Kuhn steps into the role of Man #1, and Faridany inhabits the roles of Annabella Schmidt, Margaret and Pamela. Original cast members Jennifer Ferrin and Cliff Saunders played their final performances Oct. 26.
Kuhn's Broadway credits include Giuseppe Zangara in Assassins, Boq in Wicked, Sir Bedevere in Monty Python's Spamalot and the original company of Ragtime. Off-Broadway he played Cliff Roney in the Playwrights Horizons concert of Floyd Collins. As a member of Canada's renowned Stratford Festival, his credits include Love's Labour's Lost, Antony and Cleopatra, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Romeo and Juliet, The Illusion, The Tempest, Twelfth Night, Treasure Island and Timon of Athens. Toronto credits include Cousin Kevin in The Who's Tommy, Zazu in the Canadian premiere of The Lion King and Gregor in George F. Walker's Nothing Sacred, a role he later reprised for CBC Television.
Faridany's credits include The Homecoming on Broadway and The Stronger Off-Broadway with Marthe Keller. Regionally, she appeared in Agamemnon (Cassandra) at The Getty Villa in L.A., opposite Tyne Daly. She played the title role in her own adaptation of Schnitzler's Fräulein Else (Sundance Theatre Lab, Berkeley Rep., La Jolla Playhouse, Long Wharf, McCarter). Other roles include Rosalind (Old Globe), Titania (Huntington), Beatrice (Berkeley Rep), Elvira/Don Alonso in Molière's Don Juan (Shakespeare Theatre, DC), Anita/Wendy in Simon Gray's Japes (Bay Street), Gilda in Design for Living (McCarter), Kyra in Skylight (Chester Theater Co.) and more.
Inspired by the Alfred Hitchcock film, The 39 Steps is adapted by Patrick Barlow and directed by Maria Aitken. The production is based on an original concept by Simon Corble and Nobby Dimon and on the book by John Buchan.
The production also features Arnie Burton (Man #2) and Sam Robards (Richard Hannay), plus Rob Breckenridge, Claire Brownell and Cameron Folmar. The show will move to the more intimate Helen Hayes Theatre on Jan. 20, 2009. Its last performance at the Cort is Jan. 11, 2009.
Here's the show in a nutshell: "Mix Alfred Hitchcock's cinematic masterpiece with a juicy spy novel. Then, add the manic dash of vintage Monty Python and you have The 29 Steps — equal parts hilarious whodunit, espionage thriller and quick-change comedy, adapted for the stage from Hitchcock's famous 1935 film and John Buchan's 1915 novel."
Tickets are available from TeleCharge at (212) 239-6200, online at www.telecharge.com or at the Cort Theatre box office, 138 West 48th Street, between Sixth and Seventh Avenues.
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The 39 Steps is the winner of two Tony Awards, two Drama Desk Awards and the 2007 Olivier Award for Best New Comedy.
The play is a hit in London's West End. The first production was directed by Fiona Buffini and produced on stage by North Country Theatre in April 1996 at the Georgian Theatre, Richmond, North Yorkshire.
The production received its American debut at the Huntington Theatre Company in Boston, MA. The Broadway premiere began previews on Jan. 4, 2008, and officially opened on Jan. 15 at Roundabout Theatre Company's American Airlines Theatre.
At every performance, 39 tickets at $39 are available. Performances are Tuesday at 7 PM, Wednesday through Saturday at 8 PM, with matinees Wednesday and Saturday at 2 PM, Sunday at 3 PM.
Visit www.39StepsOnBroadway.com.
