Blooper: Miguel Bane escapes police custody by killing a cop while in a squad car. In the wide shot, the cop is still very much alive.
Creator Backlash: The Wachowskis were so unhappy with how their script was rewritten that they petitioned to have their names removed from the credits, but were denied this request by the WGA.
Rath is walking in the streets and looks at some store. Originally in this deleted scene he stops one customer from stealing a dress, talks with female store clerk and then pretends that he wants to buy a dress for his wife/girlfriend because they had a fight but when clerk goes to the other room to wrap up the dress Rath leaves a wad of $100 bills sticking in clerk's textbook and exits the store. This scene focused on Rath's loneliness and how he doesn't have anyone to care about or anyone to care about him.
An extended funeral scene with original introduction of Bain where he is walking across cemetery when some caretaker asks can he help him and Bain says "I'm just looking for someone", caretaker thinks that Bain is looking for someone's grave and tells him that he can check the plot map of the cemetery but then Bain says "He's not dead yet."
In the scene where Bain recognizes Rath in the cab instead of saying something in Spanish Bain says "Surprise!". Trailer also includes another additional/alternate line in the same scene from Bain when he is aiming at the kids playing the soccer and says "Moving target."
A deleted scene between Rath and Electra in which after she is almost spotted by Bain on the cemetery during the "Day Of The Dead" scene they get back in the hotel, then after talking for a while they make love. Trailer shows couple parts of this scene, Electra telling Rath "You're a strange man, Robert Rath" and two of them hugging and kissing. In this scene they also tell each other their real names (Joseph and Anna) but in the final version they do that in the ending after Bain and Nicolai are killed, but their lines are heard off screen indicating that they were dubbed by two actors into the scene later in post production.
The Wachowskis' original script was similar to the final product, but with a more developed love story between Rath and Electra and a briefer ending without the character of Nicolai. It was also more violent and Robert Rath less sympathetic.
Michael Kamen originally composed the score for this film. His score was rejected by Richard Donner, who felt Kamen's score was heavy, dreary and made the film feel slow. Donner felt the film needed a fast, slick sounding score, but he didn't want to let go of Kamen as the two were close friends and had worked together on many films. Donner even tried to give Kamen a chance to recompose the score, but Kamen had already begun work on Die Hard with a Vengeance.
In the 2004 revival, the Balladeer and Lee Harvey Oswald were played by the same actor. Many productions since have followed suit.
Often the Proprietor is used for minor roles in the play, such as the hangman during "The Ballad of Guiteau", or as the personification of the President each assassin wants to kill.
All-Star Cast: The 2021 off-Broadway revival had a respected collection of theatre veterans mixed with rising stars, including Steven Pasquale, Judy Kuhn, Will Swenson, Ethan Slater, Brandon Uranowitz, Wesley Taylor, Andy Grotelueschen, and Adam Chandler-Berat.
The Cast Showoff: John Hinckley Jr plays the guitar during "Unworthy of Your Love" and the Balladeer is supposed to play guitar during the "The Ballad of Guiteau", though some productions don't have him do so.
Creator's Favorite Episode: In the second of his books of annotated lyrics, Sondheim calls Assassins "the show that comes the closest to [his] expectations for it," and, except for one moment, "as far as [he's] concerned, the show is perfect."
"The Flag Song", which was later used in Road Show with altered lyrics.
"Something Just Broke" in the original production, before being added to the London production and most productions since.
Dawson Casting: As the show points out, John Wilkes Booth was only in his twenties when he died, but he's often played by middle aged actors, with all three major New York Booths being over forty when they did the part. This casting makes sense though, as the character is the de facto leader of the assassins, and an older figure carries more weight. Not to mention, the real Booth was Younger Than He Looked.
Victor Garber often played Nice Guys, which means him originating the part of John Wilkes Booth was likely quite a surprise to audiences at that time.
Judy Kuhn is best known for playing Ingenues and dramatic roles, so few were expecting her to be cast as the comedic assassin Sarah Jane Moore.
Brandon Uranowitz as Czolgosz is about the last person you'd expect to play that role, given he's more well known for playing dorky, flamboyant characters, greatly contrasting with this dour killer. That's not even going into a short tenor playing a part that's almost always portrayed by tall, pronounced baritones.
Playing with Character Type: Ethan Slater's breakout role was as the title character in The Spongebob Musical, which very much played up the Spongebob's optimistic nature. This means he's much playing into type when it comes to the Balladeer, but he's also Playing Against Type when it comes to Lee Harvey Oswald.
Averted. The Broadway production was originally going to happen in 2001, but after 9/11, the show waited a few years to come out, not wanting to remind audiences of the recent tragedy.
Also averted with the off-Broadway revival, which was originally supposed to come out in an election year, but then got pushed back due to the coronavirus pandemic. Although, the crew did note that coming out after the January 6th attack meant there was a whole different kind of subtext going on in the piece now.
Those Two Actors: The new production has a The Spongebob Musical reunion with Ethan Slater (the title role) and Wesley Taylor (Plankton) playing the Balladeer/Lee Harvey Oswald and Giuseppe Zangara respectively.
The original off-Broadway production was intended to move on to Broadway, but it did too poorly critically and commercially for that to be a viable option. The show eventually did go on to Broadway years later with another team, which proved to be a major success.
The Broadway production was supposed to open in 2001, but got pushed back several years due to 9/11 making a show like this the last thing the New York public would want to see.
An off-Broadway revival was scheduled to open in the Spring of 2020 before the coronavirus pandemic hit; it ended up opening in the Autumn of 2021 (to a sold-out run).
