Word: guiteau
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1990-1999
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Each successive scene tells the story of another assassin in a similar way. The assassins' stories are fictitiously intertwined: Charles Guiteau, who eventually assassinated James Garfield; Leon Czolgosz, who killed William McKinley; Guiseppe Zangara, who attempted to assassinate Franklin D. Roosevelt; would-be Gerald Ford assassins Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme and Sara Jane Moore; Sam Byck, who plotted to kill Nixon; and John Hinckley, who shot Ronald Reagan. The time gap separating each of the assassinations (or attempted assassinations) is given no heed: placing these disparate events side by side allows them to interact in a kind of fantastic sphere that...
...Guiteau (Joseph Nuccio '00) is a sleazy, wheeling-dealing character out to promote his book and acquire the ambassadorship to France, complete to the shiny suit and slicked-back hair. He constantly encourages Leon Czologsz (Rodrigo Chazaro '99), a disgruntled immigrant whose complaints parody the labor movement of the first half of the century. The scenes featuring these two are frequently juxtaposed with those involving Sam Byck (Kenneth Weber), a man obsessed with the right to protest...
...their "saner" moments, these three characters seem to embody some of the ideals and significant moments throughout United States history. Their over-the-top acts, however, draw attention to the thin line that seperates the pursuit of rights from the mad demands of insane men. Nuccio's Guiteau was so cheerful as to be alarming and Chazaro as Czolgosz sometimes assumed a glazed, obsessed look while describing the unfairness facing him in his job. The audience realizes that Byck has crossed the line into the realm of lunacy as he is observed recording tapes of his complaints to Leonard Bernstein...
...Debra Monk's stunning evocation is all matronly giggles and chilling folksiness. In other ably written scenes, Victor Garber brings condescending grandeur to Booth, Terrence Mann finds earnest simplicity in Czolgosz, Greg Germann gives a dorky sweetness to Hinckley, and Jonathan Hadary evokes hysterical egomania in Charles Guiteau, killer of James Garfield...