THE 39 STEPS Opens 95th Season of The Cleveland Play House, Opens 9/17

Mix a Hitchcock masterpiece with a juicy spy novel, add a dash of Monty Python, and you have The 39 Steps, a fast-paced, hilarious whodunit for anyone who loves the magic of theatre. In this Drama Desk Award winner and two-time Tony Award winner, a cast of four hilariously reenacts over 150 eccentric characters from Alfred Hitchcock's cinematic 1935 masterpiece using just a few props, split-second quick changes, and plenty of theatrical wizardry. The longest running comedy on Broadway, The 39 Steps is appropriate for audiences of all ages. The 39 Steps begins in the Drury Theatre at The Cleveland Play House on Friday, September 17 and runs through Sunday, October 10, 2010. Tickets are available at The Cleveland Play House box office by calling 216.795.7000 ext 4 or online at www.clevelandplayhouse.com. The 39 Steps is co-produced with Syracuse Stage and is presented with support from John P. Murphy Foundation, InterContinental Cleveland, Cuyahoga Arts and Culture, and the Ohio Arts Council.

Director Peter Amster describes the premise behind this romantic comedy thriller as "four very dedicated, very deranged actors who decide to put on the entire production of The 39 Steps with limited resources, so they have to be creative. What happens is that they transform the nothingness of an empty stage and a few hand props into something rather extraordinary, and they do it with grace, virtuosity, and enormous humor."

"The 39 Steps signals the return to The Cleveland Play House of three superb artists," declares Michael Bloom, Artistic Director. "Our director, Peter Amster, has already worked his magic on Jane Austen, with sparkling productions of Pride and Prejudice and Emma. And the leading lady of his latest triumph, the radiant Sarah Nealis, joins forces with a master of multiple characters, Joe Foust. Together with Nick Sandys and Rob Johansen, they make up the kind of superb ensemble that has become a hallmark of Play House productions."

ABOUT THE PLAY
In The 39 Steps, a London man with a boring life seeks escape at the theatre, where he meets a woman with a thick accent who says she's a spy. She implores him to take her home with him for safety, where she's later found murdered under shadowy circumstances. Soon, a mysterious organization called "The 39 Steps" is hot on the man's trail in a nationwide manhunt, during which he must fight to clear his name and stop a spy ring trying to smuggle top secret information out of England. Along the way he becomes entangled with a head-strong femme fatale who doesn't make his escape any easier. A riotous blend of virtuoso performances and wildly inventive stagecraft, The 39 Steps is a hilarious reimagining of Alfred Hitchcock's 1935 film mystery that amounts to an unforgettable evening of pure pleasure.

THE 39 STEPS Cast:
JOE FOUST (Clown 2) appeared at The Cleveland Play House in Around the World in 80 Days, 2009. Regional credits include playing Hamlet at Nevermore Theatre; six productions with Milwaukee Shakespeare; Kabuki Achilles, People's Light and Theatre Company; The Winter's Tale, Missouri Repertory Theatre; Romeo and Juliet, River Styx, London; and ten seasons acting and directing with Peninsula Players. Chicago acting credits include What the Butler Saw and Endgame, Court Theatre; The Beard of Avon, Goodman Theatre; Mother Courage and Her Children, Steppenwolf Theatre Company; Kabuki Medea; Wisdom Bridge Arts Project; The Seagull and Major Barbara, Remy Bumppo Theatre Company; Accidental Death of an Anarchist, Next Theatre Company; Santaland Diaries and Spin, Theater Wit; fourteen productions with Chicago Shakespeare Theater; and three seasons with Oak Park Festival Theater. Mr. Foust is a founding member of Defiant Theatre, where credits include directing and co-writing Action Movie: The Play and Ubu Raw.

ROB JOHANSEN (Clown 1) has spent much of his professional career at Indiana Repertory Theatre, where favorite roles include Cratchit in A Christmas Carol, The Librarian in Underneath the Lintel, Jim Casy in The Grapes of Wrath, Feste in Twelfth Night, Mortimer in The Fantastiks, and the title role in Cyrano. Mr. Johansen has appeared at Syracuse Stage where his favorite role was The Butler in The Unexpected Guest. He is a founding member of ShadowApe Theatre Company, which has produced Rope, The Love Song of J. Robert Oppenheimer, Life is a Dream, Welcome to the Monkey House, and Transformations. In Chicago, Mr. Johansen has performed at the Court Theatre, Victory Gardens Theater, and Shakespeare in the Park. An avid sportsman, he is passionate about theatre that is physically challenging and exciting to watch and has trained with various physical theatre companies with origins in Europe, America, and Japan.

SARAH NEALIS (Annabella Schmidt/Margaret/Pamela) recently appeared in the title role of The Cleveland Play House's production of Emma. She played Juliet in Romeo and Juliet and Sybil Chase in Private Lives with California Shakespeare Theatre, where she also performed in An Ideal Husband, Pericles, King Lear, and The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby. Her work with regional and San Francisco Bay area theaters includes the premiere of How Shakespeare Won the West, Huntington Theatre Company; A Christmas Carol, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Iphigenia at Aulis, Long Day's Journey Into Night, and Moonlight & Magnolias, San Jose Repertory Theatre; The Trojan Women, Aurora Theatre Company; How The Other Half Loves, Center REP; Othello and Twelfth Night, Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival; Four Adverbs, Word for Word Performing Arts Company; and as an understudy for Speed The Plow at American Conservatory Theater (ACT). Ms. Nealis holds a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre from University of California Berkeley.

