Interview: Erica Marie Weisz on Being a Funny Femme Fatale in 'THE 39 STEPS' at New Village Arts

What do you get when you mix Hitchcock classic movies, with some zany British comedy stylings, and only 4 people to play over 150 characters?  You get ‘The 39 Steps” which is now playing at New Village Arts through May 12th.  Erica Marie Weisz plays multiple characters bringing the funny to the femme fatale. 

“The 39 Steps” combines the magic of live theatre with classic murder mystery cinema, to bring the iconic plot of Alfred Hitchcock’s classic thriller of the same name to life.  Richard Hannay is an innocent man who gets tangled in an international mystery.  He tries to stay alive and solve the mystery, while always staying ahead of the forces of good and evil that are pursuing him.  The twist is that this is both an homage and a send-up of the classic story, all told by a four-person cast, with a few props, and lots of imagination.

Erica Marie Weisz, along with the cast Kenny Bordieri, Reden Magtira, Dallas McLaughlin, (along with understudies Nick Siljander and Liliana Talwatte) are more than up to this task each performance.

Weisz plays three heroines linked to Hannay in some way - the sophisticated spy Annabelle,  Margaret a shy and sweet Scottish farmer's wife, and Pamela the classic Hitchcock cool blonde.  Erica Marie embraced the zany and the unpredictable even doing part of her audition process from her vacation, and like the show, used what she had around her to create the characters.

“I thought well, we're just going to make work! I used the curtains as my backdrop, I was not in costume, but I'd grab random stuff to make me look for the three characters.  I just went all out and embraced it because the only way this play is successful is if you just completely commit to everything you're doing.”

Erica Marie had long wanted to work at New Village Arts and was very excited to work on this project, especially with the director Dr. AJ Knox, and this entire cast.

“I had never laughed so much in a rehearsal process that I have in this production. We often cracked each other up, laughing at each other's random choices, and there have been times we had to take a break to get all the giggles out. AJ, our director really encouraged us to keep playing with it.

This cast is special because we all are very encouraging and it feels like a very safe and fun place to play.  I believe that translates into how great this show ends up being.”

San Diego Audiences last saw Weisz in ‘The Addams Family” at San Diego Musical Theatre as the beautiful but deadpan matriarch Morticia.  Weisz says that this kind of broader physical comedy has its own kind of musicality and pacing.

“I'm a musical theater girl, and I do feel like this show with the pacing and the comedic timing feels like a musical to me because it's so, it's so fast-paced.  

There are a lot of references to Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin. We’re going back to those roots of physical comedy to create this very fast-paced and fun play.”

As Annabelle, Margaret, and Pamela, Erica Marie gets to play many fun moments, but the other fun she has is getting to work with this wonderful cast.  With many scenes with McLaughlin as Hannary, and all of the many characters portrayed by Kenny Bordieri, and Reden Magtira.

“Once this show gets going it is a freight train and nothing can stop it. It's a wild ride. We're having so much fun on stage and I know the audience is going to have a blast with us.”

How To Get Tickets

You can see Erica Marie Weisz and the entire cast of “The 39 Steps at New Village Arts through May 12th.   For ticket and showtime information go to www.newvillagearts.org 

Photo Credit: Daren Scott Photography

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