Press release
Alfred Hitchcock took the ‘everyman’ and put him in perilous, unanticipated circumstances in his 1935 movie The 39 Steps. HCPAC has taken the Tony Award Winning adaptation of this classic spy, mystery thriller and put it onstage with hilarious results.
Opening Thursday, February 5 at 7:30 p.m., and sponsored by Arabella of Athens, The 39 Steps combines the suspense of the Hitchcock movie with uproarious situations, and 150 characters performed by four extremely talented actors. There is an onstage airplane crash, spies chasing spies, murder and, of course, an on-again-off-again love story.
Richard Hannay, played by John Smith, is bored with life until a mysterious ‘secret agent’ comes into his life and gets him ‘involved’ in her subterfuge. From there the chase is on as he tries to discover what the 39 Steps are without falling prey to the spies who don’t want him to know. As the dashing leading man, Smith, tries to save his country and clear his name of murder while traipsing all over England and Scotland in the process.
Cassandra Schwantes plays Annabella Schmidt, the secret agent, as well as Margaret the Crofter’s wife and Pamela Edwards, Hannay’s love interest. Schwantes has played many different characters in her appearances on the HCPAC stage but never three different ones in the same play.
Cast as the two ‘Clowns’, who play all the remaining parts, are T. Gordon Mayhall and Dustin Bartee. Accents change as often as costumes. Keeping up with who is who will be half the fun.
The cast and the crew carry you along on this wild ride through the city streets, moors, mansions and a theatre within the theatre. It will be an experience long remembered by patrons.
Tickets are available from the Henderson County Performing Arts Center by calling 903-675-3908 or online at www.hcpac.org. Performances run February 5,6,7,12,13 and 14 at 7:30pm. There is also a 2:00pm matinee on Sunday, February 8. Individual Adult tickets are $17.00, students $12.00 and tickets for groups of 10 or more are $12.00 each. HCPAC is located at 400 Gibson Rd., Athens, TX.