Lovers & Madmen brings America’s most infamous criminals to life this weekend with “Assassins.” The Tony Award-winning musical chronicles the story behind America’s presidential assassins and their violent pursuit of the American dream with humor and darkness.
“Assassins” transcends multiple historical time periods, transporting the audience to a world where four successful and five would-be presidential assassins meet and inspire each others’ criminal acts.
Communication senior and director Leo Kurland said he wanted to contrast the way the assassins are remembered in a “mythologized way” with the haunting reality of the historical events.
To do so, Kurland combined comedy and drama by representing each assassinated president with a hand-puppet, setting certain scenes in a carnival and directing the actors to break the fourth wall, he said.
Communication and Bienen freshman Paddy May plays John Wilkes Booth, who assassinated President Abraham Lincoln.
May said he is a “huge history nerd.” To prepare for the role, he completed extensive research on Booth’s life, developed strategies to embody the emotionally-heavy role and grew out a mustache to look like Booth, he said.
“I really enjoyed pushing myself,” May said. “It’s been difficult, and it’s been challenging, but I’ve really enjoyed being able to have that experience.”
The musical also challenged Communication senior Tallulah Nouss, who plays the man who attempted to assassinate then-President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt, Giuseppe Zangara.
Nouss said it was a fun challenge to learn some Italian, perfect her Italian accent and bring comedy with the big physicality of the character. Even though Zangara is characterized as comedic relief in the show, Nouss said she wanted to do justice to the incurable abdominal pain he endured throughout his lifetime.
“A lot of his character comes from a real place of anger, pain and frustration,” Nouss said. “I wanted to make sure (my portrayal) wasn’t coming off as ingenuine or kind of like a cartoon character of Zangara.”
Communication senior and “Assassins” costume designer Sam Hernández took inspiration from the assassins’ mugshots to bring these criminals to life on stage, she said.
Hernández added that she wanted to create a “crazy liminal Americana” by infusing red, white and blue into the costumes. Each assassin wears a red piece of clothing because it “ties them all together in this bloodshed that unifies them.”
“This is an American story,” Hernández said. “It’s not an American nightmare, it’s an American reality.”
Although the musical confronts uncomfortable historical truths, Kurland said the audience is bound to have a “good time.”
“(The show) is just an opportunity to make people laugh and have fun,” he said. “The actors in the show are amazing performers. They’re super funny and such talented dancers and singers and performers and actors.”
“Assassins” will perform Friday at 6:30 p.m. and 9 p.m. and Saturday at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. in the Norris University Center McCormick Auditorium.
Email: barbarabomfim2028@u.northwestern.edu
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