Eliot and Tony - Huntington wins big!

I took the night off yesterday and I, apparently, missed one helluva time at the Eliot Norton awards. Everyone is talking about it today. This is the news in from Temple Gill:

Hi everyone!

The Huntington had a big night last night at the Elliot Norton Awards, where Present Laughter won best production, Nancy Carroll won Outstanding Actress (for Brendan and Present Laughter), Alexander Dodge won best design (for Present Laughter and Brendan), and Nicky(Martin) was honored with the Norton Award for Sustained Excellence. You can read more about the awards here:

What the article won't tell you is how funny Michael(Maso) was in accepting the awards for Alexander Dodge and Present Laughter, what a tremendous great sport Victor Garber was in getting up to graciously accept Nancy Carroll's award on her behalf, and how delightful Andrea Martin was as the guest of honor and in introducing Nicky. In accepting the award for sustained excellence, Nicky was funny and charming (as usual!), and both he and the tribute video to him were greeted very warmly by the crowd.

Congratulations to all of our winners! And thanks to everyone who came to the awards last evening to support them!

- Temple

Also in my mailbox this from Michael Maso:

The 39 Steps has six Tony Nominations — including best play, best director and all design components.

Best Play - The 39 Steps

Best Director of a Play - Maria Aitken

Best Sets for a Play - Peter McKintosh

Best Costume for a Play - Peter McKintosh

Best Lighting for a Play - Kevin Adams

Best Sound for a Play - Mic Pool

You should all feel very proud of what you have helped accomplish, with special note of our extraordinary production staff for what your expertise has contributed to this recognition.

There are also noms for Andrea Martin and Chris Fitzgerald! View the complete list of nominees here.

M.


Exciting news all around. Congrats everyone!

The 39 Steps Opens Again

Our production of Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps opens again on Broadway at the Cort tonight... Playbill has the story here. Charlie Edwards, Arnie Burton, Cliff Saunders, and Jennifer Ferrin (L to R in the above photo by Joan Marcus), continue in their roles. We wish everyone a healthy "break a leg"! Managing Director Michael Maso and incoming Artistic Director Peter Dubois will be on hand tonight in NYC to deliver our best wishes. The rest of us are getting ready for a She Loves Me dry tech tomorrow night.

I visited the production in rehearsal at the Cort two weeks ago with my sister, and my 10 yo nephew, and 12 yo niece. It was great to see so many familiar faces backstage and at the tech tables. Two of the Boston crew are still with the production - BU stage management student Rosy Garner and dresser Peggy Donovan. Rosy has been commuting back to Boston for classes on Monday all semester. We also saw Stage Managers Nevin Headly and Janet Takami, as well as the Production management team from Aurora productions. Kevin Adams (lighting) and Drew Levy (sound) , were busy behind their tech tables again, and it was nice to see lighting assistant Hillary Manners. It's a small world. Director Aitken, who has been busy directing a new production in Australia, sent her best back to the Huntington. I delivered IRNE awards to Clilff Saunders and Arnie Burton. More awards are expected soon at the Norton and Drama Desk ceremonies.

We've sent them a few new costumes - Jennifer Ferrin has had a new dress for every production - and Charlie, who uses two suits for each show, is on his second set. I expect we'll be called for the third in a few months. The four chairs in the show - which survived the Boston run to our surprise, also made it almost all the way through the run at the Roundabout - with their back ups going on in the final week there. Everything (and everyone) looks great and it's nice to see our work up on Broadway once again.

The above photo is by T. Charles Erickson.

