Previews: THE 39 STEPS at CVRep

Coachella Valley Repertory in Southern California’s desert resort region (that includes Palm Springs, Cathedral City, Palm Desert and Rancho Mirage) is continuing its 2024-2025 Season with The 39 Steps,Patrick Barlow’s two-time Tony® Award and Drama Desk Award-winning, hysterically funny parody of John Buchan’s 1915 novel, Alfred Hitchcock’s 1935 whodunit film masterpiece, and Simono Corble and Nobby Dimon’s 1966 stage adaptation – along with a generous dash of Monty Python zaniness. So much for too many chefs!

Veteran Broadway actor, director, and choreographer Jamie Torcellini is directing. Performances are December 11 – 22 at the CVRep playhouse in Cathedral City. CVRep is the only theater in the Coachella Valley that has Small Professional Theatre (SPT) status with Actor's Equity.

The cast includes award-winning actors Matthew Floyd Miller* as Richard Hannay, Louis Lotorto** as Clown #1, Christopher Shaw* as Clown #2, and Ashley Morton as the Woman. *Appearing through an Agreement between CVRep and Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.  ** SAG/AFTRA/Equity

Director Torcellini said, “The 39 Steps is an engaging, fast-paced whodunit that celebrates the magic of theater. It combines a spy thriller with farcical comedy, a touch of romance and ingenious theatrical invention. It closely follows the storyline of Alfred Hitchcock’s 1935 film, but the play features more than 30 characters brought to life by a cast of just four actors. I describe it as ― when Hitchcock meets hilarious.”

In The 39 Steps, Richard Hannay, a dashing Canadian visiting England, meets Annabella, a beautiful British spy. An enemy espionage ring is pursuing Annabella because she has incriminating information about the group, known as The 39 Steps. She shares this with Hannay while hiding in his flat overnight. In the morning, he finds that she has been murdered. Hannay flees the scene of the crime dressed as a milkman with the police posse and members of the spy ring in pursuit. During his search for an alibi and Annabella’s murderer. Hannay escapes the police posse by kissing the beautiful Pamela on a train to Scotland, hides overnight in the home of an old farmer and his lusty young wife, Margaret, and meets Professor Jordan, who is missing a finger and shoots Hannay but misses. And so forth until Hannay saves the day and, perhaps, England and the world.

Single ticket prices for The 39 Steps are $55-$125 (opening nights)and can be purchased online at www.cvrep.org. The Wednesday, December 18 matinee at 2 p.m. will be ASL interpreted.

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