Injured Assassin: Bobby Fox out of Assassins on Opening Night

Assassins opened at the Sydney Opera House last night, but not with out some added drama.

Midway through the performance Bobby Fox, playing Charles J. Guiteau, sustained an injury and was forced out of the production. The show was briefly halted, before continuing with Associate Producer of Luckiest Productions, Spencer Bignell, stepping into the role (script in hand) to save the night. Bignell is no stranger to the stage. A graduate of Patrick Studios Australia, Spencer appeared in a number of commercial musical productions –including Opera Australia’s Anything Goes and GFO’s The Sound of Music – before turning his hand to producing.

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Ok. So you know that nightmare you have where someone tells you that you have to go on for a show midway through? What about on Opening Night? Well, tonight that happened. My incredible partner, who is the associate producer of this show, went on for a role that (thankfully!) he had helped to rehearse the week earlier, and absolutely smashed it. Not only was @spencerbignell a superstar, the entire incredible cast of #assassinsau were PHENOMENAL – both before and after Spencer’s extremely unexpected entrance. Each and every one of them are incredible, and are a big part of why this wonderful show is something not to be missed. To say that I am proud of my man is the understatement of the century.

A post shared by Ashleigh Rubenach (@ashleighrubenach) on Jun 12, 2018 at 5:44am PDT

AussieTheatre reached out to the producers this morning and received the following statement: “During last night’s performance of Assassins at the Sydney Opera House, actor Bobby Fox sustained an injury to his foot. We wish Bobby a speedy recovery. The season will continue as per the original performance timetable with Ryan Gonzalez now performing the role of Charles J. Guiteau until Bobby recovers.”

Ryan Gonzalez will rehearse the role today before slipping into the production at their next scheduled performance tonight at 7pm. Gonzalez, a prolific performer, most recently appeared in Blue Saint’s production of In The Heights at The Hayes Theatre to great acclaim and will be joining the cast of Jersey Boys when they start rehearsing later this year.

Assassins is playing at The Playhouse at the Opera House until July 1st. Tickets available at www.sydneyoperahouse.com

Everyone at AussieTheatre would like to wish Bobby a speedy recovery.

Check out our Assassins photo feature thanks to David Hooley Photography