Sondheim's "Assassins" comes to Rhode Island

13sep12_assassins.jpg
Assassins (front to back) Brian Mulvey, Shannon Hartman, Patrick Saunders, Joshua Andrews, Jesse Dufault, Jon Dyson, Rae Mancini, and Dave Sackal. Photo by Seth Jacobson Photography.

Stephen Sondheim’s Assassins comes to the Contemporary Theater Company this October 4 through November 2.

The CTC production, directed by Jimmy Calitri with musical direction by Lila Kane, marks the company’s first large scale musical. "The beautiful music of Sondheim coupled with an honest and surprising look at fascinating historical figures led us to this show,” says Artistic Director Christopher Simpson, "and the talent in this cast is out of this world."

Assassins features presidential murderers (and attempted murderers) from John Wilkes Booth to Squeaky Fromme to Charles Guiteau. The show explores how each of these assassins was led to the ultimate act of killing a president – including mental illness, bizarre obsession, political disgust, and an upset stomach.

The Contemporary Theater Company is known for using local talent and for this show they have brought in some of the best talent from across Rhode Island with a cast that includes Rae Mancini, Matthew Royality-Lindman, Jesse Dufault, Patrick Keefe, Jack Ruscetta, Jake Kisseberth, Joshua Andrews, Hannah Van Meter, Dave Sackal, Shannon Hartman, Brian Mulvey, Denny Keohane, Jon Dyson, Patrick Saunders, Jim Foley, Sophie Kreyssig, and Corrine Southern.

Tickets for Assassins, running Oct. 4, 5, 11, 12, 18, 19, 24, 26, 31, Nov. 1, 2 at 7 p.m. and Oct. 20, 27 at 2 p.m. are available on the CTC website at thecontemporarytheater.com, by calling the box office at 401-218-0282, or at the theater at 327 Main Street in downtown Wakefield.

Editorial note: Written from a press release.

Full disclosure: I contributed to the indiegogo campaign for this show.