'Assassins' reunion planned

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NEW YORK, Aug. 28 (UPI) -- Mario Cantone, Michael Cerveris and Neil Patrick Harris will headline a benefit staging of the musical "Assassins," New York's Roundabout Theatre Company said.

Reuniting for one night only are the stars of the 2004 Tony Award-winning production -- Cantone, Cerveris, Harris, Becky Ann Baker, James Barbour, Mary Catherine Garrison, Alexander Gemignani, Marc Kudisch, Jeffrey Kuhn and Denis O'Hare.

The event is to take place Dec. 3 at Studio 54, the same Broadway stage on which "Assassins" played eight years ago.

The show has music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by John Weidman.

"Roundabout's ongoing relationship with Stephen Sondheim has meant so much to this theater over the years," Roundabout artistic director Todd Haimes said in a statement.

"'Assassins' was an incredibly proud moment for all of us, and I know that it will be thrilling to revisit [director] Joe Mantello's brilliant production, especially with the original cast," Haimes said.

"'Assassins' brings to the stage a [shooting] gallery of some of history's most notorious players -- the men and women who attempted to kill American presidents," a synopsis said. "This striking work looks at the lives, loves and lunacy of nine American assassins, including John Wilkes Booth, John Hinckley, Lee Harvey Oswald and Lynette 'Squeaky' Fromme. Both serious and satirical, the musical asks what hunger drove these people to their actions and what binds them all together. Is that drive what makes them quintessentially American?"

Proceeds from the benefit will go towards the company's musical theater program.