Northwestern University students canceled a musical following backlash from some students over the use of the n-word by a character.
Campus theatre troupe Lovers & Madmen canceled the remaining two shows the first weekend of March following criticism from black students.
The Stephen Sondheim musical “Assassins,” which debuted in 1990, includes the use of the n-word by John Wilkes Booth. “The Ballad of Booth” has a line about an n-word “lover.” It is a derogatory term the character uses toward President Abraham Lincoln.