"Angry, Raucous & Shamelessly Gorgeous" at the Wells Theatre on Coast Live

See the Original Story Here

NORFOLK, Va. — Actresses Mikayla Lashae Bartholomew and Patricia Alli join Coast Live to share a special look at "Angry, Raucous & Shamelessly Gorgeous," a wild and fun show from Virginia Stage Company that you can catch now through March 19 at the beautiful Wells Theatre in Norfolk!

"Angry, Raucous & Shamelessly Gorgeous"
Written by Pearl Cleage
Directed by Dr. Tawnya Pettiford-Wates
March 1-9, 2023
Tickets available at vastage.org or by calling the box office at (757) 627-1234.

Synopsis of the play from vastage.org:
Tickets Available Here

"When actress Anna Campbell is invited to restage her radical performance piece of re-imagined scenes from August Wilson’s play, she is surprised to learn she will not be taking center stage. A much younger entertainer will be stealing the spotlight at a new women’s theatre festival. Will they be able to build a bridge between their generations, or will the curtain close on Anna’s career? "

Wine Down Wednesdays

Looking for a fun way to celebrate the middle of the work week? Then come on down to the Wells for our 'Wine Down Wednesdays!' Every Wednesday from 5 - 7pm the staff and doors of the Wells Theatre will welcome folks to wine, music, and great company (show or no show!) to enjoy the beautiful Wells Theatre while we celebrate the little victories of making it through the work week.

Doors open to anyone who would like to come, no ticket necessary, and the bar will be open serving wine and any other drinks you'd like to enjoy with your friends.

Step out of your everyday and into Norfolk’s historic gem to relax!

March 8, 15, 22, 29

April 5, 12, 19, 26

Angry, Raucous, and Shamelessly Gorgeous | Cast & Creatives

Cast

PATRICIA ALLI

(Anna Campbell) is honored to be performing on VSC’s stage for the first time. She most recently played the role of Mom in Passing Strange which received the Richmond Artsie Award for Best Ensemble, with Firehouse Theatre. Some of her other credits include: Jacosta in Oedipus, with Firehouse Theatre, Hillary in Hillary and Clinton and Ann in Bill W. and Dr. Bob with HATTheatre, Player Queen, Marcellus and Gravedigger 2, in Hamlet, with Quill Theatre and for WCVE, Nurse in 5th Wall’s production of The Lyons, Queen Eleanor in Richmond Shakespear’s King John and Alma in Henley Street Theatre’s production of Yellowman. Patricia has also lent her talents to HATTheatre as costume designer for Popcorn Falls and Jewtopia, choreographer for Why do Fools Fall in Love and as an instructor for several youth and theatre classes. 

MIKAYLA LASHAE Bartholomew

(Precious “Pete”) Is a Norfolk native is a Tony Award winning advocate & award winning stage/film actor & activist based in LA & NYC. In addition to starring as Tunde Price, the eldest of five and well loved sister to Venus and Serena Williams, in the Academy Award winning film King Richard (Warner Bros) Mikayla is a two time NAACP Image Award Nominee. She is among those in the Broadway Advocacy Coalition honored with a Special Tony Award in 2020 for their work combating racism within and beyond the theatre industry. Other credits/upcoming projects include Grace (2023), The Bottoms with Jon Bernthal, Dear Mama (Film Independent, SXSW, NAACP Image Award Nominee, Best Actress CFF) The Niceties (RTCC Award Winner), Pure (HBOMax), The Great Khan (World Premiere), WET (Playwrights Realms) Bayano (National Black Theatre), A Doll’s House: Part 2 (Maltz Jupiter Theatre) and much more. As a long-standing artist, facilitator, and organizer at BAC and Columbia Law, Mikayla has worked with Broadway companies such as Tina, The Lion King, & Girl from North Country. She is also a long standing Artist Ambassador for the NYCLU. This in addition to working with carceral systems to prioritize community restoration, fight education inequity, aid in voting rights, immigration and more. Inspired by her parents, little sister Mya, and the generations of women that helped to raise her, Mikayla considers it a great privilege to be a Black woman afforded the opportunity to use storytelling as a means for social good. It is an honor to come home to Norfolk to give back to the community that built her (shoutout Tanners Creek Elementary, Ruffner Middle, and Granby High). This VCU alum holds a BFA in Theatre, minors in pre-nursing and GSEX, and is repped by Barney Slobodin, Matt DelPiano, and Jessica Coleman of Calvary Management. www.mikaylabartholomew.com

TERI BROWN

(Betty Samson) - Honored to make her Virginia Stage Company debut!  Regional theatre credits include: The African Company Presents Richard III (Sarah) with The Great River Shakespeare Festival in Minnesota,  Doubt (Mrs. Miller) with the Public Theatre in Maine, Dutch Kings (Jocelyn) with Brave New World Rep in Brooklyn, NY, Romeo and Juliet, Midsummer Night's Dream (Juliet, Titania) with the Atlanta Shakespeare Company, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone (Mattie) with the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta. The themes and truths explored Angry, Raucous, and Shamelessly Gorgeous are particularly meaningful to me as I navigate a return to the theater world after a 20-year absence! As I do so, I am upheld and sustained by the love of my husband and children, who offer me undying encouragement and support on this journey. I am thankful!