We got to watch a few hours of tech rehearsal - a little bit of the bog chase, where they brought back the "Boston" stream, some new blocking in the "door" scene in the mansion on the moors, and some of the shadow play. Ben and Kendra (my nephew and niece) were probably the most engaged they had been the entire weekend. Ben, who likes to figure things out, wanted to know if it was rated PG-13 and if he could watch the movie when he got home. Kendra was thrilled that they were the only guests in the theatre. Ben wanted to know if the show was like the movie "Clue". I didn't have an answer for that one, but it was fun to explain some of the tricks behind the shadow play chase scene. We got to see that about 5 times, as they would stop each time to fix a little snag, go back and start all over again. I thought the kids would be bored after two hours of stops and starts - but they weren't. Clearly it's time to get them to the theatre more often. Hopefully the show will run for years (like it has in London) and we'll be back to NY to see the show from start to finish someday.

This just in: Alfred Hitchcock’s 1935 film classic, The 39 Steps, will air on Turner Classic Movies on Monday, May 12th at 8:00PM,. TCM host Robert Osborne will introduce the film and discuss the hit Broadway production, Alfred Hitchcock’s THE 39 STEPS, which is running at the Cort Theatre on Broadway. Check local listings for channel information.

Inbox Friday 3/21

a few things out there worth checking out.

The 39 Steps will be moving to a commercial Broadway production at the Cort, starting late April.

Streamers, again directed by Roundabout helmer Scott Ellis, may play the Laura Pels in NYC next season. Click to read the Playbill article.

Brooks Ashmanskas (Present Laughter) and Kate Baldwin (Falsettos) will take the leads in She Loves Me coming to the Huntington in May/June. Read more here.

Read this.... I think it's time for new leadership at the Boston Parks Department. To see Boston.com reader reaction click here

Do you support the notion that creativity and the Arts should be taught in public schools in MA? Click here to read more and be sure to tell House Speaker Dimasi it's time for a vote.

More Breaking Ground 2008 info here.

Huntington Theatre Family Features

The past week or so has garnered some nice features for a few members of our extended family. Click on the links below to explore - and as always we would love to hear your thoughts.

The Broadway Production of The 39 Steps has a great review in the NY Times, an audio feature with designer Peter McKintosh (see link on the above review page), a backstage photo feature, and a little history of the evolution of the play.

Huntington Favorite Kate Burton (Hedda Gabler, The Cherry Orchard) is now appearing in Spring Awakening, and there is a very nice feature about her here. The NY Times has also published a lovely slideshow featuring Kate.

Actor Christopher Fitzgerald (A Month in the Country, The Sons of Ulster...) is now appearing on Broadway as Igor in Young Frankenstien. The AP published a nice feature and you can read it here. His wife, Jess Stone, is also a familiar face (Betty in Betty's Summer Vacation) and we're hoping to see them both (along with their infant son - congrats) back in Boston soon.

Photo: Kate Burton (as Madame Ranevskaya) in the Huntington Theatre Company's production of The Cherry Orchard, directed by Nicholas Martin. Photo: T. Charles Erickson

The 39 Step Opens on Broadway!

I had the pleasure of attending the Broadway opening of Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps on Tuesday night in NYC as a guest of the Roundabout. It was a great night, starting with a rousing performance followed by a fun opening night party.

The show was oh-so-familiar (I've seen it in London, and at least a dozen times in Boston) but director Maria Aitken has added a couple of fun new moments and made a few snips that made the frenetic pace of the NY show even more manic. It was great to see our sets, props and costumes up on that stage.

It was even better to see Maria, the cast, a few of the designers, and our backstage friends including Stage Managers Nevin Hedley and Janet Takami after the show! The growing excitement at the Times Square party gained even more momentum as news of a rave review in the NY Times spread.

Here are some photos, courtesy of Janet, and at the end of the post you'll find a link to the PLAYBILL.com coverage of the event.

Huntington's Costume Director Nancy Brennan (left) and guest enjoying the festivities.

