. 
 
"Thank you to all of the students who participated. Your creativity allows us to highlight to all, the importance of the work performed by our workforce," said  interim MassDOT Secretary Phil Eng.  
 
"Our workforce takes pride as they clear snow and ice, keeping our roads safe during adverse weather events for all that need to travel. ?To our contest winners and participants, know that you have added some fun to the serious take of operating plows. ?I'm proud of the skill and dedication from our crews and thank the public of the shared responsibility to slow down, give plows space and put safety first every time there is a winter weather event."
 
View Full Story

More Stories

Sports
image description

Lee Executes Game Plan to Perfection in Quarter-Final Win

Sports
Sports
image description

Lenox Volleyball Reaches State's Final Four

Sports
Sports
image description

Mount Greylock Boys Win 3rd Straight Regional Crown

Sports
Sports
image description

Mount Greylock Girls Again Top Monson in Western Mass Final

Sports
Sports
image description

Lenox Sweeps Its Way to Western Mass Crown

Sports
Community News
image description

North Adams License Commission Sees Little Need for License...

Community News
Latest Stories
Previous Next

What's Trending?