I've seen Assassins live twice, and in neither version did they utilize the Balladeer-to-Oswald transition of the revival. I find it interesting how many different ways that show can be played. In the most recent version I saw, the Balladeer was black, which was a very interesting dynamic; they also really upped the contrast between the motivations of the Balladeer and the Proprietor, which worked very well. And there was some homoerotic tension between Booth and Oswald, although nothing overt or distracting. None of that was present at all in the other version I saw, which I found more effective overall in their portrayals of most of the other characters; that production's extremes between the funny and the serious moments, both at the end and throughout the show, were much more pronounced. To contrast those productions with what I know of the original and revival shows just how different that show can be from one production to another and still be effective.