Assassins (musical)

Assassins is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by John Weidman and was based on an idea by Charles Gilbert, Jr. It uses a revue-like style to examine the men and women who have attempted and/or succeeded in assassinating a U.S. President. The style of the music varies widely, reflecting the different styles of music popular at the times of the events depicted.

Roles

Note: All characters mentioned from here on in are indicated by bold names.

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• John Wilkes Booth, assassinated President Abraham Lincoln
• Leon Czolgosz, assassinated President William McKinley
• Charles J. Guiteau, assassinated President James Garfield
• Giuseppe Zangara, attempted to assassinate President Franklin Roosevelt
• Lee Harvey Oswald, assassinated President John F. Kennedy, as according to the Warren Commission
• Samuel Byck, attempted to assassinate President Richard Nixon
• Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, attempted to assassinate President Gerald Ford
• Sara Jane Moore, also attempted assassination of President Gerald Ford
• John Hinckley, Jr., attempted to assassinate President Ronald Reagan
• The Balladeer, folk singer who tells the story as it happens, until the assassins gang up on him in Another National Anthem
• Emma Goldman, female anarchist leader, whose speech (What does a man do . . .?) inspired Czolgosz to shoot William McKinley
• The Proprietor of a carnival game that proclaims "Shoot the President, Win a Prize"; also acts as Attendant for William McKinley (Ballad of Czolgosz) and Announcer (How I Saved Roosevelt and Something Just Broke)
• David Herold, conspirator in the plot to kill Lincoln
• James G. Blaine, Secretary of State during the administration of James Garfield
• President James Garfield, 20th President of the United States
• President Gerald Ford, 40th President of the United States
• chorus (bystanders, fairgoers)