Right Place, Right Time

"Everybody's got the right to their dreams," sing eight presidential assassins -- or would-be assassins, as the case may be -- in the opening number of the University of Arkansas' production of Stephen Sondheim's "Assassins." Lined up on the apron of the stage, feverish eyes glinting, they caress their guns and, then, slowly, raise them as though to shoot.

It's not your average opening for a peppy American musical.

At a recent rehearsal, director Amy Herzberg cleans up scenes with efficiency and clarity as her phalanx of talented actors rehearse on the astonishing set, designed by Kiah Kayser. A huge, terrifying clown head in an Uncle Sam hat lying on its side and a hulking, decrepit red-white-and blue Ferris wheel festooned with a tattered American flag take up much of the stage, like a patriotic carnival from a dystopian nightmare.

The musical, which debuted in 1991, mines the violent world of political assassinations for dark humor, pathos -- and what happens when the "American dream" goes badly awry.

"This is my second time directing it," says Herzberg of the show, which, she says, displays the somewhat chameleon-like character of changing its subtext depending on the current political climate. She first directed it after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, when the country was still united in a patriotic fervor. "It is crazy how our country is at polar opposites right now. I can tell you that I was very happy with that first production, and I guess part of me thought there was a lot that I would already understand. But because of the way that all pieces of theater have to live in relationship to society, it's almost like what I thought I knew actually caused delay. It took more time, because I realized I had to rediscover it completely."

Actor Chris Tennison plays would-be assassin Samuel Byck, who tried to hijack a Boeing 737 and fly it into the White House to kill then-president Richard Nixon.

"I got cast in this show in early October [last year], and I thought, 'We know exactly what this show is going to be," he says. "Then Nov. 8 happened, and I thought, 'I don't know what the hell this show is about.'"

"There are lines in this show that I didn't even notice the first time that, now, I think, 'Wow, I didn't even catch that the first time around," says Herzberg, who says that there are specific parallels to be made between the show and current events. "One of the things that is so great about this play is that, yes, assassinations happen in other countries, but there is something very American about this, something as a society that seems to come from us -- and in this case, it's sort of like a skewed look at the America dream. It sort of becomes the American nightmare, or as it says in the first scene, somewhere in their minds, the right to pursue happiness became the right to be happy, and in that, something went very wrong.

"Well, we can look at the recent political election and note that the very same sentiment was there."

"There's a group of people in this country for whom the American dream just doesn't happen," says Tennison. "I've found that theme in this show to be really relevant. It can be very easy to dismiss the 'other side,' but these people are participants in our society, and their perspective is worth investigating. I think it's a really good show for right now."

A line from "Another National Anthem," one of the show's most moving numbers, says, "We're the other national anthem, folks/ The ones that can't get in/To the ball park/Spread the word/There's another national anthem, folks/For those who never win/For the suckers, for the pikers/For the ones who might have been."

"We hear it all the time -- 'Listen! Listen! Listen!'" says Herzberg. "I think that's really good for us right now. I think that unless we see people, really see them, and really listen, division is going to be our future."

NAN What's Up on 04/14/2017