Nick Sandys (Richard Hannay) Recent Chicago appearances include Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Old Times, The Real Thing (Jeff Award nomination 2007), Tartuffe, Arcadia, and The Secret Rapture, Remy Bumppo Theatre Company; My Fair Lady, Light Opera Works; Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, Pride & Prejudice, Northlight Theatre; Oedipus Complex, Goodman Theatre; Around The World in 80 Days, Lookingglass Theatre Company; Twelfth Night, Much Ado About Nothing (Jeff nomination 2008), First Folio Theatre; Othello, Romeo & Juliet, Chicago Shakespeare Theater; The Misanthrope (Jeff Nomination 2004), Next Theatre; and productions at Marriott Theatre, Writers' Theatre, Drury Lane Oakbrook, The Irish Repertory Theatre, and Madison Rep. Mr. Sandys is also a certified fight director with The Society of American Fight Directors, his choreography appearing at The Metropolitan Opera, Goodman Theatre, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Northlight Theatre, Shattered Globe Theatre (Jeff Award 2008), Victory Gardens Theater, and at The Theatre School at DePaul University, where he has taught since 1995.

THE 39 STEPS Creative Team:
The 39 Steps is adapted by Patrick Barlow, based on an original concept by Simon Corble and Nobby Dimon, the book by John Buchan, and from the 1935 film directed by Alfred Hitchcock.

Patrick Barlow (Playwright) is an English actor, comedian, and playwright. His comedic alter ego Desmond Olivier Dingle is the founder, artistic director, and chief executive of the legendary two-man National Theatre of Brent, which has performed in British theatre, television, and radio. Their comic epics include Zulu, The Charles and Diana Story, Messiah, and The Wonder of Sex. They have won two Sony Gold Awards, a Premier Ondas Award for Best European Comedy, and the New York FestivAl Gold Award for Best Comedy. Other screenwriting includes Adrian Mole, Christopher Columbus, Queen of the East, Van Gogh (Prix Futura, Berlin Film Festival), Revolution!! (Best Comedy, Jerusalem Film Festival), and the BAFTA-winning Young Visitors, starring Jim Broadbent. Publications include "Shakespeare: The Truth!" and "The Complete History of the Whole World." Screen/theatre acting credits include Wind in the Willows, Absolutely Fabulous, Clatterford, Shakespeare in Love, Notting Hill, The Diary of Bridget Jones, and Nanny McPhee. The 39 Steps won Mr. Barlow an Olivier Award for Best New Comedy.

Peter Amster (Director) returns to The Cleveland Play House, where he directed Emma and Pride and Prejudice. He has been nominated for Chicago's Jeff Award for his direction of Once on This Island, The World Goes Round, and The Rothschild's at Apple Tree Theatre, and Pride and Prejudice at Northlight Theatre. Other Chicago area theatres where he has worked include Steppenwolf Theatre Company, the Court Theatre, the Goodman Theatre, Live Bait, Pegasus, and Route 66. He has directed at many regional theatres, including the Oregon Shakespeare Festival; Indiana Repertory Theatre; Syracuse Stage; Asolo Repertory Theatre; Peninsula Players; American Players Theatre in Spring Green, Wisconsin; Milwaukee Rep; and the Weston Playhouse Theatre Company in Vermont. Mr. Amster has directed and choreographed operas for Lyric Opera of Chicago, Chicago Opera Theatre, Skylight Opera in Milwaukee, and Light Opera Works in Evanston, Illinois. He has taught theatre, opera, and performance studies at Northwestern University, California Institute of the Arts, Louisiana State University, DePaul University, and Roosevelt University.

The design team for The 39 Steps includes Linda Buchanan (Scenic Designer), Tracy Dorman (Costume Design), Michael Lincoln (Lighting Designer), Jerrold Scott (Dialect Coach) and Victoria DeIorio (Sound Design).

TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets for The 39 Steps range from $46 to $66, with discounts available for groups of ten or more, for senior citizens aged 60 and over, and for military reservists and their families. Tickets are $10 for all students under the age of 25. A limited number of $10 rush tickets go on sale 90 minutes before curtain and remain on sale until 30 minutes before curtain, based on availability. The Cleveland Play House is located at 85th and Euclid Ave. next door to the Cleveland Clinic near University Circle.

Founded in 1915, The Cleveland Play House is America's first professional regional theatre. More than 12 million people have attended over 1,300 productions at The Play House - including more than 130 American and/or World Premieres. Today, under the leadership of Artistic Director Michael Bloom and Managing Director Kevin Moore, The Cleveland Play House is an artist-driven theatre that serves the community by holding true to its mission: To inspire, stimulate and entertain diverse audiences in Northeast Ohio by producing plays and theatre education programs of the highest professional standards.

The Cleveland Play House is funded through the generosity of Cuyahoga County residents through Cuyahoga Arts and Culture and The Ohio Arts Council helps to fund The Cleveland Play House with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, educational excellence and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans.

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