The 39 Steps

The 39 Steps is playing at the Union Square Theatre located at 100 East 17th Street. It runs one hour forty minutes with one intermission. It is an open ended show.

The play is adapted from the 1915 novel by John Buchan and the 1935 film by Alfred Hitchcock. It originally premiered at the West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds, Great Britain on June 17, 2005, transferred to Tricycle Theatre (London) on August 8, 2006 and finally to London’s West Ends Criterion Theatre in September 2006. The show closed after nine years in the West End, making it the fifth longest running play in West End history. It won the Olivier Award for Best Comedy in 2007.

It premiered at the Huntington Theatre Co in Boston, Massachusetts on September 19, 2007. It came to Broadway at the Roundabout Theatre on January 15, 2008. The initial run ended on March 29, 2008 and transferred to the Cort Theatre on April 29, 2008 and then transferred to the Helen Hayes Theatre on January 21, 2009. The show had its final Broadway performance on January 10, 2010 after 771 performances. The 39 Steps transferred to the off-Broadway venue New World Stages, reopening on March 25, 2010. It was nominated for six Tony Awards and winning two for sound and lighting design.

Peter McKintosh is the costume and set designer. He won the Olivier Award in 2012 for Best Costume Design for Crazy for You. Peter was nominated for two Tony Awards in 2007 for Best Set Design and Costume Design for The 39 Steps.

Kevin Adams is the lighting designer. He won four Tony Awards for Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2014), American Idiot (2010), The 39 Steps (2008) and Spring Awakening (2007).

The play takes place in 1935.

Richard Hanny (Robert Petkoff) is bored in his flat. He decides to go to the theatre. The act is The Memory. An audience member asks Clown 1 (Richard Carter) a question. Clown 2 (Arnie Burton) repeats the question to him. Across the theatre in the other box seat is Annabella Schmidt (Brittany Vicars). She fires a gun in the air. Annabella convinces him she is in trouble and needs to stay at his place. He agrees and when he wakes up he finds her dead.

Richard is accused of murder. The story revolves around him being on the run to find the killer and clear his name.

This is a very funny show. Arnie Burton and Billy Carter play several roles. They make it seem so easy, changing their facial expressions and movements. Brittany Vicars play three roles.

If you know Alfred Hitchcock’s films you will see scenes from them in the show. I only picked out three. How many do you think you can find? Yes Alfred Hitchcock does appear some were in the show

Go see this wacky but delightful show. You won’t regret it one bit.

Arnie Burton final performance was on September 28. 2015. Cameron Pow takes over the role on September 30, 2015.

Review by Rozanna Radakovich.

Photos by Annazor.

To read a candid interview with the cast, scroll down to the left for recent photos. Click on recent photos for this and other shows.