Comments about ‘Theater review: 'Assassins' provocative, entertaining production of thrilling theater’

Infamy can be preferable to ignominy for a nobody who’s pathologically desperate to be a somebody. That strikes me as subject matter for pathos, not for comic relief.

I’m loathe to judge a creative work that I haven’t even seen but this review offers no enticement to get me out to the box office.

1961? And Sondheim isn't mentioned in the first sentence?

@Craig - To be fair, the show isn't simply a (dark) comedy - it's also a drama, one with its share of pathos. One of the last songs in the show - "Something Just Broke" - is particularly moving, at it briefly takes us out of the deeply insular (and frightening) world of the assassins and shows a broader portrait of the effects of their actions on society.

The show portrays the assassins (or wannabe assassins) as the pathological people that they are, but it also forces us to feel at least a little empathy for people whose hopes and desires are actually quite relateable - these are people who are desperately trying to stand out in the world, and who want more than anything to connect with other people in whatever way possible (as they sing at one point: "Connect! Connect! Connect!") - even if ultimately their efforts to make that connection are utterly misguided (to say the least.)

It's a strange, disturbing show - not one of Sondheim's strongest or most successful, in my opinion - but it's also a deeply thoughtful one that doesn't ever try to give easy answers to complex problems.