Tickets are available NOW at www.city-theater.org
For Immediate Release: March 15, 2023
Michelle Kramer-Fitzgerald, City Theater Company
302-377-3156 or citytheatercompany@gmail.com
City Theater Company closes its 29th season with a bang this April:Assassins, the
Tony-Award-winning musical featuring music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by
John Weidman, based on an original concept by Charles Gilbert Jr., at The Delaware
Contemporary in the Wings Black Box.
This dark and slyly comic show shadows a group of successful and wannabe Presidential
assassins throughout U.S. history, framing their experiences in a broader exploration of
American ideals. The score reflects the popular music of each era as the characters tell their
stories through scenes and songs.
CTC first presentedAssassinsin 1998. Kerry Kristine McElrone, CTC’s Artistic Director, played
Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme in that production, and is excited about revisiting the show 25 years later.
Says McElrone “When deciding on our 29th season, I knew I wanted us to do a Sondheim
piece.Assassinshas always been an important show to me - in part because it was one of my
first professional roles, and as such was pivotal in shaping my approach to my work in myriad
ways. I’ve done a number of Sondheim pieces since then, but the time felt right to restage this one for a new CTC audience.”
Director Joe Trainor is thrilled to be tackling his first Sondheim show in that role at CTC. Says
Trainor, “For a play that first premiered in 1990,Assassinsis shockingly accessible in 2023. It’s
an incredibly challenging work - both in its subject matter and in its technical aspects. The music and its pastiche style are incredible. And altogether, it does all the things good theater should - entertains us even as it forces us to go uncomfortably deep within our own minds, and our collective histories.”
He is also excited about the cast and creative team. “We began the process for staging this nine months ago, and I am blown away by whom we’ve assembled. The roster includes both
longtime and more recent CTC actors and production team artists, who have collectively
contributed so much to CTC over the past 29 years. These are all people we love working with, and the relationships this cast and creative team have together, onstage and off, really
enhances the work we create together.”
McElrone agrees. “This year at CTC has been about relationships. Art explored the truths that lurked beneath the surface in casual friendships, and The Year of Magical Thinking delved into family bonds through the lens of grief. Assassins is about a disparate group of loners who - through the magic of theater - find themselves in the same room at the same time, reliving their crimes with relish almost for each other’s benefit, like a support group from hell.
“I chose these productions in reflection of the current times, thinking about how much our relationships with ourselves and each other have changed so much over the past few years in this country. But the fantastic artists we have been fortunate to work alongside this season are the one constant in all of this change. So to do this particular show, with these particular people, feels exactly right to close out CTC for 2023.”
Assassins stars Chris Banker, Daryan Borys, Jim Burns, Adam Cooper, Kristin Finger, Dylan Geringer, Joshua Gold, Aidan McDonald, Paul McElwee, Emma Romeo Moyer, Kevin Regan, Kit Regan, Brian Turner.
Directed by Joe Trainor. Stage and Production Management by Stuart Thomas. Choreography by Dawn Morningstar. Music Direction by Lori Citro. Set Design by Rick Neidig. Costume Design by Kerry Kristine McElrone and Pierre’s. Promotional art and photos by Joe del Tufo.
TICKET DETAILS: General admission $45. Military with ID and Student with ID $35. Limited 7-show engagement: Production runs April 14, 15, 16, 19, 20, 21, 22, 2023. All shows 8:00 P.M. except one Sunday Matinee at 2:00 P.M. on April 16. There will be an Opening Night Reception on April 14 immediately following the performance at The Delaware Contemporary.
All shows at The Delaware Contemporary, 200 South Madison Street, Wilmington, DE 19801. Tickets available now at city-theater.org.
City Theater Company, founded in 1993, performs contemporary comedies, new works, and classic musicals to critical acclaim in an intimate black box theater on the Wilmington waterfront. This organization is supported, in part, by a grant from the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts. The Division promotes Delaware arts events on DelawareScene.com.