open/close all folders
Fictional Characters
The Proprietor
Played By: William Parry (1991), Mark Kudisch (2004), Eddie Cooper (2021)
"Hey pal, feelin' blue?/Don't know what to do?/Hey pal, I mean you! Yeah!/C'mere and kill a president!"
The shooting gallery operator who gives the Assassins their guns at the start of the play and helps them throughout.
- Allegorical Character: He represents a warped view of the American Dream, or alternatively, the delusions of the assassins. It is the Proprietor who supports (and sometimes aids) the cast in their assassination attempts, allowing them to achieve their "dream" in a sordid, twisted way.
- Ascended Extra: He really only appeared in the opening number in the original production, while future shows (starting with the first revival) give him a much greater presence (see Greater-Scope Villain). It's worth noting that Byck's part in "Another National Anthem", where he rallies the other assassins against the Balladeer, is usually given to the Proprietor these days.
- Corrupted Character Copy: Some productions characterize him as an evil Uncle Sam, further symbolizing him as a twisted take on the American Dream.
- Good Angel, Bad Angel: The Bad Angel to the Balladeer's Good Angel. While the latter shames the assassins for their crimes, the Proprietor encourages them.
- Greater-Scope Villain: The guy's the one who encourages the Assassins to go after their targets, and, in some versions, even plays the role of the President they intend to kill. He also helps remind them of why they tried to do it during "Another National Anthem", directly countering the Balladeer’s attempt to reform them. It is played with in that, in other versions, he's the one that executes Zangara, Czolgosz, and Guiteau- but since their acts made them immortal, they come back just fine anyhow.
- Monster Clown: When he's not portrayed as a carny, he's sometimes reimagined as a creepy clown, which still lines up with the carnival gimmick. One production in Stockholm even has him resembling Heath Ledger's Joker.
- Villain Song: The opening number, "Everybody's Got the Right". He has the honor of introducing every assassin, ushering them into his carnival to "shoot a prez and win a prize".
The Balladeer
Played By: Patrick Cassidy (1991), Neil Patrick Harris (2004), Ethan Slater (2021)
"And it didn't mean a nickel,/You just shed a little blood,/And a lot of people shed a lot of tears."
A man who plays guitar and sings about the assassins who manage to kill their targets. In some productions, at the play's climax, he is turned into Lee Harvey Oswald, the assassin of John F. Kennedy in 1963.note
- Allegorical Character: He represents the idealism of the American Dream. This is made all the more tragic when his ideals are rejected by the assassins, and they corrupt him into becoming the infamous Lee Harvey Oswald.
- All-Knowing Singing Narrator: Sings the songs about the three successful assassinations depicted on stage (the Ballads of Booth, Czolgosz, and Guiteau). Justified in that, despite being a character in the story, he seems to hail from some sort of temporal limbo, allowing him insight into the lives of all the characters.
- Cross-Cast Role: In the original version, it is possible for the Balladeer to be played by a man or a woman (and the character has been played by a woman on multiple occasions). Of course, in the 2004 version, the character must be played by a man, as the Balladeer is transformed into Lee Harvey Oswald.
- Decomposite Character: The Chichester Festival Theatre's production splits the Balladeer into three characters, a trio of news anchors who cover each president's death as though it were breaking news on a modern day network. As with previous productions, one of them becomes Lee Harvey Oswald at the end.
- Good Angel, Bad Angel: The Good Angel to the Proprietor's Bad Angel. He is idealistic and positive, and firmly believes in the American Dream while chastising the assassins for their methods in achieving it. Unfortunately for him, the Proprietor is there to shut down his ideals and turn everyone else against him.
- Hero Antagonist: Downplayed. He is depicted as a smug, condescending Jerkass who is blindly faithful to the American Dream despite repeatedly seeing how it can fail. He is still the only major character who is anti-murder, though, making him this.
- Interactive Narrator: The show's narrator, but also a character within the story who interacts with the characters.
- Walking Spoiler: Downplayed given that the twist doesn't occur until the fourth-to-last scene and is relatively distant from the rest of the Balladeer's characterization, but it is difficult to discuss the 2004 version of the Balladeer without mentioning his transformation into Lee Harvey Oswald.
The Assassins
In General
- "Everybody's got the right to be happy!/Don't be mad life's not as bad as it seems!/If you keep your goal in sight,/You can climb to any height,/Anybody's got the right to their dreams!"
- Villain Protagonist: They're the main characters, and are often depicted in a sympathetic light, but they're also, you know, assassins.
John Wilkes Booth
Played By: Victor Garber (1991), Michael Cerveris (2004), Steven Pasquale (2021)
"Hunt me down,/Smear my name./Say I did it for the fame,/What I did was kill the man who killed my country."
A famous actor and Confederate sympathizer who assassinates Abraham Lincoln in 1865, the first successful assassination of an American president.
- Big Bad: The main leader of the Assassins, and the one who acts as their voice when they attempt to convince Oswald to shoot JFK.
