Composing 'Assassins' - Part 1

[@TheHManShow]

I love how Steven Sondheim always uses his music to characterize each character! That I feel is absolute genius

[@bobo5674]

They should have gave Sondheim a talk show. I could listen to him for hours!

[@MANHATTANBEEFMAN]

Sondheim is to the American musical theater what Pavarotti is to opera - a one of a kind, never to be replicated musical talent...a singular musical genius.

[@acchaladka]

Man Hattan True enough but why are you insulting Sondheim? ;). Pavarotti was no Caruso! But Sondheim...

[@comiclover99]

I see him as more akin to Shakespeare. He didn't invent the form but he perfected it through rabid and sometimes unthinkably bizarre experimentation. And at the heart of all of his shows is a blistering and depressing anti-humanism matched with an equally passionate denial of such thinking. He gives us, like Shakespeare, a humanist message that doesn't fall back on cliche or folk psychology, but on a terrifying journey into the human psyche to find and inspect what makes us care about each other at a fundamental level. And, in my humble opinion, as Ben Jonson wrote of Shakespeare, Sondheim "was not of an age, but for all time!"

[@chk1230]

A better comparison is he's the American Wagner in that he is our most prolific music drama composer and also did all his own lyrics. Typically operatic and musical composers have others do the lyrics but like Wagner, Sondheim did both. He is our great American composer/lyricist. Certainly our most prolific. We will probably never see another like him in our lifetime, maybe ever.

[@practicaldreamyr]

This is amazing, if only I had 1/100th of the talent and ingenuinty that Sondheim had, I'd be a very happy woman! Thank you so much for posting this.

[@beardedartisan]

Thank you SO much for uploading this. "Assassins" is the reason I started writing musical theatre and this is an invaluable glance into its creation.

[@tomatoherb]

This is a perfect piece of theater, and these two men are geniuses in every sense of the word.

[@T4Tyson]

This is show is amazing!!! I was so honored to play the Proprietor in a regional theatre in 2003. It was so intense because 9/11 was only about a year and half before we performed it. This subject hit home so much that most of the audience was in tears by the end and still crying during the open question and answer session. In short, Sondheim does it again!!!!!

[@LaMelJW]

I've kind of wanna see a movie of Assassin's, I don't know how it would translate to a movie but I just wanna see it

[@kazza6078]

I'm so glad they kept in his little flub on the piano. Even geniuses make mistakes sometimes, so comforting

[@jamievee8375]

Actually Leon was originally planning to kill a priest. He told his friend who was a tailor and the friend said "why a priest they're everywhere " basically instead of eating a few nachos he took the whole plate X'D

[@nikavance9453]

"It's priest. Have a little priest."

[@antzy_0]

I don’t think he planned to kill one? He did threaten to kill a priest while in prison, but apologized the next day.

[@zoinks8868]

Do you have any evidence?

[@bbbbbx5]

BEST thing I have ever found on youtube!

[@ghiacciogut]

Jesus Sondheim is a genius.

[@SRLovesPandas1]

I wish Assassins would get revived or have a new US tour

[@jgrab1]

Not in this current environment. I think it's permanently undoable.

[@nathaniellee5277]

@@jgrab1 They literally just did it this year

[@jgrab1]

@@nathaniellee5277 Surprised. I'll bet they censored the lyric where Booth used the "n" word.

[@nathaniellee5277]

@@jgrab1 They didn't.

[@GCof1812]

@@jgrab1 it's in historical context. So they shouldn't.

[@scipwraec]

@practicaldreamyr You're welcome! It's very cool to watch him explain his reasoning and creative impulses. He is a master and this play is an absolute favourite of mine, rivalling 'Sweeney Todd'.

[@antzy_0]

11:45 God I love this part

[@sheilaargueta6116]

I love how precise he is with his work. Genius work…

[@LuckyLiegeLady246]

I could have sworn he went over the other songs too, but those videos don’t seem to be on KZbin anymore sadly.

[@fangirlfortheages5940]

This is amazing I’m in assasins rn as Sara Moore and this is amazing

[@bookwoman53]

It would have been nice if the 2004 production was available on DVD.

