For actor Sugg, his role
in ‘Assassins’ is a killer

By Rita Charleston
For the Times

Charles Guiteau might just be the kind of guy who gives lawyers a bad name.
Yet James Sugg, who portrays Guiteau, a one-time attorney and the man who assassinated President James Garfield, in Assassins, the Arden Theatre Co.’s season opener, plays him with a kind of pathos.
The intriguing musical by Stephen Sondheim, winner of five Tony awards, continues through Oct. 21 and investigates the personalities behind nine individuals who attempted to assassinate a president of the United States.
The power of Assassins, which made its stage debut in 1990, lies in its exploration of the human condition. Society celebrates its national heroes. However, more thoughtful self-reflection is required when contemplating our cultural identity by examining our society’s most damaged individuals.
Americans are proud that anyone in the United States can grow up to become president, Likewise, anyone can grow up and kill a president.
"This show is actually very engaging, funny, intricate and well-drawn, and attempts in some way to legitimize these people in an exploration of the human condition," Sugg explained. "It reveals desperate characters intent on making their own indelible mark, and who, for whatever reason, just decided to take history into their own hands."
Sugg’s own history begins with 13 years spent growing up in Saudi Arabia. "My father got a job there and that was that. Although I did move around a lot, I now call Philadelphia my home because I’ve been here for ten years."
Prior to moving to our city, Sugg, who said he was always interested in music, mainly opera, graduated from the Oberlin Conservatory in Ohio with a degree in vocal performance. He spent several years in Seattle, then moved on to Manhattan, where fate took over and he ran into the people from the Pig Iron Theatre Co. who invited Sugg to come here and join them in 1998.
"When I got here they asked me to make music for their shows. From there I became a sound designer, then a composer, and now I do a little bit of everything," Sugg explained.
Most recently, he composed country and bluegrass tunes for the Mark Twain musical A Murder, a Mystery and a Marriage, and has just performed his own rock ’n’ roll song cycle, The Sea, as part of last year’s LiveArts Festival.
Although composing is his favorite pursuit right now, he says, Sugg also enjoys his role as Guiteau in this current production of Assassins.
"But it’s not without its challenges," he said. "For example, for me the hardest part of doing this show is taking care of my voice. I don’t spend most of my time being a professional singer, so this is very taxing for me. I go right home at night and try to get a good night’s sleep and take care of myself. The same thing happened to me when I did Sweeney Todd, another show that is very taxing vocally." ••
The Arden Theatre is at 40 N. Second St. For ticket information, call 215-922-1122.