Editing Assassins (musical) (section)

===Background===
In 1979, as a panelist at producer [[Stuart Ostrow]]'s Musical Theater Lab, Sondheim read a script by playwright [[Charles Gilbert Jr.]] entitled ''Assassins''. Inspired by its title and use of quotations from various historical figures who had attempted to assassinate American Presidents, Sondheim asked Gilbert for permission to use his idea. Gilbert consented and offered to write the book, but Sondheim declined, having already had collaborator John Weidman in mind. Weidman had written the book for ''[[Pacific Overtures]]'' and would work with Sondheim again on ''[[Road Show (musical)|Road Show]]''.<ref>{{cite web|author=Michael Cerveris|title=Story of Assassins|url=http://www.amazing-journey.com/assassins_story.htm|work=Amazing Journey|year=2008|access-date=August 9, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080802041854/http://www.amazing-journey.com/assassins_story.htm|archive-date=August 2, 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Gilbert's original concept involved a fictional [[Vietnam War]] veteran who becomes an assassin and around this central narrative he had woven diary entries, poems, and newspaper reports of historical assassins. Sondheim and Weidman, having no interest in the fictional element, focused the musical solely on the historical figures.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/98/07/19/specials/sondheim-assassins.html?ref=jeffreylcohen.com |first=Mervyn |last=Rothstein |title=Theater: Sondheim's 'Assassins': Insane Realities of History |work=New York Times |date=27 Jan 1991}}</ref> Five assassins appear in both versions: [[John Wilkes Booth]], [[Charles J. Guiteau]], [[Leon Czolgosz]], [[Giuseppe Zangara]], and [[Squeaky Fromme]]. The model for Gilbert's protagonist, [[Lee Harvey Oswald]], also appears in the musical as himself. The musical omits three assassins included in Gilbert’s script—[[Arthur Bremer]] (cut in rehearsals), [[Sirhan Sirhan]] (mentioned by name only), and [[John Schrank]]—and instead features [[Samuel Byck]], [[Sara Jane Moore]], and [[John Hinckley Jr.]], the last of whom had not yet attempted an assassination when Gilbert's version was written.<ref name="Review">{{cite web |url=https://www.sondheimreview.com/magazine/vol-7-no-2-fall-2000/ |title=The Sondheim Review Vol. 7, No. 2, Fall 2000 |publisher=The Sondheim Review |accessdate=11 Jun 2024 |archive-date=June 11, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240611214309/https://www.sondheimreview.com/magazine/vol-7-no-2-fall-2000/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Aside from the title, Sondheim and Weidman also retained Gilbert's distinctive conceptual metaphor of the [[shooting gallery (carnival game)|shooting gallery]], presided over by a character called Fat Man (somewhat analogous to Weidman’s Proprietor) who is encouraging would-be assassins to "shoot the Prez and win a prize."<ref name="Review"/>

The first staged reading of the musical, at [[Playwrights Horizons]] on December 18, 1989, was directed by [[Jerry Zaks]] and featured [[Anthony Heald]] (Czolgosz), [[Paul McCrane]] (Hinckley), [[Michael Jeter]] (Zangara), [[Jonathan Hadary]] (Guiteau), [[Swoosie Kurtz]] (Fromme), [[Christine Baranski]] (Moore), [[Victor Garber]] (Booth), [[Kevin Anderson (actor)|Kevin Anderson]] (Balladeer/Oswald) and [[Nathan Lane]] (Byck).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.savisingingactor.com/course-materials/assassins/ |title=Assassins |date=November 11, 2021 |publisher=The SAVI Singing Actor |accessdate=11 Jun 2024}}</ref>