- Establishing Character Moment: During the opening number, his entrance is given special focus and build-up, as well as a statement from the Proprietor that makes it clear that everyone there already knows him.
- Faux Affably Evil: Booth is polite and charming and very handsome. He's still a racist lowlife that murdered a president and (in the show), encourages others to do the same. Unlike, say, Guiteau, Booth's pleasantness is an act, made to serve his own ends.
- Gunman with Three Names: Possibly the Ur-Example, given that this trope didn't rise to prominence until the advent of broadcast journalism long after Booth's death.
- Man of Wealth and Taste: Dressed in a classy, fashionable suit of his era.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: A white supremacist who continues to fight for the Confederacy after the war is over and refers to Lincoln as a "nigger-lover".
- Southern Gentleman: A very charming, very racist Southerner.
- Villainous Breakdown: Has a brief one when Lee is resistant to assassinating Kennedy. He gets over it quickly.
- Wicked Cultured: Being an actor, Booth frequently makes theatrical references.
Charles Guiteau
Played By: Jonathan Hadary (1991), Denis O'Hare (2004), Will Swenson (2021)
"Look on the bright side,/Look on the bright side,/Sit on the right side/Of the lord!"
A delusional author and preacher who believes that he deserves to be appointed ambassador to France. Assassinates James Garfield in 1881.
- Affably Evil: A nice man who is always friendly and pleasant in his demeanor, and who constantly spreads his optimistic philosophy wherever he goes. Also an assassin and extremely delusional.
- Beware the Silly Ones: His crazy tendencies are played very much for comedy as he goes throughout the play. Then he manages to shoot and kill Garfield, and during his number, we see the full extent of his delusions.
- Church Going Villain: A devout Christian who believes he is on a Mission from God.
- Cloud Cuckoolander: Continues to be blindly optimistic even while going to the gallows. He is also genuinely convinced that he deserves to be ambassador to France despite having no apparent qualifications for the job.
- Entitled Bastard: Described as someone who never "heard the word no," which is shown by his violent rage when Sarah Jane Moore rejects his advances and when Garfield refuses to make him an ambassador.
- Establishing Character Moment: During the opening number, he responds to the Proprietor's suggestion to kill the president with a hearty, enthusiastic "Okay!"
- Evil Wears Black: Guiteau is often portrayed as wearing an all black outfit but with no socks.
- Mission from God: Believes that God has chosen him, and claims that if he is guilty, then God is too.
- The Pollyanna: A cheerful and optimistic man who dances to the gallows and constantly tells himself and others to "look on the bright side."
- Suddenly Shouting: Does this several times, both for comedic and dramatic effect.
Leon Czolgosz
Played By: Terrence Mann (1991), James Stacy Barbour (2004), Brandon Uranowitz (2021)
"A gun kills many men before it's done/Hundreds/Long before you shoot the gun:/Men in the mines,/And in the steel mills,/Men at machines,/Who died for what?/Something to buy,/A watch, a shoe, a gun/A thing to make the bosses richer."
A steelworker turned anarchist who assassinates William McKinley in 1901.
- Bomb-Throwing Anarchists: Subverted. He is an anarchist who kills McKinley to advance his cause, but his motivations are well explained and he comes across as one of the more sympathetic assassins.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Shoots McKinley because he believes it will help stop the evils and oppression of capitalism. It's worth noting that he considers a gun to be yet another product of the very system he's against, and only uses one because he feels it's the only option.
Giuseppe Zangara
Played By: Eddie Korbich (1991), Jeffery Kuhn (2004), Wesley Taylor (2021)
"When I am a boy,/No school,/I work in a ditch,/No chance,/The smart and the rich/Ride by/Don't give no glance!/Ever since then,/Because of them,/I have a sickness in the stomach/Which is the way/I make my idea/To go out and kill Roosevelt."
An Italian immigrant bricklayer who attempts to assassinate Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933.
- Eloquent in My Native Tongue: Delivers a passionate speech in Italian (translated into English by the other assassins) to Oswald to encourage him to assassinate President Kennedy.
- Establishing Character Moment: In the opening number, he enters groaning in pain from his stomach illness.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: He's the angriest out of all the Assassins and shouts at everyone he can during "How I Saved Roosevelt".
Lee Harvey Oswald
Played By: Jace Alexander (1991), Neil Patrick Harris (2004), Ethan Slater (2021)
"This is stupid. Up here on the sixth floor, what would I do? Throw schoolbooks at him?"
A former marine and employee at a Dallas textbook warehouse who assassinates John F. Kennedy in 1963. For tropes pertaining to the Balladeer, who transforms into Oswald in some productions, see the Balladeer's folder.
- Driven to Suicide: Oswald starts the climax of the play about to kill himself from sheer depression. The Assassins are quick to prevent him from doing so.
- 11th-Hour Ranger: The climax of the play sees the other eight Assassins convince him to shoot Kennedy.
- Gunman with Three Names: Single target killer? Check. High profile crime? Check. Three names? Check.
