The Balladeer as Oswald
Within the script, the characters of the Balladeer and Lee Harvey Oswald are noted as separate roles. The roles were performed as such in the original 1990 off-Broadway cast, being played by Patrick Cassidy and Jace Alexander. This trend would follow this show to the west end. In these productions, the Proprietor and the Balladeer were played as equals—two sides of the American spectrum.
However, in the initial 1989 workshop of the show, the Two roles were played by a single performer, Kevin Anderson. This was due to the much tighter budget of the workshop setting and was likely a choice of convenience, as the Balladeer’s role was complete after his “demise” after Another National Anthem, and Anderson would then be free to portray Oswald in the final scene.
The 2004 Broadway revival would once again see the blending of these two characters into a single actor: the role this time taken on by Neil Patrick Harris. Both Harris and director Joe Mantello would take this opportunity to examine the effects the Balladeer’s propaganda-like folksongs and messaging could have on the average American.
Like many others, our production has chosen to blend the two tracks. From the viewpoint that anyone can be radicalized if pushed far enough, Director Landree Fleming and Actor Raine Lanoue explore the journey of a young person who slowly becomes disillusioned by our cultural system while studying past Presidential assassins. The Balladeer must then ultimately decide who was truly in the wrong: the assassins or the country.