Interview: 39 STEPS' Billy Carter on Off-Broadway's Revamped 'Little Golden Gem'

Following its Broadway run from 2008-10, 39 STEPS is back in New York.

Now playing Off-Broadway at the Union Square Theatre, the cast features original Broadway cast member Arnie Burton as Clown #2, Broadway vet Robert Petkoff as the dashing hero Richard Hannay, and Brittany Vicars as Pamela/Annabella/Margaret, as well as esteemed UK stage star Billy Carter, who takes on the role of Clown #1.

Per press notes, "39 Steps is a comedic spoof of the classic 1935 film, with only 4 "insanely talented" actors portraying more than 150 characters, sometimes changing roles in the blink of an eye. The brilliantly madcap story follows our dashing hero Richard Hannay (Robert Petkoff) as he races to solve the mystery of The 39 Steps, all the while trying to clear his name. The show's uproarious fast-paced 100 minutes promises to leave you gasping for breath... in a good way! It's fun for everyone from 9 to 99."

39 Steps came to Broadway in January 2008 and ran over three years, playing a record-breaking 1,135 performance - the longest running play in 7 years. It received six 2008 Tony nominations, including Patrick Barlow for Best Play, winning two for Sound Design and Lighting Design, and three Drama Desk Nominations, winning two including Unique Theatrical Experience.

In honor of the show's return to New York earlier this year, BroadwayWorld caught up with Carter, who recently wrapped a run in the West End musical I CAN'T SING! (opposite Cynthia Erivo,) to find out what he thought made the piece 'a little golden gem,' working with original cast member Burton, how he found his footing in the dozens of characters he portrays, and more!

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After having conquered much of the UK and exploring nearly every facet there, what's it like to be back in New York in 39 STEPS Off-Broadway?
I relocated here two-and-a-half years ago after spending most of my professional career in London, but at the time, I was homesick, and this job came up and it was kind of perfect. [The show] is such a brilliant taste of [London.] So it's like going home, really. It's been a wonderful enjoyment. I'm enjoying it very, very much.

And you get to star opposite Arnie Burton, who was in the original Broadway company.
Yes! We had to go back into a four-week rehearsal period when we were revising it - and he was incredibly patient with me (laughs.) I think we're a brilliant pairing, I couldn't imagine doing this show with anyone else.

He hasn't done (the show) for some years, so the revival is very well-sprung - it's been great to have him here.

It must feel a little bit like having a security blanket acting opposite someone who knows the show and the roles so well.
Yeah! Absolutely. The two of us have been able to still put our own stamp on a few things. So there was still a freshness with it. The blueprint was there, but if it works wonderfully, you don't mess with it. But there's still room for us to maneuver with our own styles. Even a few months into our run, we're still constantly fine-tuning things. It's wonderful!

When you went into rehearsals and started learning all of the characters (of which there are dozens,) how did you nail each of them down?
Well, I hadn't seen the show before - I was a complete virgin to it - so it was there for me to take. And I watched the movie quite a lot. And Maria Aitken, the original director, was there as well, so she was brilliantly guiding us to take these characters with our own styles. We also had a great dialect coach to nail the Scottish and English accents, so there was and has been a big collection of pieces [that helped me put the characters together.]

But the show goes at such a pace, and it's such a brilliantly well-strung production, that you have to earn the characters. And nobody really laughs in rehearsal rooms (laughs,) so it's not until you get in front of an audience that you perfect what you got under your skin during rehearsals.

Yeah, this show in particular seems like it would feel like a bit of a whirlwind to perform, going from scene to scene and character to character.
Yes, all of that is onstage - but then you also have the offstage elements. Which is very much of the evening for the actor. Besides velcro being ripped from my body, which keeps me up at night (laughs,) there's costume changes. It's a whole different dance. I think my quickest change is a minute-and-something. I go from being a well-breasted woman, to a salesman on a train. The discipline is offstage as well as onstage...there's no time to reflect or celebrate, you're always off again.

It's like one very intense, long mental and psychical workout.
(Laughs.) It is! In the summer months, there's a lot of sweating. It's not a bad thing! It's one of the perks of the job.

You hadn't seen 39 STEPS before coming into the Off-Broadway production, like you said. Were you familiar with Hitchcock's films?
Very much so, yes...when [the role] was offered to me, I called some of my friends [who had seen and been in the show in London], and they told me that it's a 'golden nugget' for a character actor...it's been hand-in-glove for me, really.

One of the best parts of this particular job is when you get the audience members who are so in tune with the Alfred Hitchcock themes, the quotes and the style and period, it's quite brilliant....His work and 39 STEPS has a very wide birth of appeal: there are teenagers and adults and young adults in the audience, on their feet, smiling. That's what makes it exciting.

It's a very simple play, but it's a little golden gem, really. With that type of audience, it can feel like a mini-event, not just a piece of theatre. It's wonderful.

And to be with such a small cast performing, has that allowed you feel more cohesive and tight-knit as a company?
Yes, there's a real freshness to it. For the four of us, we're a very good team. We all work in the detail of it, and we try and stay disciplined, so [the show] is cared for. I think that's what people love about it: the theatricality of the show, and that it relies on the four of us to turn a couple of trunks into a train, or step ladders into a bridge...with all of that, I think that this specific [Off-Broadway] production, has a lot of buoyancy to it.

Having done 39 STEPS and interacted with Hitchcock's fanbase, do you hear the demand for other adaptations of his works? There's been a few already done, including THE BIRDS, which has been adapted numerous times in regional theatre.
You know, I don't know! I think there's something very special about the film version of THE 39 STEPS that makes it work well on stage. It's a very smart film, and the acting is quite brilliant for that time period. If [an adaptation, such as 39 STEPS] keeps absolutely true to itself, then I think that's where the real enjoyment comes from.

You recently appeared in I CAN'T SING! in the West End. Can you tell me a bit about that experience?
It was a phenomenal experience! I had never done a musical before, and I had a big tap number with ten chorus boys behind me...I loved it.

I CAN'T SING! also had quite the cast, creative team, and producers on board.
Yes! And Cynthia Erivo, who's just coming over to do THE COLOR PURPLE, and listen, that is an amazing pair of pipes that she has. I would come down from the dressing room to stand at the side of the stage when she did her show-stopping number, and the size of the ovation she got in [the London Palladium], is something I've treasured. Everyone in New York is in for quite a treat - she's a phenomenal talent.

The show was quite short-lived, but it was quite brilliant. It had such a great variety style, and I was fortunate to have such great material to work with. But that was a multi-multi-multi million dollar set, that was so amazing, but in the same breadth, 39 STEPS is barebones, but just as effective with its theatricality.

Which I imagine leaves you not time to catch your breath.
(Laughs.) No there's no real time...but that's why I fell in love with it!

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For tickets or more information on 39 STEPS Off-Broadway, click here.