On Wednesday, I got to meet a friend of mine from Florida whom I hadn't seen in about two years. We had lunch together and chatted for a few hours and then, I walked him to the Helen Hayes Theater where he was going to see The 39 Steps. As I walking toward 8th Ave, I heard him yell my name from down the street. When I went back, he told me two women were just giving away a ticket if I wanted to see the show. So of course, not being one to pass up a FREE Broadway show, I said, "YES!!" And that's how I got the surprise of seeing, The 39 Steps.
The 39 Steps, is written by Partick Barlow, based on a 1935 film by Alfred Hitchcock and is about Richard Hannay (Sean Mahon), a Canadian who is wanted for the murder of Annabella Schmidt (Jill Paice). He goes on the run to avoid police and discover who the assasins were who had her killed. His only knowledge is of a man with the top joint missing from his pinky and "the 39 steps." He has to figure out who and what these things are before the police catch up to him, in order to clear his own name. Along the way, he meets and is eventually handcuffed to Pamela (also, Jill Paice) who has given him up to the police twice. He hides out in several places including a town hall meeting and a small inn (the innkeeper and his wife are played by Jeffrey Kuhn and Arnie Burton.) Eventually, we get to the bottom of "the 39 steps" but, I'm not gonna tell you that here.
I was pleasantly surpirised by the show, I must say. Being a musical guy and lots of other "bigger deal" plays (God of Carnage, A Steady Rain, The Royal Family, etc.) opening on Broadway, this was always a show that was never very high on my "must see list." But getting this chance to see it for free, was definitely a good thing and couldn't be passed up! The play was fast and funny with a great cast who definitely played well together.
Sean Mahon was the only one of the four actors to play just one role. His Richard Hannay is a very funny leading man on the run. He does a great job but, he also has the easiest job in the show.
Jill Paice plays both the role of Annabella and Pamela. She does an excellent job of making them completely different people and, with the help of a wig change, is hard to recognize when she first appears as Pamela.
The rest of the characters we see are played by two actors, Arnie Burton and Jeffrey Kuhn. They are both very funny in their multiple roles. I think my favorite would have to be their innkeeper (Kuhn) and his wife (Burton). They also take on the roles of the detectives chasing after Hannay and a political candidtate and his aide, among others. They seamlessly transition themselves from one character to the next.
The show won Tonys for lighting and sound design and it shows. It was also nominated for Best Play which, I'm sure, was also well deserved (I never got to see any of the others that were up for the award). Throughout the show there are several, fairly obvious but funny, references to other Hitchcock movies (obvious because, even I was able to get them).
Overall, it was a nice way to spend an afternoon. I was happy that things turned out the way they did because, I probably would never have seen the show otherwise. Although, there are several other shows I would have chosen to see above it, it's definitely worth checking out!
The next show I'll be seeing is Shrek the Musical so, until then....
----MC
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