Kevin, Janet, Peggy, Kelly, and Rosie (left to right) . Kevin and Rosie are both BU Students who worked on the Huntington run and reprised their roles as Assistant to the Director and Production Assistant in New York. Back to class you two! Janet and Peggy also stayed on with the show in their respective roles as Stage Manager and Dresser. Kelly, a BU grad who recently returned to NY after stage managing our production of Brendan was there with her S.O. Drew Levy. Drew (not pictured) is also a BU Grad, has several Huntington Sound design credits under his belt, and most recently was Assistant Sound designer on The 39 Steps. I guess he was at the bar. Nice to see these youngsters already working on Broadway! Congrats!

and here are yours truly with our GM, George Ryan, and his guest. For even more photos from the evening click here.
Read the NY Times review here.
and even more photos at BroadwayWorld.com

Comin' together

Here's the news and lots of it. I'll try to be brief:

Streamers final performances are this weekend - with a closing performance at two o'clock this Sunday afternoon. For more Streamers info including articles, reviews and video, visit here or read more from the blog here.

BU School of Theatre has both Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead and The Weavers up and running. The former is in Studio 210 through Dec 8th, the latter at the Wimberly through Dec. 16th.

Rehearsals for Third begin next Tuesday. We're looking forward to it and to having Maureen Anderman back in Boston. TheatreMania.com carries the casting news. Scenery construction is well underway. Our machine shop has been particularly busy as we gear up to try a new (really really quiet) method of moving scenery around on stage. This photo shows an example of their metal work. More on the physical production later.

Judy Gold was in town earlier this week to psych us up for her upcoming appearance in 25 Questions for a Jewish Mother (starts Dec. 18 at the Calderwood Pavilion). We did brunch. She's tall, she's queer, she's Jewish, she's a (loud) Mother, and she is damn FUNNY! We're looking forward to it. Here's a short I found on You Tube - she talks about working with the crew backstage. Contains adult language.



I'm glad that we are not responsible for providing a stage manager and/or hair and makeup help.

We had a meet and greet yesterday with our four new Huntington Playwriting Fellows. I have to wait until next week to drop names, but it was great to meet them.

I've got new video for Shakespeare's Actresses and Ennio to share later as well.

Rehearsals for Shining City begin soon at the Goodman in Chicago. They'll pack it up and move it to Boston soon after they complete their run there. Goodman Artistic Director Robert Falls directs.

We have a prelim design meeting set up for She Loves Me next week. Yay. The entire artistic and production teams will be getting together for a few hours to brainstorm.

Our annual Holiday party is coming up. I'm looking forward the all staff meeting - with only eating, drinking and chatting on the agenda! Glad to say that we're getting one last shot at some darn good southern food served up at our favorite neighborhood bistro thanks to a certain Huntington overseer! We have the best board in Boston. No doubts.

We'll soon be sending of some new costumes for The 39 Steps to NY for the understudies. Rehearsals begin soon with previews starting January 4th at the Roundabout's American Airlines Theatre. BU students Rosie Garner and Kevin Bigger are heading to the city to reprise their respective roles as Production Assistant and Assistant to the Director. Congrats!

Our education department decided they don't have enough going on with all of our great programming for teens. We are now offering classes for adults! Check it out here.

Oh yeah, and one more item: Another $25 ticket sale!!! Happy Holidays all!

39 Steps Boston - last chance

Our new friends from The Roundabout have been a few times in the last week, and we're expecting a few more visits. The production will move to their American Airlines Theatre for a nice three month run on Broadway sometime around New Year's. We look forward to working with you!

We've been working once a week or so with our understudies and they have been doing a fabulous job. The challenge has been that there is only one understudy for the two clowns. That makes sense for performance, but it's a little tough for rehearsals where the other half of the team is the same guy! Luckily the stage crew have been stepping into the act and helping out. I hear that many of them have stepped in and performed a role during the rehearsals to help out . Sounds like fun! I hear Ryan, Pat and Christine have all taken star turns. Wish I had video on that...

We're going to miss this gang, but we're also looking forward to Streamers which began rehearsals today. Maybe we'll all take a field trip to NY in January or February and see how our The 39 Steps friends are doing on Broadway.

Here's one more glimpse of The 39 Steps brought to you courtesy of the Boston Phoenix. I like how they assembled our b roll - see for yourself below.




