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Assassins (1990)
This darkly satirical musical reframes American history through the eyes of those who attempted – successfully or not – to kill US presidents. Structured as a surreal carnival sideshow, the piece weaponises American musical traditions – vaudeville, folk ballads, barbershop quartets, patriotic Sousa-style marches and Bacharach pop – to undercut the myth of the “American Dream,” exposing how frustration, alienation and entitlement can curdle into violence. By giving voice to figures from John Wilkes Booth to Lee Harvey Oswald, Assassins invites audiences not to condone their acts but to confront the unsettling continuity between personal disillusionment and national mythology, turning the musical stage into a mirror for America’s darkest obsessions.
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Movie Information
This darkly satirical musical reframes American history through the eyes of those who attempted – successfully or not – to kill US presidents. Structured as a surreal carnival sideshow, the piece weaponises American musical traditions – vaudeville, folk ballads, barbershop quartets, patriotic Sousa-style marches and Bacharach pop – to undercut the myth of the “American Dream,” exposing how frustration, alienation and entitlement can curdle into violence. By giving voice to figures from John Wilkes Booth to Lee Harvey Oswald, Assassins invites audiences not to condone their acts but to confront the unsettling continuity between personal disillusionment and national mythology, turning the musical stage into a mirror for America’s darkest obsessions.
Rating:
Genre:
Written By:
In Theaters:12/18/1990
Box Office:
Runtime:90 minutes
Studio:
Cast
Jerry Zaks
Director
Patrick Cassidy
Balladeer
Victor Garber
John Wilkes Booth
William Parry Leon
Proprietor
Terrence Mann
Leon Czolgosz
Greg Germann
John Hinckley
Jonathan Hadary
Charles Guiteau
Eddie Korbich
Giuseppe Zangara
Lee Wilkof
Samuel Byck
Annie Golden
Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme
Debra Monk
Sara Jane Moore
Jace Alexander
Lee Harvey Oswald
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