THERE cannot be many more unusual subjects for a musical than American presidential assassinations, both the successes and the failures.

Nevertheless, Rowntree Musical Theatre will be hoping for a hit when presenting Stephen Sondheim's Assassins at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, from June 12 to 15.

Director Clive Hailstone and musical director Michael Thompson were looking for a musical that would contrast with the Rowntree company's last two shows, Guys & Dolls and Gypsy.

Assassins explores the history of assassination attempts on United States presidents through the eyes of the assassins themselves (hence the show number Everybody's Got The Right).

Sondheim's musical opened off-Broadway in 1990, when all 73 performances sold out, and its London premiere at the Donmar Warehouse in 1992 was equally successful, winning The Critics Circle London Drama Award for best new musical.

There is no one leading role in the show but nine principals, including John Hall as John Booth, who murdered Abraham Lincoln; Scott Garnham as JFK's killer, Lee Harvey Oswald, and The Balladeer; and Robert Readman, as Charles Guiteau, James Garfield's assassin.

Neil Foster follows up his lead performance last month as the bullied Ugly in Shipton Theatre Club's Honk! by playing Ronald Reagan's attempted assassin John Hinckley Jnr, while Mike Oliver performs his first principal role for Rowntree Musical Theatre as William McKinley's killer, Leon Czolgosz.

Two imports from Malton, Mark Bray and Martin Lettin, each play a failed assassin: Giuseppe Zangara, Franklin D Roosevelt's assailant, and Sam Byck, who flopped where Watergate succeeded in finishing off Richard Nixon, or Tricky Dicky as many disenchanted Americans called him.

Assassins is not all grim news, as publicist Margaret Dearlove explains: "There's humour in the two female character parts, Squeaky Fromme (Marie Louise Scott), and Sara Jane Moore (Sarah Barker) as they attempt but fail to assassinate President Ford."

Summing up the show, Margaret says: "The script is dramatic and thought provoking in the Stephen Sondheim mode, and his music covers all tastes from American folk songs to vaudeville."

Assassins runs from June 12 to 15 at 7.30pm nightly. Tickets for next Wednesday to Saturday's 7.30pm shows cost £7.50 with concessions on Thursday and Friday only. Ring 01904 623568 to book, or pay on the door.

Updated: 10:13 Friday, June 07, 2002