Review: 39 Reasons to See THE 39 STEPS at American Stage

It's a sad reality that more times than not the all-important tech people on a show, any show, get the short end of the stick in various reviews. Oftentimes the sound, lighting, set and costume designers are relegated to a postscript if they are lucky enough to be mentioned at all. Sometimes this makes sense; if the lighting is so seamless as to not to be noticed (in other words, it succeeds at its task without calling attention to itself), then it's hard to write paragraphs about it. But our area has some of the best tech people you can find; without them, we might as well be watching a staged reading of some of the finest local shows.

Which leads me to American Stage's current production, the fast-paced, hilariously crackerjack 39 STEPS, based on the classic 1935 Alfred Hitchcock movie. When the show first opened in 2008, it was rightly nominated for a Best Play Tony Award (and rightly lost to the brilliant August: Osage County). It's been widely performed around the country since, but the American Stage version does it right; leading the way is the show's sensational tech work (which must have led the way in the 2008 production as well, since it won Tony Awards for both its lighting and sound designs).

With that said, here are my 39 Reasons to see American Stage's production of THE 39 STEPS...

1.Jonathan Williams' sound design. Although this list isn't in any particular order, the #1 is the #1 for the entire show. It leads the way with its creative, brilliant and off-the-charts sound. After the show, people were talking about this as much as the (wonderful) performers. But this makes sense, because Williams' sound design is like another character in the production; without it, it would be a much lesser show.

2. Joseph P. Oshry's impeccable lighting design.

3. Jerid Fox's set which appropriately gives the feeling of a black and white movie without overdoing it.

4. Catherine Cann's costumes. The costumes suit the times (1935) well, and the costume changes are awe-inducing, almost like something you'd find in a magic act (an actor leaves the stage wearing one costume and immediately returns to the stage donning another one). Wow!

5. A smart, funny script by Patrick Barlow.

6.Richard Watson. This fine actor, who I have seen before in various shows at the Asolo, plays dozens of roles, and the audience runs out of breath watching him change from persona to persona, all with incredible ease. Of the fine cast of four, he stands out as the zaniest and funniest.

7. Almost as good as Watson is the always entertaining Joey Panek, who also plays a myriad of roles.

8. Juliana Davis who plays a smaller variety of roles than Panek or Watson, but she owns each and every one of them in her American Stage debut.

9.Jed Peterson summoning his best Robert Donat as the reasonably sane lead character, Richard Hanney. (You would never know this was the same actor who looked like a reincarnation of Rudolf Nureyev in Nureyev's Eyes last year.)

10. Did I mention Richard Watson?

11. Stephanie Gularte's intelligent direction; this production needs a leader to guide traffic throughout its labyrinthine plot, and Ms. Gularte does so beautifully.

12. The hat-changing scene between Watson and Panek.

13. Davis' death scene of the mysterious Annabella Schmidt.

14. Professor Jordan as portrayed by Watson. If the great character actor Kenneth Mars were alive today, he would applaud like mad.

15. Boy, the set sure is a gray and white playground, isn't it?

16. The show's hilarity--imagine Mony Python meets The Mystery of Irma Vep.

17.Richard Watson's lip-licking old man at a political meeting; it's the funniest caricature of an old man since Tim Conway.

18. Timing. It's everything in comedy.

19. The re-creation of wind...brilliantly pantomimed by the cast.

20. Stage movement...almost balletic in its choreography, bodies moving onstage, running off and on constantly, but we never lost track of who's who. (Once again, thank you Ms. Gularte.)

21. Hitchcock references...it has more than Mel Brooks' High Anxiety, some of them so bad they're good and worthy of the audience's adoring groans.

22. The silent pre-show opening, where the two clowns set the stage (literally) for the joyous craziness to come.

23. The original plot (a sane man lost in insane situations). It's still here, intact, but told in a knee-slapping manner.

24. References to Wuthering Heights, Gosford Park and Downton Abbey.

25. Strong, consistent British accents from the actors.

26. A car scene unlike any other you may see onstage.

27. Two actors, trading hats, in a tour de force of versatility.

28. Panek's constantly bowing Mr. Memory; Mr. M is, for lack of a better word, memorable. (I have been compared to Mr. Memory before, mainly due to my love/obsession of useless information. It's one of my favorite all-time compliments. But my trivia adoration is nothing compared to Panek's doomed human info-machine.)

29.Richard Watson, again.

30. Pacing. It's the fastest two hours and change that you will ever sit through.

31. If you haven't gathered yet, it's a must-see show, one that's a ton of fun.

32. It's certainly worth your time and money to check out, to see the brilliant tech work as well as outstanding, applause-worthy versatile performers who make the whole thing whiz-bang fast.

33. The first class program (though I wish they would have listed the numerous characters that Watson's and Panek's clowns wind up playing).

34. Intrigue, almost "Get Smart" meets film noir (though the original film precedes the film noir heyday of the 1940's).

35. Laughter. The audience and yours. Guaranteed.

36.Richard Watson. Is mentioning Watson four (or more) times piling it on? I think not; he's that entertaining.

37. You don't have to be smart or highly educated to understand the references and giggle like a pre-teen girl in THE 39 STEPS, but it helps.

38. Good theatre. When it's here, celebrate it. I had major problems with the last American Stage show, Intimate Apparel. It had pacing issues and turned out to be a long, tedious evening saved only by a strong lead performance. Here, the whole thing is just joyous. Actors loving every minute of a script that allows them to do what they do best. They are like children in a sandbox, playing and having a ball, and we, the audience, get to be the recipients of that joy.

39. And don't forget the tech. I started the list with it, and I'll end with it. The tech in THE 39 STEPS is more than a mere PS here; each element is like a character in and of itself. Sheer magic. And it, along with those outstanding performers, deserves a full house every night.

THE 39 STEPS plays until December 13th. For tickets, please call (727) 823-PLAY (7529).

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