Using the framing device of an all-American, yet sinister, carnival game, the semi-revue portrays a group of historical figures who attempted (successfully or not) to assassinate Presidents of the United States, and explores what their presence in American history says about the ideals of their country.

[1] In 1979, as a panelist at producer Stuart Ostrow's Musical Theater Lab, Sondheim read a script by playwright Charles Gilbert Jr. entitled Assassins.

Inspired by its title and use of quotations from various historical figures who had attempted to assassinate American Presidents, Sondheim asked Gilbert for permission to use his idea.

[3] Five assassins appear in both versions: John Wilkes Booth, Charles J. Guiteau, Leon Czolgosz, Giuseppe Zangara, and Squeaky Fromme.

"[4] The first staged reading of the musical, at Playwrights Horizons on December 18, 1989, was directed by Jerry Zaks and featured Anthony Heald (Czolgosz), Paul McCrane (Hinckley), Michael Jeter (Zangara), Jonathan Hadary (Guiteau), Swoosie Kurtz (Fromme), Christine Baranski (Moore), Victor Garber (Booth), Kevin Anderson (Balladeer/Oswald) and Nathan Lane (Byck).

Directed by Jerry Zaks the cast included Victor Garber, Terrence Mann, Patrick Cassidy, Debra Monk, Greg Germann, and Annie Golden.

According to the Los Angeles Times, "The show has been sold out since previews began, reflecting the strong appeal of Sondheim's work among the theater crowd.

"[6] Frank Rich in his review for The New York Times wrote that "Assassins will have to fire with sharper aim and fewer blanks if it is to shoot to kill.

"[7][8] On October 29, 1992, Assassins opened in London at the Donmar Warehouse with direction by Sam Mendes and a cast that included Henry Goodman as Charles Guiteau and Louise Gold as Sara Jane Moore.

[12] Roundabout Theatre Company's Broadway production was originally scheduled for 2001 but was postponed to April 22, 2004, because the content was sensitive in light of the events of the September 11 attacks.

This production was directed by Fred Abrahamse with a South African cast including Marcel Meyer as John Wilkes Booth, Riaan Norval as Lee Harvey Oswald, David Dennis as Charles J. Guiteau and Anthea Thompson as Sara Jane Moore.

[23][24][25] A new production of Assassins starring Catherine Tate as Sarah Jane Moore, Aaron Tveit as John Wilkes Booth, Mike McShane as Samuel Byck, Andy Nyman as Charles Guiteau, and Jamie Parker as the Balladeer opened on November 21, 2014, at the Menier Chocolate Factory in London and ran until March 7, 2015.

The Cast included Robert Lenzi as John Wilkes Booth, Stephen DeRosa as Charles Guiteau, and Julia Murney as Sara Jane Moore[27] Assassins was produced in the 2017 season of Encores!

[29] On September 24, 2019, it was announced that the cast would include Judy Kuhn as Sara Jane Moore, Will Swenson as Charles Guiteau, Brandon Uranowitz as Leon Czolgosz, Wesley Taylor as Giuseppe Zangara, and Pasquale reprising his role as John Wilkes Booth.

On March 18, 2022, a cast recording album of this production received a wide digital release, which featured all songs as well as an abridged version of the climactic scene between Booth and Oswald.

The production starred Danny Mac as Booth, Luke Brady as Zangara, Peter Forbes as the Proprietor, Harry Hepple as Guiteau, Nick Holder as Byck, Charlotte Jaconelli as Goldman, and Jack Shalloo as Hinckley.

The show opens in a fairground shooting gallery where, amid flashing lights, human figures trundle past on a conveyor belt.

Leon Czolgosz, John Hinckley, Charles Guiteau, Giuseppe Zangara, Samuel Byck, Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, and Sara Jane Moore are given their guns one by one.

From an electric chair, Zangara sings his refusal to be afraid and that he hadn't cared whom he killed as long as it was one of the men who control the money.

Fromme speaks of the apocalyptic preachings of mass murderer Charles Manson, remembering how they met and declaring herself his lover and slave.

Juggling her purse, a can of Tab and a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken, Moore claims she is an informant for the FBI (or used to be), has been a CPA and had five husbands and three children.

They connect over their shared hatred of their fathers, and using Colonel Sanders as a graven image, they give the bucket of chicken the evil eye and then shoot it to pieces while laughing hysterically.

After flying into an expletive-laden rage, Byck stands up on the bench and angrily sings the chorus to West Side Story's song "America" before storming offstage.

Back at the Proprietor's shooting range, Charles Guiteau flirts with Sara Jane Moore while giving her marksmanship tips before trying to kiss her.

The assassins realize that they will never get their prizes, that no one will ever care if they live or die, and briefly sink into absolute desperation until Byck and the Proprietor lead them in ("Another National Anthem"), a song for all Americans dispossessed by the dream.

The ghosts of John Wilkes Booth, Leon Czolgosz, Charles Guiteau, and the other "would be" assassins including John Hinckley, Giuseppe Zangara, Samuel Byck, Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, and Sara Jane Moore, appear before a suicidally depressed and aggressive Lee Harvey Oswald, and convince him that the only way for him to truly connect with his country is to share his pain and disillusionment with it.

After the assassinations, a group of citizens from different time periods recount what they were doing when they heard that the President had been killed and lament that even though only a single man died, the nation has changed forever ("Something Just Broke").

The assassins regroup once more at the shooting range, now with Oswald among their ranks, and they proudly restate their motto, "Everybody's got the right to be happy," before loading their guns and opening fire on the audience ("Everybody's Got the Right (Reprise)").

"[36] Raymond Knapp states that Booth's motivation is "conveyed musically, self-servingly by his own singing in a quasi-hymnic, sometimes inspirational style," based on the 1991 original Off-Broadway Version.

"[39] Guiteau's idealism is delusional, an exuberant but transparently flimsy cover for decidedly more earthly and self-interested ambition, and when his desires are thwarted, he gets angry.