Frank Rich wrote in The New York Times in 1991, "The effect of this recurrent chorus line, a striking image in a diffuse evening, is totally disorienting, as if someone had removed a huge boulder from the picturesque landscape of American history to expose to light all the mutant creatures that had been hiding in the dankness underneath.
"The Book Depository scene may be the most surreal scene in the show. Is it all happening in Oswald’s head? The whole show is surreal, but this scene is even more so. When Booth enters, he notices his watch isn’t working. Of course it isn’t – time is not right in this scene...The show has crossed time periods before this scene, but here all periods converge on one spot at one time – the moment before Oswald shoots Kennedy. Lee has literally brought them together, physically as well as spiritually."
"...from the assassins’ point of view, they have succeeded by the show’s end. They have found the answers, they have found a group they can belong to, they have a message to pass on. And they have power. The greatest revelation for the audience is when they allow themselves to see the show from the assassins’ viewpoint instead of their own, to see the Balladeer as an antagonist who distorts and over-simplifies their passions (as the stories he personifies have done), and to recognize the tremendous force of history the assassins become. By not imposing our moral point of view on the assassins, by not condemning them, by allowing them to be triumphant, the show makes many audiences uncomfortable. They want a final, reassuring statement: The Assassins Are Bad.
But Assassins isn’t a show about good and bad; it’s about why. It’s about hearing the other side of the story, getting closer to these assassins than we normally would, standing in their world for ninety minutes. In the finale, the assassins offer us a truly seductive opportunity – to be a part of something greater than ourselves, to belong to a family, and, in a tip of the hat to other Sondheim musicals, the chance to connect, perhaps the greatest human desire of them all. When the assassins repeat the word connect, we feel the power of their newly acquired/regained self-respect, building each time the word is repeated, demanding respect from the audience – the country – as well."
Love this...
ReplyDeleteFrank Rich wrote in The New York Times in 1991, "The effect of this recurrent chorus line, a striking image in a diffuse evening, is totally disorienting, as if someone had removed a huge boulder from the picturesque landscape of American history to expose to light all the mutant creatures that had been hiding in the dankness underneath.
And this...
ReplyDelete"We can only learn from history if we can see it clearly. And Assassins is here to help."
AND...
ReplyDelete"The Book Depository scene may be the most surreal scene in the show. Is it all happening in Oswald’s head? The whole show is surreal, but this scene is even more so. When Booth enters, he notices his watch isn’t working. Of course it isn’t – time is not right in this scene...The show has crossed time periods before this scene, but here all periods converge on one spot at one time – the moment before Oswald shoots Kennedy. Lee has literally brought them together, physically as well as spiritually."
"...from the assassins’ point of view, they have succeeded by the show’s end. They have found the answers, they have found a group they can belong to, they have a message to pass on. And they have power. The greatest revelation for the audience is when they allow themselves to see the show from the assassins’ viewpoint instead of their own, to see the Balladeer as an antagonist who distorts and over-simplifies their passions (as the stories he personifies have done), and to recognize the tremendous force of history the assassins become. By not imposing our moral point of view on the assassins, by not condemning them, by allowing them to be triumphant, the show makes many audiences uncomfortable. They want a final, reassuring statement: The Assassins Are Bad.
But Assassins isn’t a show about good and bad; it’s about why. It’s about hearing the other side of the story, getting closer to these assassins than we normally would, standing in their world for ninety minutes. In the finale, the assassins offer us a truly seductive opportunity – to be a part of something greater than ourselves, to belong to a family, and, in a tip of the hat to other Sondheim musicals, the chance to connect, perhaps the greatest human desire of them all. When the assassins repeat the word connect, we feel the power of their newly acquired/regained self-respect, building each time the word is repeated, demanding respect from the audience – the country – as well."
Absolutely. This article says it all.
ReplyDelete