Assassins to play Sydney Opera House season
Hayes Theatre Co’s critically acclaimed 2017 production of Assassins, will play a season at Sydney Opera House Playhouse this June, starring David Campbell and according to director Dean Bryant, a return season couldn’t come at a better time for Australia.
“Assassins couldn’t be more right for Australia now when our newsfeeds are full of the sad impact of US gun violence and the whims of the incumbent President,” Bryant said.
The Tony Award-winning musical by Stephen Sondheim (West Side Story, Gypsy, Sweeney Todd, Into the Woods) is a wry celebration and indictment of a culture that adores its guns. It tells the story of nine misfit Americans who killed (or planned to kill) their President-of-the-day. Exploring the disillusionment associated with patriotic idealism, the show deploys a dose of absurd humour, a century of musical pastiche and dissects the motivations of some of history’s most notorious criminals.
The debut season at Hayes Theatre Co earned multiple nominations in last year’s Sydney Theatre Awards and was directed by Dean Bryant, musically directed by Andrew Warboys and choreographed by Andrew Hallsworth, (the team behind Hayes Theatre Co’s breakout success Sweet Charity, which also transferred to the Playhouse after a successful season at the 110 seat venue).
Continuing their roles from the Hayes Theatre Co season, David Campbell (Dream Lover) appears as Lincoln’s assassin, ‘John Wilkes Booth’ alongside Connor Crawford (The Sound of Music, City of Angels), Hannah Fredericksen (Dream Lover, Heathers), Kate Cole (Ladies in Black, Sweet Charity), Bobby Fox (Ladies in Black, Blood Brothers), Jason Winston (formerly known as Jason Kos – Cabaret, Miracle City), Rob McDougall (Les Misérables), and Justin Smith (The Detective’s Handbook, Billy Elliott). The spectacular newcomer Maxwell Simon reprises his role of The Balladeer/Lee Harvey Oswald after a sensational debut at the Hayes.
“This startlingly bold production of Assassins grabs you with its immediacy, hilarity and timeliness” said former Hayes Theatre Co Development Manager and current Sydney Opera House Head of Contemporary Performance, Olivia Ansell.
“It was considered controversial when it premiered off-Broadway in 1990, but the times have caught up with it. Assassins is a smart musical that contemporary audiences will love. Just as they’ve enjoyed the opportunity to see other Australian music theatre productions by independent promoters that transferred to the Opera House from the highly-respected Hayes Theatre Co, like Sweet Charity (2015) and Heathers (2016).”
Pre sale commences 7 March and tickets are on sale to the public from 12 March.
Assassins
7 June – 1 July 2018
Sydney Opera House Playhouse
