‘Assassins’ brings theater back to Central Florida audiences

Wildfire Players say message of distorted American Dream is necessary during pandemic

The Wildfire Players will take to the stage this weekend with a production of Stephen Sondheim’s “Assassins,” marking a return of audiences to Central Florida’s theaters, most of which remain shut down because of coronavirus.

Gabriel Garcia, one of the Players’ founding trio, said the “Assassins” message of a distorted American Dream and the conversation the musical provokes couldn’t wait.

“We felt really passionately that with everything going on in the world in a political context” that “Assassins” should be heard, he said.

Of course, the world is also wrestling with the coronavirus pandemic — something at the forefront of the Wildfire Players’ minds, Garcia said.

“Making sure we do the right thing is the most important,” he said. “We know we are leading the charge. People are going to be looking at us to see, ‘What did they do in the age of COVID?’ ”

Garcia founded the Wildfire Players with Alexander Iacuzzo and Alyssa Mason. All have done work at community theaters and the Orlando Fringe Festival. Their shows are being produced under the umbrella of Penguin Point Productions, located in Oviedo Mall.

To stage “Assassins,” the troupe first had to find a space larger than Penguin Point’s small theater. The mall location proved a blessing — a former Gap store, with 8,000 square feet of space, was available.

“There’s a little bit of a ‘Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland are throwing an impromptu show in the barn!’ aspect to this,” said producer James Brendlinger, who owns Penguin Point Productions. An old drape from the Bob Carr Theater will cover the windows. Portable lighting, a donated soundboard and repurposed set pieces will turn the former retail space into a theater with socially distanced seating.

Other safety measures will include mandatory masks, paperless ticketing and twice-daily cleaning of the space and all surfaces throughout Penguin Point with a peroxide hazer, Brendlinger said.

The “Assassins” cast has been practicing social distancing, undergoing regular temperature checks — carefully logged so discrepancies are immediately noticed — and taking hand-washing breaks during rehearsals, said Garcia, who is directing the show with Iacuzzo. Thanks to the former Gap, actors have individual dressing rooms.

“It requires extra responsibility” to be in the cast, Garcia said. “If you’re doing the show, you’re not going out to bars, you’re not hanging out with friends, you’re not doing anything to jeopardize the safety of your castmates or the other people at Penguin Point.”

Ongoing civil unrest and economic tensions make the show’s message vital, he said.

“Right now, things are becoming clearer that the American Dream isn’t realistic for everyone because of how society is built. So what can you do when that dream fails you?” he said. “The show focuses on nine individuals who did the most extreme thing they could have done when the American Dream failed them.”

Though “Assassins” looks at real-life successful and thwarted presidential killers, such as John Wilkes Booth and Lee Harvey Oswald, their portrayers will reflect Wildfire Players’ mission to provide a platform for people of color and the LGBTQ community.

“It was very important to us to give a voice to disenfranchised people,” Garcia said.

“Assassins” runs July 17-19, and tickets are $10 at penguinpointproductions.com.