This story was produced by the OC Theatre Guild as part of a community media partnership with Culture OC. It was written and edited independently by the Guild’s selected contributors. This collaboration supports our effort to celebrate and amplify the vibrant arts and culture scene in Orange County.

‘Assassins’ at Curtis Theatre and Southgate Productions — From left, Jake Burnett, Christopher Diem, Spike Pulice, Jaycob Hunter, Brandon Sanchez, Taras Wybaczynsky Jr., Luis Alex Rodriguez, Reese Chavez, Genevieve Kauper and Aaron Lipp. Photo courtesy of Francis Gacad & Jonathan Infante

By OC Theatre Guild

September 24, 2026

Written for OC Theatre Guild by MaryAnn DiPietro

Curtis Theatre & Southgate Productions

‘Assassins’

When: Oct. 9 – 18, 2026

Where: Curtis Theatre, Civic Center Circle, Brea

More Info: 714-990-7722, www.cityofbrea.gov/1594/Curtis-Theatre

There is something inherently uncomfortable about laughing during “Assassins.” That, of course, is part of the point.

Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman’s darkly comic musical gathers a collection of people who assassinated or attempted to assassinate presidents of the United States and gives them something history rarely does: a chance to speak. They sing, argue, joke and search for meaning in a country they believe has somehow failed them.

Support for Culture OC comes from

This fall, Southgate Productions brings “Assassins” to the Curtis Theatre, taking on a musical that feels like part of a history lesson.

“This is definitely a bit of a darker turn for Southgate,” said Kris Kataoka, Curtis Theatre’s manager and artistic director and a co-founder of Southgate Productions. “But we’re huge fans of the work of Stephen Sondheim, so this felt like a good fit.”

Kataoka, who is producing the production and designing its lighting, suggested “Assassins” after director Jon Infante expressed interest in tackling something edgier, perhaps even a play.

“For a musical, this show has a huge amount of scene work,” Kataoka said. “So in a lot of ways, we are getting to do a play and a musical at the same time.”

Infante, Southgate’s artistic director and another of its co-founders, has spent roughly two decades working professionally as an actor, technician, designer and director. For “Assassins,” he is directing as well as co-designing the scenery and creating the projections. He describes the musical as “a play with music,” but one unlike anything else in Southgate’s catalog.

“We have done shows with historic figures before, but this is a deep look into the villains that broke America,” Infante said. “It’s not really like any other show out there.”

The show takes audiences from John Wilkes Booth to Lee Harvey Oswald and through a strange group of presidential assassins and would-be assassins, connected across different decades by anger, disappointment and the desire to be seen.

For Infante, the colliding periods of American history became the foundation of the production’s visual world.

“I wanted to direct this show because of the overall vision,” he said. “Basing it in a world of historic imagery from each era and seeing how each of these worlds collide.”

The production will use a minimalist set and video elements to help those periods overlap rather than literally recreate each moment in history.

Infante came to “Assassins” with an unusual advantage for a director: He didn’t know the show well.

“Most musicals we have produced, I am very aware of and have seen multiple productions of,” he said. “This one was entirely new.”

Instead of watching previous stagings, he deliberately avoided them.

“I wanted a fresh take,” he said.

Kataoka, who counts “Assassins” among his favorite musicals, sees that unfamiliarity as an asset.

“I honestly believe that’s great because it will give him the chance to explore aspects of this show without the influence of past productions,” he said.

Both are aware of how the musical’s themes may land today.

“This is an important time to produce ‘Assassins’ because we are living through another period of division, political anger and distrust,” Infante said.

The musical asks audiences to listen to its characters without necessarily sympathizing with them.

“The show asks us to confront what can happen when people who feel invisible or cheated begin to believe that violence is the only way to reclaim power, recognition or significance,” Infante said. “It does not glorify these killers.”

Kataoka sees the same balancing act throughout Sondheim and Weidman’s work. “I love how this show walks the line of peering into the minds of these notorious figures without asking the audience to ever forgive them,” he said.

For Infante, the song “Something Just Broke” provides a crucial contrast. Rather than focusing on the assassins, the number turns toward ordinary Americans experiencing national tragedy.

“It is the song that brings everything together,” he said. “By shifting the focus from the assassins to ordinary people, it reveals the strange way a national tragedy can unite us in collective grief while also exposing how deeply divided and damaged the country already is.”

And then there is the cast.

“This cast we’ve assembled is absolutely off-the-charts incredible,” Kataoka said. “The amount of talent we had at auditions and callbacks was mind-blowing.”

More than half the performers are new to Southgate, something Infante said the company is particularly excited about.

Kataoka is equally enthusiastic about what audiences will see technically.

“Buckle up,” he said. “The designers are going to have a fun sandbox to play in.”

The result promises lush Sondheim harmonies, uncomfortable silences and plenty of dark humor.

Infante hopes audiences embrace “the dark comedy, the uncomfortable moments, the soaring vocals, the stillness that becomes commotion and an ensemble cast telling this story.”

Kataoka offers one warning.

“This show is not for everyone,” he said, noting its language, dark humor, racially motivated violence and live-firing theatrical weapons. “But if you’re prepared for that, you’ll have a great time at the theater.”

“Assassins” may look backward at American history, but its questions are anything but safely confined to the past.