One last reminder: I was talking to Jim Torres at SpeakEasy Stage tonight while writing this post here in the Calderwood Pavilion lobby. He mentioned, in addition to The 39 Steps, their production of Zanna, Don't! also closes on Sunday with an additional performance. Both shows can be purchased at BostonTheatreScene.com

Inbox - Tuesday

Had a few nice surprises in my mailbox today:

BU Today published a video feature with Campbell Scott, Justin Waldman and Ronan Noone. Visit BU Today and take a look.

Huntington favorite Jerry Kissel (Persephone, The Cherry Orchard, Sisters Rosenswieg) recorded a radio spot for us... it's especially worth a listen if you know Jerry. Take a look under the videos in the side bar for the radio ad.

Ty Burr on The 39 Steps

Boston Globe film critic Ty Burr will be our Humanities Forum speaker tomorrow Sunday, September 23, following the 2PM show. Humanities speakers usually talk about the historical and literary context of the play. Given the book by Buchan gave birth to three movies as well as this play I'd bet that Ty will have plenty to talk about. This event is free with the purchase of a ticket to any performance. You can learn more about our other scheduled programs and events on our website.

The 39 Steps - Pictures

Here are the promised photos.

Dashing everyman Richard Hannay (Charles Edwards) finds himself on the run for his life.


Scottish innkeeper Mrs. McGarrigle (Arnie Burton, l.) greets Pamela and Hannay with a wink and a nod in the Huntington Theatre Company’s pre-Broadway American premiere production of Alfred Hitchcock’s “The 39 Steps.”

Pamela (Jennifer Ferrin) and Hannay (Charles Edwards) spot trouble from their opera box

Mistaken for a Scottish political candidate while hiding out from police, Hannay (Charles Edwards, l.) unwittingly exposes his little secret to the crowd as Mr. McQuarrie (Cliff Saunders, center) and the Master of Ceremonies (Arnie Burton, l.) remain unaware.


On the run for their lives, Pamela (Jennifer Ferrin) and Hannay (Charles Edwards) discover the only way is up.



Onboard an Edinburgh train, racing against time to clear himself of murder, Hannay (Charles Edwards, r.) overhears two itinerant underwear salesman (Arnie Burton (l.) and Cliff Saunders, center), as they discuss a newspaper description of the alleged killer in the Huntington Theatre Company’s pre-Broadway American premiere production of Alfred Hitchcock’s “The 39 Steps.”


It’s a love-hate relationship for Pamela (Jennifer Ferrin) and Hanney (Charles Edwards) as they run for their lives from a sinister plot.


Hannay (Charles Edwards, l.) is caught peering over the shoulder of a surly Scottish farmer (Cliff Saunders, r.), who’s reading a news report about a London murder suspect on the loose.

All photos:T. Charles Erickson

A HUGE THANKS to the folks at JenniferFerrin.Net who have essentially been reposting the blog (and doing a great job of crediting us).

Next round of photos: OPENING NIGHT - coming soon.

The 39 Steps Boston - Video

I thought I'd toss this fun video online while I'm eating my dinner, a yummy maki roll from the nice folks at Symphony Sushi right around the corner here in Boston. (Shameless, aren't I?)

Here are our good friends Arnie Burton, Charles Edwards, Jennifer Ferrin, Cliff Saunders and Director Maria Aitken hamming it up for the camera in the Huntington Theatre's rehearsal hall. Enjoy the video!



Next Post? Production Photos. Y'all come back now!

39 Steps Previews

Preview rehearsals have been going very well this weekend, we're making small adjustments and refinements as we discover what works best with an American audience. Designer Peter McKintosh joined us on Thursday and the notes lists have been remarkably small given that it was the first time he had seen our scenery, costumes and props in person.

Friday's preview was, um, technically challenged. The crew have since been finding all sorts of ways to make their moves faster, funnier, safer, and consistent. Saturday evening's show was greatly improved and perhaps even calm at moments backstage.

