Ever wonder what happened to that Doogie Howser kid? No need to lose sleep over it anymore, because I am happy to report he is back with a vengeance off-Broadway in Assassins, which I attended a preview showing of this weekend. My original intention was only to have lunch in Times Square, but I am required by nature to see anything with the word "Ninja," "Assassins" or "Bludgeon" in the title, in that order of preference.
Assassins was the first Broadway experience of my life. I expected a big chorus line of ninja assassinations, but instead was presented with a small, intimate stage and a crooning Doogie Howser: a curious trade off. Just as the movie Babe had no babes in it, this production was not about the whisper-quiet, government sponsored stealth killing machines that I had anticipated. The premise was to take us into the thought process of famous and not-so-famous presidential assassins throughout time, from John Wilkes Booth up to Lee Harvey Oswald, played by Doogie Howser ( Neal Patrick Harris).
I enjoyed the performance, which had an interesting carnival theme going throughout (i.e. "Shoot the Prez, Win a Prize!) and didn't take itself too seriously for a play about killing presidents. The songs were catchy, the set was clever (although it looked like the designer robbed Coney Island to create it,) and the acting was strong. I'm not sure what the message of the whole thing was, other than that assassins are people too and just need a little love. Although the coolness of the play wasn't exactly in proportion to the title, I would recommend it to anybody who likes this sort of thing. All I know is that if there is a play called "The Bludgeoning: A Tale of Ninjas and Assassins," I will be first in line, and it had better live up to the name.
