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Community theatre’s production a surreal, disturbing musical

Contributed photo Shawn Hooks (left), of Dayton and Al Guido of Beavercreek rehearse a scene from "Assassins" being presented by Beavercreek Community Theatre's Edge of the Creek Productions.

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By Diana Blowers, Contributing Writer 9:46 AM Thursday, June 11, 2009

Beavercreek Community Theatre’s final show of the 2008-09 season isn’t one you’re going to want to take the whole family to see.

While “Assassins” is a musical, it’s not the light-hearted fare you probably think of when it comes to musicals.

“Assassins” is being presented by BCT’s Edge of the Creek Productions, which offers shows for an adult audience. This surreal, disturbing musical by Stephen Sondheim is certainly not one for younger family members.

The show, to be presented Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays June 19-28, lays bare the lives of nine individuals who assassinated or attempted to assassinate a president of the United States.

Directed by Jim Lockwood of Huber Heights, it explores the dark side of the American experience while bending the rules of time and space to allow assassins from different eras to come together to inspire each other into doing harrowing acts.

The show’s music and lyrics are by Stephen Sondheim and is based on a book by John Weidman, which in turn was based on an idea by Charles Gilbert Jr.

Chris Harmon of Beavercreek serves as the balladeer, leading the audience through a revue-style portrayal of men and women who attempted, both successfully and otherwise, to assassinate a president of the United States. Harmon also designed the set.

The cast also includes Shawn Hooks, Lynn Kesson, Tara Hall and John Falkenbach of Dayton; Matthew Owens and Al Guido of Beavercreek; John Bukowski of Washington Twp.; Michael Embree of Union; Richard Young of Kettering, Jeannine Geise of Englewood; Grayson L Throckmorton of Riverside; Ginger Hubbs of Tipp City; Zak Schneider of Cincinnati; and Damon Barnett of Fairborn.

Working behind the scenes, the crew includes Richard Brock of Dayton as the assistant director and Dana Kragick of Beavercreek as the producer. Judy Varner of Bellbrook is the music director and Debra Strauss of Tipp City is the choreographer. Lou Anne Moody of Dayton is the costumer and John Falkenbach of Dayton is the light designer while Cheryl Mahoney of Oakwood is in charge of props and Hans Unser of Beavercreek is the stage manager.

Providing the live music for the production will be Jillian Varner of Bellbrook, Chris Nilo of Enon, Mariann Hunt of West Carrollton, Chris Foster and Chris Fern of Kettering, Mel Goldfinger of Dayton and Dylan Griffith, Phil Woods and Mike Holz of Bellbrook.

The show is presented at  8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays.

Tickets are $12 for adults and $11 for BCT members, students, and senior citizens.

A group discount of $1 per ticket is available to groups of 10 or more purchased at the same time for the same performance.

Tickets can be reserved by calling BCT at (937) 429-4737 and leaving a message or by e-mailing  boxoffice@bctheatre.org. For more information, visit the theater’s Web site at www.bctheatre.org where tickets also can be purchased online.

Season passes also will be available for the 2009-10 season, ranging from $34 for three shows to $72 for all seven shows, with further discounts for seniors, students and BCT members.

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