Music/Theater

AMERICAN DREAMERS: Samuel Byck (Tom Bessellieu), out-of-work tire salesman who tried to assassinate Richard Nixon by hijacking a commercial airliner and crashing it into the White House, shares his angry view of the world in two memorable monologues, in Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman’s “Assassins,” playing at Kelsey Theatre on the campus of Mercer County Community College through August 2.

“Assassins” Presents Dark, Violent Side of the American Dream; Sondheim Musical Examines Nine Would-Be Presidential Killers

Donald Gilpin

John Weidman, librettist for Assassins, the 1991 Off-Broadway musical about nine angry misfits who wanted to assassinate American Presidents, described his characters as “peculiarly American …. We live in a country whose most cherished national myths encourage us to believe that in America our dreams not only can come true but should come true, and that if they don’t someone or something is to blame.”

New Jersey Symphony, Opera New Jersey Join Forces in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony

Nancy Plum

The key to survival among arts organizations in this economy seems to be partnership, and New Jersey Symphony (NJSO) and Opera New Jersey (ONJ) joined together to present a “Midsummer Celebration” this past weekend. Each of these organizations has stood well on its own this past season, but together they were able to produce a work which has not been done in Princeton in a while, but which is always a crowd pleaser. Under the leadership of conductor Mark Laycock, NJSO and ONJ performed Ludwig van Beethoven’s towering Symphony No. 9 to a sold-out house in Richardson Auditorium, not an easy feat in summer weeks when most of New Jersey seems to be at the beach. Thursday night’s concert took a while to get off the ground, but by the second movement Scherzo, the symphony was rolling along with tempi that kept players, singers, and soloists very busy.