The performances thus far have played to capacity crowds who are roaring their approval at curtain calls. We are all looking forward to tomorrow's day off, and Wednesday's Opening Night.

The Boston Globe has a nice article today written by freelancer (and HubArts blogger) Joel Brown. He spent a little time with us during rehearsal and talked with the cast, playwright Patrick Barlow and director Maria Aitken. Joel shares his behind the scenes peek with you here.

Cliff Saunders, Charles Edwards, Arnie Burton and Jennifer Ferrin rehearse a four-actor stage adaptation of "The 39 Steps." (Boston Globe Photo: John Bohn/Globe Staff)

"Tech"ing 1-2-3

I'm doing a bit of "live" blogging tonight as I watch tech for The 39 Steps here at the BU Theatre. An invited dress for The Atheist should have just begun over at the Wimberly Theatre. Here's a bit about the last four days.

Saturday (Sept 8)

Final rehearsal in the Huntington Ave rehearsal hall for The 39 Steps. I watched a run through and it was great fun, there are some new bits and references to other Hitchcock classics worked in.

The lights are focused on stage at the BU Theatre.

It is also the final rehearsal in Connecticut for The Atheist. I missed that run but reports are that all is going very well. It's also the travel day - everyone returns to Boston.

Sunday (Sept 9)

The crew starts around 9:30 AM getting ready for today's "Ten out of Twelve" tech rehearsal. That means that we will rehearse for 10 hours over a 12 hour period. Noon to Midnight with a 2 hour dinner break. It's a good days work - we manage to get through about 50 pages of the script (better than 1/3), but not quite up to intermission. We discover a few things that require a bit of re-blocking, take a few notes, have plenty to work to complete. There are a ton of props, hundreds of light cues, many many quick changes, 4 varieties of smoke and fog, and decibels of sound cues. Then add four actors, two stage managers, four deck crew, and four dressers figuring out how not to bump into each other. A recipe for lots of hard work.

The lights are focused for The Atheist and the crew does a few last notes to get the set ready for tech tomorrow. It's a day off for Campbell, Justin and Steve.

Monday

It's a day off for The 39 Steps cast and crew. Scenery, Props and Paints all worked a long day completing some old notes and starting on some new ones.

It's a 10 out of 12 for The Atheist. The technical rehearsal period for this production is much shorter... only about 14 hours before the invited Dress Rehearsal versus about 33 to the same point for The 39 Steps. It is a great day's work, we tech through the whole play once and then run it back through again without stopping. We finish early.

During the breaks I find out why the boys didn't reply to the last few posts with rehearsal stories. It's because the stories are not fit to print. Unless we want to invite a libel suit or perhaps an international incident. Besides - this blog isn't really about scary hotels, B&Bs, golf or politics. Use your imagination. It's also obvious that they did a lot of work in those five days. They were extremely well prepared for tech rehearsals and we would not have made so much progress without their advance work.

Tuesday

Today is our second 10 out of 12 technical rehearsal for The 39 Steps. We pick up where we left off on Sunday and finish the 1st Act in the afternoon session. We may finish the play tonight, but even if we don't we'll have tomorrow to finish up and run through it all again. That will leave Thursday (an 8 out of 10) and Friday to run it a few times to be ready for Friday evening's preview performance. That will be my favorite night of the week. I'll (hopefully) be home before midnight.

Both design teams and all of the staff are doing great work as the shows are looking great!

Meanwhile the scene shop is building Brendan and the stage managers are prepping for rehearsals next week. The painters are working on Streamers and prelim scenic designs for Third are expected any day now.

If you have any questions about what goes on at tech rehearsals or about these shows feel free to ask (use the "Join the conversation" link below) or Check out this glossary for an explanation of just about any theatrical term there is!

