By Jennifer Mustoe and Mary Garlitz
I see a lot of shows, so when I am planning on seeing a show twice, that’s big. I will be taking everyone I can to go see The Covey’s The 39 Steps again before this delightful show’s run is over. I’ve already blabbed all over Facebook to all my cyber friends to get with it and go see this show. And I’m saying it to my Front Row Reviewers Utah people, too.
The 39 Steps is a comedy using plots and characters from Alfred Hitchcock’s work. I didn’t know it was a comedy when I decided to see it, though. So at the beginning, when Richard Hannay, the lead in the show (handsome, curly hair, piercing blue eyes–see the show and you’ll see why I say this) picks up the phone and it still rings, I thought, oh my gosh. The tech person isn’t very good. In the next few minutes, I got it. This is a comedy! And that was supposed to happen! Gotcha!
Eric Geels plays Hannay–the handsome lead–and is the only actor who remains the same character throughout. Geels is a brilliant comedic actor with great timing, excellent nuance and great physicality. The rest of the small, remarkably talented cast are: Clara Richardson, who plays The Females In The Play–all of them a romantic lead for Hannay in the various settings. Richardson uses accents and mannerisms and movement to be Annabella Schmidt (German) and Pamela (Scottish) and Margaret (English.) (These three accents (and more?) are used throughout the play by all players.) Jeremy Showgren and Caitlin Young (also the costumer) play ALL the other characters, and they are many. When I go to the show again, I’m going to count how many each play, but it is a ton. These two actors are wonderful–playing each different character so believably that if you shut your eyes, you’d swear there were way more actors up there. And they change enough with spot on acting skills that they really bring it. Really.
The show has so many fun, clever ways to show the different vignettes, I couldn’t go into even half of them. But let me give you one that can be explained easily. At one point, Hannay is running away from the bad guys and starts running like Jimmy Stewart does in North By Northwest. If you remember that movie, Stewart is being chased by and shot at by a maniac in a bi-plane. In The 39 Steps, the “plane” is a wooden model let down on a string from the ceiling in the Brinton Black Box Theater. Geels is running with big arms and slow mo steps, then suddenly breaks character, walks over to the plane, faces it toward him and then goes back to slow mo running. Absolutely hilarious!
There are dozens of these fun bits with actors changing accents, costume pieces, hats and characters throughout the show. Director David Hanson keeps the production amazingly tight, fast, and funny using the small stage effectively and his actors brilliantly.
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I would recommend this show to anyone, but would caution about bringing kids under 8 or 10, mostly because it’s a little long. And you don’t have to be a big Hitchcock fan to laugh your head off in this show, but if you are familiar with his work, you will find yourself waiting for the next movie to be represented. (Mary said, “I wonder how they’ll show The Birds.” And the next bit showed them in a super funny, clever way.)
The only thing I’ll say is a lot of the bits seem to favor stage right, so when you buy your tickets, ask for seats either in the middle section or on the right. Our seats were on the left and we missed some of the action and facial expressions because the actors were fully facing away from us. But promise me you’ll go see this show.
You’re welcome.
The 39 Steps plays Thurs, Fri, Sat and Monday at 7:30 PM $14-$16 until October 29th.
The Covey Center for the Arts 425 W Center St Provo, UT 84601
Main Office: (801) 852-7007 Box Office: (801) 852-7007
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