BWW Reviews: GCT's THE 39 STEPS Is a Gigantic Winner

Alfred Hitchcock's/The 39 Steps/adapted by Patrick Barlow/based on the book by John Buchan & on an original concept by Simon Corble and Nobby Dimon/directed by Todd Nielsen/Glendale Centre Theatre (GCT)/through August 17

Who can top the master of suspense Alfred Hitchcock? His stamp on any work makes it eternally the best. Book adaptor Patrick Barlow takes a suspenseful Hitchcock film (1935) of the same name The 39 Steps and fashions a thoroughly entertaining, highly comedic and cinematically monumental suspense yarn for the stage. Guest director Todd Nielsen and the fine cast at GCT make it work as good as it can get anywhere, anytime.

Brent Schindele plays Richard Hannay whose adventure starts out quite simply with a visit to a music hall in London. There things get a bit tense as he meets a peculiar brunette named Annabella Schmidt (Eva Swan) who shoots off a gun in the theatre and then proceeds to go home with Hannay for protection, as she is being followed by two shady characters who want her dead because she knows too much about The 39 Steps. More about that later. The two shady characters (Louis Lotorto and Michael Cusimano) play about two dozen characters between them and Swan plays two other roles besides Schmidt - a Scottish country wife named Pamela and a blonde femme fatale named Margaret who also has eyes for Hannay. He doesn't have to worry very long about Schmidt, as she is killed off close to the top. Slapstick, visual jokes and special effects all add up to a fabulous evening of edge-of-your-seat fun.

The four incredible actors possess impeccable timing. As they mime chases aboard trains, inside and out, through water, against fierce winds and dodging low flying planes, the adventure is nonstop. Just watching one of them pretend to escape through a window is an hilariously novel experience. Plus there is music, visuals and one-liners alluding to just about every Alfred Hitchcock film imaginable, including Psycho, Vertigo, North by NorthWest, Rear Window, The Birds, Strangers on a Train, Torn Curtain and The Man Who Knew Too Much. In the background Bernard Herrman's scores from Psycho and Vertigo are heard at death defying moments...and to make one aware of the intense attraction between Hannay and Margaret.

The sheer theatricality of this piece makes it an homage not only to Hitchcock movies but also to the theatre itself. The audience watch in awe at director Nielsen's pacing and the four actors who work at breakneck speed. An important note about this production at GCT: the play works beautifully in the round, utilizing the audience ... to unexpectedly hold props and ask questions of Mr. Memory in the theatre segment. Running up and down these aisles is a tremendous feat for all the actors, who must also change costumes exceedingly fast for some scenes, and the audiences's proximity to them makes it all the more thrilling and enjoyable. This is by far one of GCT's most skilled and polished productions.

Good show!

Oh, I almost forgot... what are The 39 Steps? Well, you're just going to have to see the show to learn the answer to that! And watching the movie is not the answer. It does not have the over-the-top humor of this stage satire.

http://www.glendalecentretheatre.com/shows/

(top photo credit: Don Grigware/ left to right: Michael Cusimano, Eva Swan, Brent Schindele, Louis Lotorto)