Jennifer Ferrin and Charles Edwards

Jennifer Ferrin and Charles Edwards - fully one half of the cast of The 39 Steps took a moment this week to send you a message. Jennifer is familiar to fans of Spike TV's The Kill Point, and As the World Turns fans will recognize her as Jennifer Munson Donovan. Emmy nominated Jennifer returns to her roots in the theater here at the Huntington Theatre Company, having graduated from the renowned North Carolina School of the Arts.

Charles Edwards, familiar to fans of London Theater such as the National Theatre, Theatre Royal Haymarket, the Tricycle and the West End's Criterion where he originated The 39 Steps leading role of Richard Hannay. Charles has also appeared in UK television and several movies including The All Together and Batman Begins.

Run for it!

Today we rehearsed a bit of one of the more challenging chase sequences in The 39 Steps. We don't officially start tech until Sunday - but this scene requires the use of the technical wizardry only available on stage, so we joined the cast and spent three or four hours playing with all of our toys. It was a lot of fun and this show is shaping up nicely.

It's also fun to see that we are not making a carbon copy of the London production. Sure - it closely resembles the fun now playing in Piccadilly Circus - but it has a character all it's own.

I didn't get any video this afternoon, but I found the scenes from the Hitchcock movie that we're re-enacting. The part we rehearsed today starts about 2 minutes into this clip.



The 39 Steps play (rather fully) recreates The 39 Steps movie, but Hitchcock slips into the action in other ways (as Hitchcock will). We borrow from this classic movie too...



I have to say - the helicopter scene in Miss Saigon has NOTHING on us. See today's earlier post if you are interest in catching the whole thing on a larger screen.

Date Night

Looking to stay up late (or be up early) tomorrow night?

Join us at a special midnight screening of the original Hitchcock film THE 39 STEPS at the Coolidge Corner Theatre, celebrating the Huntington's upcoming stage production of the Broadway-bound show THE 39 STEPS!

39 Seats for THE 39 STEPS
An event in partnership with the Huntington Theatre Company, Truth Serum Productions, and the Coolidge Corner Theatre.
Friday, September 7 at midnight
$10

Coolidge Corner Theatre
290 Harvard Street, Brookline
617-734-2500
http://www.coolidge.org/midnites

Kevin Adams - The 39 Steps

I found this interview with The 39 Steps lighting designer Kevin Adams. Kevin, a familiar face at the Huntington, won a Tony this spring for his design work on the Broadway musical Spring Awakening". It's a great interview - and you can either read it or listen to it - here at Broadway World.com. Kevin designed lighting for the Huntington's productions of The Rose Tattoo, Betty's Summer Vacation, A Fair Country, and Hedda Gabler.

What are the 39 Steps? I guess you'll have to come see the show and find out. Click here to get your tickets.

(photo courtesy of Broadway World.com)

39 Clamps 3939 Welds

It was quite fascinating to watch the false proscenium for The 39 Steps get built. Here are some construction pics.


Have I mentioned that we are building a back stage setting for this little adventure that is "Alfred Hitchcock's - The 39 Steps - Adapted by Patrick Barlow - Based on an original concept by Simon Corble and Nobby Dimon - Based on the book by John Buchan"? As you can see by all of those credits - this piece has quite a history. I'm straying. The premise of the show is that this little theatre company has decided to recreate the ENTIRE Hitchcock movie with only four actors and practically no scenery. A premise that leads to a lot of inventiveness and fun. So we're taking their little theatre and plunking it down smack dab stage center at the BU Theatre.


These photos show the false proscenium under construction. First the steel frame was laid out, clamped together, and welded. Then we built up the support for the moulding and the boxes. Then we added a traveler track for a curtain. The whole thing was skinned with 1/4" MDF and then we applied all of the various moulding. We had the moulding manufactured for us by J.E. McLaughlin, Inc. up in Rutland, Vermont. It's a foam product with a covering that helps keep it from getting dented or chipped, and makes it fire retardant, and makes it easy to paint. The holes were filled and sanded, and it got it's first few coats of tinted base. Enjoy these nice photos taken by shop foreman Brian Sears. The prosc is now getting it's final paint job next door in the paint shop. Perhaps we have some photos of that too for another post. Enjoy!

