The 39 Steps Off-Broadway
Opening Night: April 15, 2010
Closing: January 10, 2011
Theater: New World Stages
Part espionage thriller and part slapstick comedy, the production features four actors who portray all the characters and all the action from the 1935 Alfred Hitchcock film, including the chase atop the Flying Scotsman train, a bi-plane crash and the death-defying finale in London’s Palladium theatre.
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April 20, 2010
As that great cultural arbiter “American Idol” likes to remind us, there’s more than one way to sing a song. Two charming new quartets of performers have joined shows that might be regarded as Broadway equivalents of pop-chart toppers: “God of Carnage” and “Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps,” accessible comedies with nigh-irresistible hooks. And with these latest casts, interpretations that might have been merely dutiful or imitative have instead a sprightly freshness that makes you smile both at what’s familiar and what’s new.
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April 20, 2010
The business of spoofing films on stage is a particularly tricky one, so kudos are due to adaptor Patrick Barlow and director Maria Aitken for transforming Alfred Hitchcock’s 1935 thriller The 39 Steps into a highly amusing theatrical event that will both satisfy those audience members who have never seen the film and delight those who are familiar with its cinematic predecessor.
READ THE REVIEWApril 20, 2010
After two years and four theaters, the stage adaptation of "The 39 Steps" is still an irresistible crowd pleaser. From the American Airlines to the Cort to the Helen Hayes to its latest home, Off-Broadway at New World Stages, this four-actor, multiple-character, simple-set romp continues its winning combination of big yuks and low overhead. An additional secret to the show’s longevity is its simultaneous appeal to movie-trivia fanatics and broader audiences.
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April 20, 2010
The most that’s changed about The 39 Steps in the last two years is its theater. It opened January 2008 at the American Airlines, part of the Roundabout season, then moved to the smaller Cort and then the tinier-still Helen Hayes, which it finally vacated this past January. Now, that it’s followed Avenue Q’s lead and reopened at New World Stages, Richard Hannay is still on the run, he’s still having a lot of bad luck with women, and the two guys chasing him spend a lot of time (and calories) changing costumes. One suspects that none of this will change anytime soon.
READ THE REVIEWApril 20, 2010
“Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps,” a play based on the 1935 film, with the same plot and most of the same 150 characters as the Hitchcock spy thriller – except that it’s a slapstick comedy performed by a cast of just four — ended its two-year run on Broadway in January. It has now opened Off-Broadway three months later, one of the few Broadway shows ever to transfer to Off-Broadway. (Avenue Q, which began Off-Broadway, has also returned there.) But to put this in perspective: The Helen Hayes, the last of the three Broadway theaters where “The 39 Steps” was presented, has a total of 597 seats. Stage 1 of New World Stages, where the play has moved, has 499 seats. It is six blocks away, which unfortunately is more than 39 steps away, even with an exceptionally long stride, but not very much more.
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