[@emalaw1329]

Not sure if you know, but there's a fully subtitled film of it floating around on KZbin. I can send you the link

[@49rogs]

I would love to see the whole show can anyone post it PLEASE

[@kell_checks_in]

Note the entitled "right to be happy" versus Jefferson's wiser "right to the PURSUIT of happiness." Recommended reading, Gavin de Becker's "The Gift of Fear." He's been a consultant to all sorts of famous people, including presidents, on the motivations of violent criminals. He has an entire chapter on "assassins" and their resentments and presumptions. I wouldn't be surprised if his book was read when this production was being written.

[@scipwraec]

@49rogs Part 1 and part 2 make up the whole show. It was only a half hour discussion.

[@Anachronismgorl]

what an absolute genius brava Sondheim.

[@larissabrewington9065]

The people who thumbs down....Please share with us WHY?

[@NightmaresDaydream]

Could you send me the other part(s)? I'm german and cant view the other video becouse of copyright. I would be so glad, that documentation is wonderfull and exiting.

[@mike.marziliano24601]

Oh my God, Sondheim’s music is so hard to play even he made a mistake

[@jacksonmartin3825]

Does anyone know where to find the full version of this? There’s a lot missing from part 1 to 2.

[@BoxerRebellion81]

I'm looking for the conversation piece video for this! same people in it but they go into other details about the play, it used to be on youtube and I can't find it now..

[@michaela_corinne]

I wish they would put this back on Broadway.

[@faffolite]

Can hear Sunday in the park in it

[@hetjaar]

where is the part pertaining to to the "ballad of booth?" i dont find it in part 2 also.

[@thmsjhnsn]

Stephen Sondheim is brilliant

[@godswiph]

What are the origins of this footage????

[@emalaw1329]

Me: making a small mistake on any given day My brain: 11:51

[@michaela_corinne]

LEON He’s my favorite lol

[@RossCompose]

Maybe my favorite Sondheim score (after FOLLIES).

[@thepantweaver]

Damn Wiedman was a silver fox and total snack.

[@_TheBendyOne]

Sondheim is such a terrible singer, it's hilarious :') What a genius though!! Amazing composer!

[@fangirlfortheages5940]

It’s interesting! idk why that surprised me so much

[@wehaveasituation]

How utterly bizarre that Sondheim could believe for a second that Oswald was the shooter at all, let alone the sole assassin. What a farce.

[@antzy_0]

Sole shooter? Um…. did you watch the musical, obviously John Wilkes Booth was there (joke)

[@wehaveasituation]

@@antzy_0 No, Booth of course was an Assassin, but NOT Oswald...what are you kidding?

[@antzy_0]

@@wehaveasituation I was making a joke about the plot of the play, Booth and a bunch of other assassins convinced Oswald in one of the scenes (it’s called November 22nd 1963 on the off-broadway 1990 cast recording)

[@wehaveasituation]

@@antzy_0 Can you further explain? I haven't seen the show. But what is it that Booth seeks to convince Oswald? How is Oswald presented? Is the question of Oswald being a patsy examined?

[@antzy_0]

@@wehaveasituation There’s a subtitled 2004 version, and the soundtrack has the full scene. Booth talks to him about how people will finally have strong feelings about him, and the other assassins show up to tell him that he can bring them back & have their stories matter. Oswald is shown as suicidal and impulsive with a short temper. After shooting, the assassins are no longer on stage and he slowly turns around with the Zupeder film (not sure how to spell it, it’s the video of JFK being assassinated) being projected onto his white shirt. Then it cuts to the final song, which is a reprise of the opening number, they don’t show him running away or anything. Just silence as the audience takes in what just happened, with Hail To The Chief playing with a slower and more dramatic tempo.

[@itkapatanka]

Opps, wrong! John Hinkley was not an assassin (only attempted) and Lee Oswald was never convicted of the murder of JKF (and wasn't the assassin). Great show never the less.

[@jasonc.parker4644]

I think that the title really harkens back to the line that "everybody's got the right to their dreams". A majority of the characters don't succeed at their goal of killing the president, but they still dream about being assassins. Using this argument, it gives the title a more cruelly ironic, almost mocking, meaning.

[@gatherdust4035]

Interesting to see the assassin crew show up in the comments - entitlement and blaming others.

[@zoinks8868]

Technically, Booth was never convicted of murder. And the show has both attempted assassins and actual assassins.

[@nathaniellee5277]

Do you even know the show? Most of the characters are attempted assassins