SITE GUIDE
SEARCH
REVIEWS
REVIEW ARCHIVES
ADVERTISING AT CURTAINUP
FEATURES
NEWS
Etcetera and
Short Term Listings
LISTINGS
Broadway
Off-Broadway
NYC Restaurants
BOOKS and CDs
OTHER PLACES
Berkshires
London
California
New Jersey
DC
Philadelphia
Elsewhere
QUOTES
On TKTS
PLAYWRIGHTS' ALBUMS
LETTERS TO EDITOR
FILM
LINKS
MISCELLANEOUS
Free Updates
Masthead
Writing for Us
A CurtainUp New Jersey Review
The 39 Steps
|
London. 1935. August. I’d been back three months in the old country and frankly wondering why. — Hannay
|
Stacie Morgain Lewis and Howard McGillin
(Photo:T. Charles Erickson) |
A huge hit in London before it crossed the ocean to become just as big a hit on Broadway in 2008, it is a surprisingly faithful (with a few digressions) if also farcical adaptation by Patrick Barlow of the director’s 1935 film starring Robert Donat and Madeleine Carol, itself (as have two other film versions) based on John Buchan’s classic 1914 spy novel.
Shanahan, who has previously directed this lark at a number of regional theaters, has not only fully embraced the play’s prescribed mock minimalist style but also given McGillin the opportunity to be more than a cipher as the otherwise ubiquitous and intrepid Richard Hannay. Amidst the breathless pace, the chortles and faux chills, McGillin steps with panache beyond the role’s rather one-dimensional demands. As such, he is quite, and perhaps unexpectedly, disarming as an English gentleman in tweeds with “a very attractive pencil mustache.”
Though typified by a casual ennui, McGillin skillfully projects Hannay’s resourceful insouciance as well as his unbridled patriotic verve in the cause of his country, but mainly when (hold your breath) pursued by the police through London and over the Scotland moors.
In addition to McGillin, this romp relies on three other actors to portray a multitude of characters (although I was not inclined to keep count). Despite this comedy’s deluge of irreverent intentions, it doesn’t wear out its welcome as it aggressively seeks to spoof virtually every plot contrivance to ever engine a Hitchcockian spy thriller. This is a major achievement.
Getting in and out of scrapes and escaping from the clutches of the bad guys keeps Hannay hopping and the audience happily swept away by the ingenuity of the adaptation. The deft tongue-in-cheek performances always hit their intended mark as do Yoshi Tanokura’s scenic surprises, often just a puff of smoke, a couple of ladders, or a line-up of steamer trunks to effect a speeding train. Best of all, I loved the grandly ornate gilt-edged theater proscenium with which Tanokura has framed the play. Rui Rita’s lighting offers just the right cover for all the slight-of-hand that goes on.
The two “clowns” in brilliant support — Mark Price and Michael Thomas Holmes — are not only up to leaping in and out of many role assignments and invoking various accents from spies, to train conductors, police officers and vaudeville entertainers, but they are also obliged to play on occasion inanimate objects, as well as serving as stage-hands.
Making her first appearance as the seductive, mysterious, foreign-accented woman in black Annabella Schmidt, Stacie Morgain Lewis plunges directly into the spirit (shades of Marlene Dietrich) of the production. Annabella’s unfortunate death in Hannay’s London flat clears the way for Lewis to invest a lighter touch to her future scenes, as the helpful wife of a surely Scot’s farmer, and as Pamela, the cool, aloof blonde who is unconvinced of Hannay’s innocence.
Fans of the film will get an extra bang out of scenes they remember fondly, as well as some outrageously integrated references to Vertigo, The Birds, even the aerial attack in North by Northwest, helped by a little ingenious shadow puppetry. Don’t count them - - - just take as many steps as necessary to get to the George Street Playhouse.
Below links Curtainup review of the show in London, New York and Los Angeles
Los Angeles)
London and Broadway
|
The 39 Steps Adapted By Patrick Barlow from the novel by John Buchan From the movie of Alfred Hitchcock Directed by Mark Shanahan Cast: Howard McGillin (Richard Hannay), Stacie Morgain Lewis (Annabella Schmidt/Pamela/Margaret), Mark Price (Clown One), Michael Thomas Holmes (Clown Two) Movement Director: Jen Waldman Set Design: Yoshi Tanokura Costume Design: David Murin Lighting Design: Rui Rita Sound Design: Ryan Rumery Dialect Coach: Chantal Jean-Pierre Fight Director: Rick Sordelet Running time: 2 hours including intermission George Street Playhouse, 9 Livingston Avenue, Livingston, NJ (732) 246 – 7717 Tickets: ($26.50 - $57.40) Performances Tuesdays through Saturday at 8 PM; Sundays at 7 PM; Matinees Thursdays and Sundays at 2 PM. From: 04/24/12 Opened 04/27/12 Ends 05/20/12 Review by Simon Saltzman based on performance 04/27/12 |
|
Subscribe to our FREE email updates with a note from editor Elyse Sommer about additions to the website -- with main page hot links to the latest features posted at our numerous locations. To subscribe,
E-mail: esommer@curtainup.comesommer@curtainup.com
put SUBSCRIBE CURTAINUP EMAIL UPDATE in the subject line and your full name and email address in the body of the message -- if you can spare a minute, tell us how you came to CurtainUp and from what part of the country. Visit Curtainup's Blog Annex For a feed to reviews and features as they are posted add http://curtainupnewlinks.blogspot.com to your reader Curtainup at Facebook . . . Curtainup at Twitter |
|
REVIEW FEEDBACK Highlight one of the responses below and click "copy" or"CTRL+C"
Paste the highlighted text into the subject line (CTRL+ V): >Feel free to add detailed comments in the body of the email and state if you'd like your comments published in our letters section. . .also the names and emails of any friends to whom you'd like us to forward a copy of this review. You can also contact us at Curtainup at Facebook or Curtainup at Twitter and Curtainup's Blog Annex |
Book of Mormon -CDOur review of the show
Slings & Arrows-the complete set
You don't have to be a Shakespeare aficionado to love all 21 episodes of this hilarious and moving Canadian TV series about a fictional Shakespeare Company