That's Pat Austin, our Stage Carp, hugging the steel to tighten up a clamp. You might have recognized his gams in the first photo above.

We had four welders going at one time when this was under construction. Eye protection required!

Here is some of the moulding, awaiting application. You can see the lovely color of the tinted base. All that nice violet has now been covered in a deep weathered red with gold highlights.

39 Steps BOSTON

Cast members, artistic personnel and nearly everyone who was working yesterday filled the rehearsal hall for the Meet and Greet for The 39 Steps (Tickets now on sale). It was a great little event, and it looks like the next few weeks are going to be a lot of fun.

l to r: Becky Hylton, Blair Caple, Penney Pinnette, George Ryan, Anita Canzian, and Director Maria Aitken.

Nicholas Martin, Charles Edwards (Hannay) and Maria Aitken.

Michael Maso, Gerry Cohen (production sponsor), Charles Edwards, Maria Aitken, Sherri Cohen (production sponsor)

And here's a little preview info about our international cast and director:

Arnie Burton – New York-based actor Burton’s stage credits include “The Jew of Malta” and “The Merchant of Venice” at Theatre for a New Audience earlier this, and Rattlestick Theatre’s 2003 production of “The Last Sunday in June.” His film career includes “Building Girl” (2005) and the 2002 cult favorite “Igby Goes Down.” Television credits include “Law & Order,” “Frasier,” and more.

Charles Edwards – This English actor received critical acclaim for his portrayal of Richard Hannay in the London West End production of “The 39 Steps.” He has been seen in the films “An Ideal Husband” with Rupert Everett and Cate Blanchett, “Mansfield Park,” “Batman Begins,” and stars in the upcoming UK film “The All Together” with Martin Freeman.

Jennifer Ferrin – is an Emmy Award-winning actress (Best Supporting Actress in a Daytime Drama) who landed a role on CBS’s “As The World Turns” (Jennifer Munson), immediately after graduating from the College of Charleston in South Carolina. A regular on series television, Ferrin currently stars in the acclaimed miniseries “The Kill Point” with Donnie Wahlberg and John Leguizamo.

Cliff Saunders – Toronto-based Saunders is a film and television actor with numerous credits in the U.S. and Canada. He played the Stage Manager in the award-winning film version of the musical “Chicago,” as well as in such American television “Monk,” the “Eloise” movies and, fittingly, a 1988 episode of “Alfred Hitchcock Presents.”

Maria Aitken is the acclaimed British actress and director. She played leading roles at the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal National Theatre and the Old Vic, and has starred in more Noel Coward plays in London’s West End than any other actress. She has produced a series of acting master classes for the BBC, one of which was her own High Comedy class. Recently, Aitken has focused on directing, having helmed the award-winning London production of “The 39 Steps.”

The 39 Steps was adapted by Patrick Barlow and based on a concept by Simon Corble and Nobby Dimon, based on the book by John Buchan.

I'll add some more hyperlinks another day.

August Anniversaries

Brett Marks dug up the following while doing some research on The 39 Steps:

"By a strange coincidence, the play, original film, Hitchcock and Buchan all celebrate their anniversaries in the month of August - August 14 is the first anniversary of the London production: August 1 was the release date for the original film; August 13 is the 108th anniversary of Alfred Hitchcock’s birth; and August 29 is the 132nd anniversary of John Buchan’s birth."

Thanks for the factoids Brett! Looks like the London Cast did a little celebrating too.

Tickets currently available by subscription only. On sale to the general public on August 23.

Catherine McCormack and Charles Edward (l. to r., back row) with Simon Gregor and Rupert Degas (l. to r., front row) from the original London cast of The 39 Steps. Playing at the Huntington’s B.U. Theatre Sept.14 ­ Oct.14, 2007. Photo: Tristram Kenton