Roundabout Theatre Company in association with Bob Boyett, Harriet Leve/Ron Nicynski, Stephanie P. McClelland, Fiery Angel Ltd. and the Huntington Theatre Company — where the work will play later this month — will present the New York premiere of the Olivier Award-winning work.
Maria Aitken, director of the original London production and upcoming Boston run, will stage the work in New York for a Dec. 28 start. Opening night is slated for Jan. 10, 2008, and the limited engagement will play through March 16.
(The Boston run starts Sept. 14 and plays at the Huntington's Boston University Theatre mainstage through Oct. 14.)
No casting for the Broadway production has yet been announced. Original London star Charles Edwards (as Richard Hannay) will head the cast in Boston opposite Jennifer Ferrin (as Annabella, Pamela and Margaret) with Cliff Saunders and Arnie Burton (as the clowns). The four actors play more than 150 roles in the show.
Patrick Barlow's stage adaptation of The 39 Steps is based on an original concept by Simon Corble and Nobby Dimon and the novel penned by John Buchan in 1915. The work was adapted for the big screen for the Alfred Hitchcock 1935 film. The 39 Steps "revolves around an innocent man who learns too much about a dangerous spy ring and is then pursued across Scotland, before returning to London to foil the villain's dastardly plans," according to show notes. "The 39 Steps contains every single legendary scene from the award-winning movie — including the chase on the Flying Scotsman, the escape on the Forth Bridge, the first theatrical bi-plane crash ever staged and the sensational death-defying finale in the London Palladium."
The work was originally seen onstage by North Country Theatre in April 1996 at the Georgian Theatre, Richmond, North Yorkshire. The show played in London's Tricycle Theatre in 2006 and then transferred to the West End's Criterion Theatre and earned the 2007 Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Comedy.
Tickets to The 39 Steps at the American Airlines Theatre, 227 West 42 Street, will be available by phone at (212) 719-1300 or online at roundabouttheatre.org.
