VALLEJO -- Going in to see Bay Area Stage's latest production, "The 39 Steps," I didn't want to compare it to the classic 1935 Alfred Hitchcock film.
That was actually easy to do because I probably saw it over 20 years ago and only remembered that I liked it and not any plot points.
It turns out I was way off base anyway.
I was very pleasantly surprised when BAS co-founder Jeff Lowe, with his partner Stacey Loew, asked the audience if we liked Hitchcock and Monty Python. You see the play that BAS is producing is actually a parody with the same title as the original. The first version of the parody play was written in 1996, then the script was rewritten in 2005 and had its Broadway premiere two years later.
"The 39 Steps" (the original) is basically a thriller with spies, murder, chases, plot twists - all the Hitchcock elements we've come to know and love that come together in a classic film. The parody play tells the whole story, but with hilarity infusions throughout the script.
Many prop hats off to Lowe for his wonderful direction of the hardworking and hysterical cast.
Now, there are dozens of characters in the play, but they are played by just four actors. It was not the first time I had seen a show like that. In 2012, the Second Chance Theatre Alliance did "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare: Abridged" in Suisun City and the following year Napa Valley Players performed "The Complete History of Comedy: Abridged" both with only three actors playing all the parts. I had forgotten how ferociously funny such shows could be.
The cast of "The 39 Steps" were all uber talented and included Juan M. Curiel II as Richard Hannay, Susanne Taussig as Annabella Schmidt, Pamela and Margaret, and Bill Chessman and Phillip Sales as Man 1 and Man 2, respectively.
Curiel was the straight man for most of the play, but still was involved in many of the funniest moments. I was astounded to read in the program that the show was the first that Taussig had done since high school as she was phenomenal.
Chessman and Sales brought most of the characters in the play to life and together they were a whirlwind of frenetic comedic energy. One of the best parts to me was when they were trying themselves not to laugh and it was obvious.
Now, in other productions that would be distracting and off-putting, but in the context of the slapstick, madcap story it was wholly appropriate. It felt like when the characters in "The Carol Burnett Show" were doing all they could to hold it together. They were in on the joke and their palpable joy at doing the show was infectious.
I once saw a well-known rock band put on a spectacular concert with lasers and flashpots and other special effects, but had they just played with nothing but stage lights their musicianship would have still made it a great show.
I had that same feeling at "The 39 Steps." Had the cast just done their well-acted, precise and funny parts sans the amazing and wonderfully detailed projections by Lowe it would still have worked. But having them was a game changer.
The lickety split changes that the characters had to do coupled with the physicality it required and doing it all with British accents was an amazing and entertaining feat.
I'm going to watch a copy of the original "The 39 Steps" that I got from the library, but I fear that without all the wonderful comedic flourishes it will be hopelessly bland.
Fairfield freelance accidental local historian Tony Wade has a new book for The History Press, "True Crime Stories of Fairfield, California," coming out in August. He is the author of five other books. You can reach him at [email protected].
Bay Area Stage: Alfred Hitchcock's "The 39 Steps"
* 3 p.m. June 1
* 8 p.m. June 6, June 7
* 515 Broadway St., Vallejo
* www.bayareastage.org
Rating: 3 1/2 stars out of 4