ASSASSINS
John Cooper Studio Theatre, 41 Monkgate, York
Pick Me Up’s 2016 Summer Sondheim season kicked off with Assassins, the stunning musical that tells the stories of nine people who set out to assassinate the President of the United States.
It attracted enthusiastic audiences and a five-star review from the York Press – critic Charles Hutchinson writing: "Pick Me Up Theatre are not only remarkably prolific but their work is consistently outstanding, and Assassins is right up their with their best, from casting, direction and design by Readman and Barbara Chan's band, up high at the back, to the superb lighting of Adam Moore and Ian Thomson's pin-sharp sound."
Sondheim and writer John Weidman explore the assassins’ personalities and weave their stories
together in an electrifying show that reveals uneasy truths about the American Dream.
Readman has assembled a brilliant cast with Simon Radford as Abraham Lincoln’s assassin John Wilkes Booth and Sam Hird in the dual roles of the Balladeer and Lee Harvey Oswald, who
assassinated John F Kennedy in 1963.
George Stagnell plays Leon Czolgosz, who shot dead President William McKinley in 1901, and Mark Hird is Charles J Guiteau, who assassinated James Garfield in 1881.
The would-be assassins are Jonny Holbek as John Hinckley, who shot Ronald Reagan; Conor Mellor
as Guiseppe Zangara, who attempted to assassinate Franklin D.Roosevelt; Alexa Chaplin and Juliet Waters as Lynnette “Squeaky” Fromme and Sara Jane Moore – who both tried to shoot Gerald Ford – and Craig Kirby as Samuel Byck, who tried to hijack a plane and land it on Richard Nixon in the White House.
The ensemble playing a range of different roles – including bystanders who comment on the events – is equally strong featuring Chris Mortimer, Holly Surtees-Smith, Scott Goncalves, Sam Baxter, James Coldrick, Kelly Stocker, Elanor Dunn and Lewis Douglas.
Musical director is Barbara Chan with technical director Adam Moore on hand to create magic with lights.
July 22-30 2016
Music and lyrics by
Stephen Sondheim
Book by
John Weidman
Directed by
Robert Readman
Musical Director
Barbara Chan
Lighting
Adam Moore
Sound
Ian Thomson
Properties
Teresa and Jane Carr
CREATIVES
CAST
John Wilkes Booth
Simon Radford
The Balladeer
Sam Hird
Sara Jane Moore
Juliet Waters
Leon Czolgosz
George Stagnell
Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme
Alexa Chaplin
Samuel Byck
Craig Kirby
Giuseppe Zangara
Conor Mellor
John Hinckley
Jonny Holbek
Charles Guiteau
Mark Hird
The Proprietor
Chris Mortimer/James Coldrick
Emma Goldman
Holly Surtees-Smith
David Herold
Scott Goncalves/Sam Baxter
Ensemble
Elanor Dunn
Kelly Stocker
Billy
Sam Baxter
President James Garfield
James Coldrick
James Blaine
Lewis Douglas
President Gerald Ford
Chris Mortimer
Keyboards
Barbara Chan
Keyboards
Sam Johnson
Trumpet
Matthew Spalding
Guitar/Banjo
Tris Fitzmaurice
Guitar
Rhys Evans
Drums/Percussion
James Wood
BAND
Pick Me Up’s second Summer Sondheim is Sweeney Todd which opens on Friday August 5th through to Saturday August 13th.
Photos by Matthew Kitchen Photography