Adam KuveNiemann Astounds in Reimagined Sondheim Musical

by Jenyth Jo

Oakland Theater Project has delivered a great run-up to the next No Kings March in “Assassins” preshow montage. Projected on a garage wall, APTAP (TikTok’s allpower2allpeople influencer) says, “If the ruling class can ignore you, you’re not a movement.”

In these days of mass shootings, assassination attempts, and military takeovers, all the presidential assassins in Stephen Sondheim’s musical try to convince us that “guns do right wrongs.”

Weston Scott directs dynamic Adam KuveNiemann in a fresh, solo approach to this controversial musical. Starting with John Wilkes Booth, “Assassins” introduces the angry, disenfranchised Americans who killed Presidents Lincoln, Garfield, and McKinley.

Thankfully, a character list tells us ‘who killed whom’ in this wildly imaginative one-man montage of U.S. history’s anti-heroes. Kudos to set designer Sam Fehr for his garage décor. The black-walled corner suggests a murderer’s man-cave, with red yarn linking mug shots, an open laptop, and chalk graffiti of a James Bond-like gunman. How many alienated young Americans are still plotting today?

Grunge-styled Adam KuveNiemann paces the floor, glued to his cell phone. He becomes a variety of outcasts, revealing eerie similarities between assassins and near-assassins of our presidents. These citizens feel betrayed by their leaders and their lovers. With nothing left to lose, maybe notoriety could end their loneliness?

Through KuveNiemann’s stunning character portrayals, we begin to understand these tortured loners. When he shines a light on a mugshot of J.D. Vance, the targeted eyes are X’ed out like an evil circus clown’s. We feel the assassin’s growing desperation as he mutters about betrayal of the American Dream.

John Wilkes Booth becomes Johnny, mourning the 600,000 blue and gray soldiers lost in the Civil War. He wants to “kill the man who killed my country.” He blames Lincoln for their deaths.

Booth’s madness permeates subsequent assassins in humorous and macabre scenes. When KuveNiemann becomes both Sara Jane Moore and Squeaky Fromme, their hilarious discussion reveals how even young girls can become malleable instruments of destruction. Rejected and exploited by their elders, they become vulnerable and unpredictable. Love Charlie Manson? Sure.

Through KuveNiemann’s brilliant embodiment of 14 characters, we understand how class injustices have created massive alienation from the American Dream. Among their real-life outrages, we hear how stealing immigrants’ labor creates deep despair. We laugh at inappropriate times, feel guilty, then join him in sympathy for the pitiable characters he portrays.

In a mind-boggling display of verbal dexterity, KuveNiemann becomes the ringmaster, rallying all the “assassins” at once to pressure Lee Harvey Oswald into action. “Shoot JFK,” they say, and “you’ll be remembered like Brutus. Just a move of your little finger … will end a life of quiet desperation.”

Multiple voices invade the mind of the assassin: Is this noise, or rationality? No wonder his “Take a Look, Lee” song is so controversial.

But what happens after the songs end is an unforgettable addition to this compelling play.

Adam KuveNiemann delivers a multi-layered performance, making us wonder when history will repeat itself. There’s no shortage of discontent today. How do we stop the next misguided bullet from a tortured soul?

“Assassins” –music & lyrics by Steven Sondheim, book by John Weidman, based on an idea by Charles Gilbert, Jr., directed by Weston Scott, set by Sam Fehr, sound by Lane Sanders, lighting by Ashley Munday, projections by Sarah Phykitt, and music directed by Diana Lee, at Oakland Theater Project.

Info: oaklandtheaterproject.org – to April 5, 2026.

Cast: Adam KuveNiemann (as ALL the Assassins & more)

“Assassins” is a SFBATCC “Go See!“ selection.