- Who Shot JFK?: The play is adamant that Oswald is the killer, though Booth hints at other popular conspiracy theories in his monologue.
Samuel Byck
Played By: Lee Wilkoff (1991), Mario Cantone (2004), Andy Grotelueschen (2021)
"Have it your way, have it your way! You know what my way is? Hot. How 'bout a hamburger that's FUCKING HOT?!"
A drunk in a Santa suit who attempts to assassinate Richard Nixon in 1974. Notably planned to fly a 747 into the White House instead of shooting Nixon (which is how all of the other assassins carried out their plans).
- The Alcoholic: In many productions, if he doesn't have a beer in his hand, it's on the floor or a table a few inches away from him.
- Bad Santa: A drunk in a Santa suit who attempts to kill President Nixon. For the record, he didn't wear the suit during the assassination attempt in real life; it's a reference to one he wore while part of an anti-Nixon protest on Christmas.
- Drives Like Crazy: If the sound effects during his second monologue (which he delivers while driving) are anything to go by, he lives up to the reputation of drivers from his home state of Massachusetts.
- Establishing Character Moment: While most of the other assassins get entrances involving them directly interacting with the Proprietor, Byck just kind of drunkenly wanders on stage in a Santa suit, with him buying the gun often played as something of a "sure, why not?"
- Fat Bastard: An overweight, rude, alcoholic presidential assassin with a very short temper.
- Sir Swears-a-Lot: In a show with a very large number of swear words, Byck swears more than any other character.
- Suddenly Shouting: Uses this very frequently during his monologues.
Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme
Played By: Annie Golden (1991), Mary Catherine Garrison (2004), Tavi Gevinson (2021)
"I am unworthy of your love,/Charlie darling."
A member of the Manson Family who attempts to assassinate Gerald Ford in 1975.
- Barefoot Loon: Some productions portray her this way, taking inspiration from this image
. - Cloud Cuckoolander: Fromme is a bit... strange, to say the least, but then much of the Manson Family was anyway.
- Establishing Character Moment: During the opening number, she approaches the proprietor, he refuses to give her a gun, and then she pulls a knife on him, prompting him to give her the gun, at which point she pays him and walks away smiling like nothing happened.
- Monster Fangirl: Fromme speaks of the apocalyptic preachings of mass murderer Charles Manson, remembering how they met and declaring herself his lover and slave. She believes that by assassinating Gerald Ford, the authorities will be forced to release Manson from prison, at least temporarily, to testify at her trial.
- Villain Love Song: "Unworthy of Your Love". While it's a duet with John Hinckley, he sings it to Jodie Foster while Fromme sings to Charles Manson.
Sara Jane Moore
Played By: Debra Monk (1991), Becky Ann Baker (2004), Judy Kuhn (2021)
"I got this really great gun/Shit where is it?/No it's really great/Wait, shit, where is it?/Anyway it's just a .38/But it's a gun/You can make a statement."
A former FBI informant who also attempts to assassinate Gerald Ford in 1975.
- The Ditz: Very clumsy and absent-minded, as well as having shades of Cloud Cuckoolander, while also being rather friendly and personable.
- Establishing Character Moment: During the opening number, insists upon taking a gun, but immediately begins ineptly fumbling with it.
- Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy: Moore is this at her best. During her attempt to kill Ford, she accidentally unloads her weapon. Of the times she actually fires her gun successfully, two are accidental, all of her shots at the range miss the target, and on one practice shot, she misses so badly that she kills her dog.
- Reckless Gun Usage: The script calls for her to violate every rule of gun safety her actress can manage.
John Hinckley Jr.
Played By: Greg Germann (1991), Alexander Gemignani (2004), Adam Chanler-Berat (2021)
'I am unworthy of your love/Jodie, Jodie"
A man dangerously obsessed with Jodie Foster who attempts to assassinate Ronald Reagan in 1981.
- Establishing Character Moment: In the opening number, he is enticed by the Proprietor’s comments about how he can win Jodie’s heart, and also argues with Czolgosz.
- Loony Fan: He's utterly obsessed with Jodie Foster.
- Loners Are Freaks: A lonely young man who has become dangerously obsessed with a woman he has never met and who is motivated by this obsession to attempt to kill Ronald Reagan.
- Stalker with a Crush: The target being Jodie Foster. His primary reason for attempting to kill Reagan was to get Foster's attention.
- Villain Love Song: "Unworthy of Your Love", which he dedicates to Jodie Foster.
Other Historical Figures:
Note that this only includes characters who are typically played by actors on stage. Emma Goldman
An anarchist activist whom Leon Czolgosz is captivated by, and who encourages Czolgosz to fight for social justice.
- Small Role, Big Impact: While not onstage for very long, she plays a key role in Leon Czolgosz’s storyline.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Her anarchic activism is what sets off Czolgosz's own desire to fight for the working class. Sadly, this puts him on the path to becoming an infamous president killer.
Gerald Ford
The 38th President of the United States. The target of a joint assassination attempt by Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme and Sara Jane Moore.
