Little Theatre of Manchester Presents 'The 39 Steps'

HITCHCOCK SPOOF STEPS ONTO CHENEY HALL STAGE

Little Theatre of Manchester Presents THE 39 STEPS

MANCHESTER, CONNECTICUT – Little Theatre of Manchester (LTM) continues its 2017 season in August with the high-speed spoof of Alfred Hitchcock’s classic spy movie, Patrick Barlow’s THE 39 STEPS. Directed by Shane William Kegler, this comedy runs from Friday, August 11 to Sunday, August 27.

Featuring a cast of four actors who breathlessly and hilariously reenact hundreds of characters, locations and famous scenes in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1935 film thriller of the same name, THE 39 STEPS is packed with nonstop laughs, an on-stage plane crash, and some good old-fashioned romance!

“Everyone loves a good murder mystery, and they love a good outrageous comedy,” says Kegler (of East Hartford). “There is nothing too deep about this show; it’s just a bizarre romp through some of Hitchcock’s favorite elements: mistaken identity, an icy blonde with a mysterious past, an innocent man on the run from the law, and an over-the-top murder plot that only he can stop.”

Hitchcock’s movie was based on a novel published in 1915. John Buchan’s The Thirty-Nine Steps pits the hero Richard Hannay, against a network of German spies preparing to storm Great Britain. Buchan called his novel a “shocker, where the incidents defy the probabilities and march just inside the borders of the possible.” Hannay is portrayed as an average guy who pursues a deadly plot at his own peril out of his great loyalty to his country; the events of the novel are outlandish and Hannay shouldn’t be able to survive the ordeal, yet he perseveres against incredible odds.

The 1935 film was considered Alfred Hitchcock’s first masterpiece. Though the film maintained the lead character of Richard Hannay, Hitchcock radically altered the novel by including Madeleine Carroll as Pamela, a beautiful blonde British bombshell romantically linked to Robert Donat’s Hannay. Following the success of The 39 Steps, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood, where he produced his most famous films, including North by Northwest, Psycho, Vertigo, and Rear Window.

The four-person cast includes:

• Shawn Procuniar of New London as Richard Hannay
• Christine Voytko of East Windsor as Pamela and others
• Ed Bernstein of West Hartford as Clown 1
• Michael King of Manchester as Clown 2

THE 39 STEPS is sponsored by the Manchester Chapter of UNICO.