39 Steps Back on Stage

It's back! If you missed this show during its last run -- or have been waiting to see it again -- now's your chance. Part-spoof, part-homage, and 100% entertaining!
I had the pleasure of hosting the last Talk Back during the last New York run, and hope to be doing that again. So stay tuned for an announcement!
 
In the meantime, the producers are offering ticket specials you will want to take advantage of:

$49 Tickets* Mon/Wed/Thu performances (reg. $79)

$59 Tickets* Fri/Sat/Sun performances (reg. $89)

3 WAYS TO BUY YOUR TICKETS:

1. ONLINE: Ticketmaster.com/THE-39-STEPS-NY-tickets/artist/2089037 then select a performance date & enter code: LSP88

2. PHONE: Call Ticketmaster.com at 877-250-2929 & mention code: LSP88

3. BOX OFFICE: Print & bring to the Union Square Theatre Box Office - 100 East 17th St

Performance Schedule: Mon 7pm, Wed 2 & 8pm, Thurs 8pm, Fri 8pm, Sat 2 & 8pm, Sun 3pm

For more information visit: 39stepsny.com

Union Square Theatre 100 East 17th St

Hitchcock Perfects His Craft with SABOTAGE

I've always had a fondness for Alfred Hitchcock's Sabotage, while being fully aware that it is in many ways the darkest of what has long been known as the classic thriller sextette from the director's British period, that string of films done mostly in collaboration with screenwriter Charles Bennett that includes The Man Who Knew Too Much, The 39 Steps, Secret Agent, Young and Innocent, and The Lady Vanishes. While each of these films has its moment where Hitchcock gets to showcase his visual panache, as well as his understanding that sound too should be used cinematically, it is in Sabotage that Hitchcock really struts his stuff.

In the sense that The 39 Steps and The Lady Vanishes are generally remembered more fondly, I've often likened Sabotage to The Godfather Part II in that it is generally regarded, by movie-people at least, as the "better" of the first two in the series, while The Godfather is generally speaking the more entertaining movie. Coppola's later effort, like Hitchcock's, is the more technically complex and refined film. In the video above, I discuss some of the techniques that Hitchcock brought to Sabotage and why I regard it as the dark masterwork of his English period.

Talkback with the New York cast of The 39 Steps

I had a great time this week hosting a Talkback with the cast of The 39 Steps at the New World Stages in New York. If you haven't seen the show yet, hurry and catch it. This production closes January 16, 2011.

Steven DeRosa moderating Talkback with the New York cast of THE 39 STEPS (John Behlmann, Kate MacCluggage, Cameron Folmar, and unseen to the right, Jamie Jackson).

The video quality is more than a bit lackluster (mostly poor audio but there are captions), but gives you an idea of what I spoke about with the cast—John Behlmann (Richard Hannay), Kate MacCluggage (Annabella/Pamela/Margaret), Jamie Jackson (Man #1), and Cameron Folmar (Man #2). We covered everything from Hitchcock's working methods with his writers, to the MacGuffin, to his typical means of adapting source material such as John Buchan's novel The Thirty-nine Steps, how the idea for transforming the film into a broad stage comedy for four actors came about, the actors' process of "finding their clown" within the various roles they play in the show, and much more.

"I'd say they do REAR WINDOW next, but the producers of DISTURBIA would probably sue."