'Assassins' executes a killer performance

They sang, they danced and they killed a few presidents along the way. The two-hour long presentation of Steven Sondheim's Assassins by the 15-member Quadramics cast was entertaining and educational. They combined drama, humor, history and music in a way that held the audience's attention and made them laugh and applaud at all the right moments. The musical talent of the cast was impressive. College junior Michael Shames' incredible performance of John Wilkes Booth and College senior Dan Cromie's Balladeer, who tied the whole show together, were especially noteworthy. Shames' voice resonated throughout the theater and the audience hung on every note, anxiously waiting for more. And Cromie's talent with the guitar, as well as with Sondheim's humorous lyrics, were high points of the show. The show also introduced the audience to a few less well-known assassins and would-be killers. The actors displayed their dramatic talent with monologues that tried to explain their motives for assassination. They seemed to take the words and add their own touch, resulting in a convincing and thought-provoking delivery of the prose. The more humorous moments of the show came during the scenes featuring College junior Megan Wozniak and College sophomore Eileen Everly. The audience never stopped laughing as Wozniak's Squeaky Fromme, lover of Charles Manson, and Everly's Sarah Jane Moore, plotted to kill Gerald Ford. The two practiced by shooting a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken, but the funniest moment came when their attempt failed. Other highlights included the musical performances of College junior Michael Phillips and Wharton junior Erik Sandorff. The actors, however, seemed to be at their best during the numbers that included all or most of the cast, including the finale which featured choreography reminiscent of the song "One" in the musical A Chorus Line. One unique element of the performance was the use of a slide show that ran through most scenes depicting various guns, presidents and other related items. During the scene with Lee Harvey Oswald, the screen showed images of the Texas School Book Depository and the window from which Oswald shot Kennedy. It was an effective touch that gave the audience more to look at and think about and added to the depth of the story by adding a facet that the script and the actors could not. Assassins runs tonight and next Wednesday through Saturday at the Annenberg School Theater. Performances begin at 8 p.m. and tickets are $5 on Locust Walk or at the Annenberg box office.

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