Chicago Tribune
- Somewhat Recommended
"...There are problems of scale. The show plays the intimate Theatre Building Chicago, where you sit only a few feet from the men with the guns. This kind of musical generally benefits from intimacy, but you get the sense here that the mostly young actors think they're playing a far bigger house. Several of the assassins start out so ramped-up that they give themselves nowhere to go. There's too much screeching and overacting, too many ear-splitting gunshots, insufficient understanding that many assassins are taciturn people."
Chicago Sun Times
- Highly Recommended
"...Throughout, musical director Doug Peck and keyboardist Alan Paul bring full luster to Sondheim's zesty Americana score. And Kevin Depinet's sophisticated set design, Carol J. Blanchard's handsome period costumes, Jessie Klug's pinpoint lighting, Kevin Carney's first-rate sound design and Tammy Mader's spirited choreography go hand-in-hand with this fascinating fantasia."
Daily Herald
- Highly Recommended
"...Porchlight's production gives the material the weight it needs, as despite the show's abundance of wry humor, "Assassins" doesn't treat its subjects as jokes. Director Michael Weber balances a thoughtful assessment of the impetus for assassination with an understanding that these folks were so extreme, they're bound to seem a bit funny when put on display."
Windy City Times
- Highly Recommended
"...Stephen Sondheim’s music can appear deceptively simple until you try to perform it. Assassins can fool the unwary with its folk-like ballads, cake walks, quotations from Sousa and other familiar Americana. But, with tricky key changes, tight harmonies, vigorously cross-cutting rhythms and frequent patter lyrics, Assassins isn’t easy. Fortunately, the cake walk’s a piece of cake for musical director Doug Peck and his velvet-voiced cast."
Gay Chicago Magazine
- Highly Recommended
"...Taking into consideration the stellar cast, great singing and a high production value, the biggest star of Porchlight Theatre’s “Assassins” is the director, Michael Weber. His first gig with Porchlight, Weber’s staging is highly innovative, always searching (and finding) a new perspective on the material; placing his actors on the stage in picturesque manner (with the help of choreographer Tammy Mader); finding the obscure humor; dramatically squeezing out every drop of compassion or pathos in the characters."
EpochTimes
- Highly Recommended
"...This is a Tony Award winning show and despite the subject matter is one of the cleverest musicals to be seen- it is a mixture of all forms of music- Folk, ragtime, soft rock- serious and comic. There have been several productions of this musical, but this one outshines them all. Porchlight Music Theatre has renovated the smaller venue at The Theatre Building Chicago and Kevin Depinet's set is a pure work of art- each prop, each box fits perfectly into the quick movement of this slickly directed production by Michael Weber."
Time Out Chicago
- Highly Recommended
"...As coached by invaluable musical director Doug Peck, Sondheim’s pastiche of Americana tunes has rarely sounded better, and designer Kevin Depinet’s attic gallery of metaphoric memorabilia is layered with surprises."
ChicagoCritic
- Recommended
"...With this good looking, tuneful production, Assassins unfolds as the strikingly provocative piece that firmly satirizes demented personalities fixated on doing violence to our leaders. For the first time, I actually enjoyed Assassins. Porchlight Music Theatre has sure knows how to do Sondheim shows."
Chicago Stage and Screen
- Highly Recommended
"...Director Weber has envisioned a dark "fantasia" in which those dreams and delusions sing out vividly. Scenic Designer Kevin Depinet has created a striking warehouse museum of artifacts, wooden boxes, flags and historical paraphernalia. The assassins themselves are "on view" as tourists pass by and view "the freaks". It's a stunning metaphor for the disenfranchised and a brilliant key to unlocking Weidman's equally hilarious and shocking tale."
