Assassins at Blackfriars Theatre

The first time I saw Assassins, a dark musical by Stephen Sondheim, was when I dragged Charlie to a small production above some bar in London, 16 years ago. The second time was a Broadway revival 12 years ago, with my friend Theresa. So the stars aligned that Theresa (and another friend, Ryan) would be visiting from the city when Blackfriars was presenting their production, and they could both see it together with me! (There is almost no Sondheim show that I would miss seeing again and again if I had the opportunity…)

Blackfriars is an intimate theatre on Main Street, and I’d only been there once before, to see a nice production of Grey Gardens, when I first moved to Rochester. They have since updated the theatre, and our audience was only the second to sit in the comfortable, brand new seats. A bonus is the free parking lot. I chatted briefly with Mary Tiballi Hoffman, Development Manager, who informed me that our performance was completely sold out!

This creative production is set in a carnival, which begins as you approach the theatre, where you can pose as a bearded lady for a photo to post to twitter. Once inside, you are invited to come on stage and try your hand at various carnival games. Charlie tried his hand at knocking down the bottles, but his strategy didn’t work well, so no prize for him.

I’m usually not a fan of the recent phenomenon of the actors doubling as the orchestra; it normally ends in a compromise of one talent (singing/acting) or another (playing an instrument). In this case, the fact that the horns and woodwinds weren’t always spot on felt in keeping with the carnival atmosphere. But I was impressed with the talented musical director, Andy Pratt, who not only played the (sometimes rolling) piano beautifully and occasionally conducted, but also had a wonderful voice as The Proprietor. Matt Wegman (who reminded me of Neil Patrick Harris) was excellent in the Ensemble and at the piano, and I was rooting for him to draw the straw that decided who would play Lee Harvey Oswald that night (three different Ensemble actors share that role, and the night we saw it one of the women won the honor). Other standouts were Abby Adair Reinhard, owner/president of GP Flooring Solutions by day, as Squeaky Fromme, and John Winter, as Leon Czolgosz.

The musical definitely resonates in today’s political environment. It runs through September 24, and tickets are still available. For more information, visit their website:

http://www.blackfriars.org