BETHANY MAYO

(Kate Hughes) is an actor and teaching artist from Des Moines, IA. She has come to Norfolk by way of Kansas City, Pensacola, and Baltimore. Her favorite acting credits include Elise in The Miser/Classic Theater of Maryland, The Player in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead  at Fells Point Corner Theater, and The Narrator in Virginia Stage Company’s touring production of Every Brilliant Thing. She holds a BA in Musical Theater from William Woods University and a MA in Theater Education from The Catholic University of America. She is a founding member of the Black Classical Acting Ensemble at Chesapeake Shakespeare Company. She is a Teaching Artist at Governor's School for the Arts and the sitting Director of Education at Virginia Stage Company. When not teaching or acting, she sews and takes ballroom dancing lessons.

Creative Team

Tawnya Pettiford-Wates, Ph.D.

(Director) Professor of Acting and Directing Pedagogy at Virginia Commonwealth University and the Co-Artistic Director & Founder of The Conciliation Lab, a non-profit social justice theatre company www.theconciliationlab.org . Dr.T is a playwright, director, actor, poet, and writer. She has appeared in the New York Shakespeare Festival’s Broadway production of “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the rainbow is enuf” performing in both the 1st national and international touring companies.  Her television, film, industrial, voice over and commercial credits are extensive. Favorite directing projects include uncle tom:deconstructed for The Conciliation Project www.theconciliationproject.org, Passing Strange for Firehouse Theatre, The Niceties for The Conciliation LAB, and Fences for the Virginia Rep all to critical acclaim. Favorite academic directing projects include: Les Blancs by Lorraine Hansberry for the University of Richmond at the Modlin Center, Eclipsed by Danai Gurira and Intimate Apparel by Lynn Nottage both for Theatre VCU. Fun fact: She’s featured voice talent for the video game HALO. She’s a featured scholar in Black Acting Methods: critical approaches, a best seller on Amazon. Her chapter “The Conciliation Project as a Social Experiment: Behind the Mask of Uncle Tom-ism and the Performance of Blackness” was featured in an anthology titled, African American Arts, Activism, Aesthetics and Futurity, edited by Dr. Sharrell D. Luckett.  Dr.T has been a columnist for Urban Views Weekly for the past decade, her column and other articles, presentations and workshops can be found at www.coveringtheground.com .

JEFFREY HALES

(Scenic Designer) is overjoyed to have been invited to be a part of Virginia Stage Company’s production of Angry, Racious, & Shamelessly Gorgeous. He feels honored and privileged to have been able to participate in such a nuanced piece that delves and twists through the generational disconnects between younger and older people pertaining to the different outlooks on equality and social justice. He is a graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University, with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre with concentration in Scenic Design. Previous scenic design credits include the Dogwood Dell, Richmond City, production of The Addams Family, the Traveling Players Ensemble production of A Christmas Carol, The VCUarts Theatre production of James & the Giant Peach, the Traveling Players Ensemble production of Antigone, and the VCUarts Theatre production of Eclipsed, among many others. He would like to thank the amazing artistic team that he has joined with on this project for their amazing work and wonderful support throughout the entire production.

NIA SAFARR BANKS

(Costume Designer) is a Costume Designer from Richmond, Virginia. She graduated Cum Laude from Virginia Commonwealth University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts, and she’s currently working on her Master of Fine Arts at Boston University. She was nominated for two Richmond Critic Award for Outstanding Achievement in Costume Design in 2019 and 2022. Her credits include: Passover (American Shakespeare Center), Paradise Blue (Gloucester Stage Company), and August Willson’s The Piano Lesson (Barrymore Theatre, Broadway).”

AUSTIN HARBER

(Lighting Designer) is very excited and grateful to be working on his first show at Virginia Stage Company (VSC). They graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University— GO RAMS!— where they met some of their fellow designers. Notable works include the award-nominated shows A Christmas Kaddish and the Pink Unicorn. Both are from Richmond Triangle Players. Austin also ranked third at the 2020 Southeastern Theatre Conference's undergraduate lighting design competition. But they don't like to talk about it because it is a mouthful to say. Austin has been described as "shamelessly gorgeous," mainly by himself to the eye rolls of his friends. Outside of theatre, Austin works as a freelance copywriter, providing businesses with high-caliber marketing materials. See for yourself at AustinHarber.com. Austin would like to thank the cast and crew for giving him such a warm welcome to VSC. They hope to work with every on again real soon. Enjoy the show!

NICHOLAS SEAVER

(Sound Design) Is excited to design his first show at the Wells Theatre and for Virginia Stage Company. Nicholas graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2019 receiving a BFA in Technical Theater. Recent design credits include Artsie Award Winning Sound Design Fences ( Virginia Repertory Theatre), In the Red and Brown Water, The Wolves, and Two Gentlemen of Verona ( TheatreVCU). He would like to thank his friends and family for all their love and support. 

Emel Ertugrul

(Casting Director) officially joined the Virginia Stage Company team in 2017 but worked on various projects with the company well before.  Her first casting adventure was the beautiful production Pride and Prejudice for Season 39.  Since then it has been a goal to strengthen and cultivate VSC's relationship with professional local and out of town artists.  Each season has provided new challenges and each production a new opportunity to find the perfect showcase of talent. Emel has most recently been seen performing in The Twelve Dates of Christmas on the Wells Stage and currently serves as the Operations Manager for VSC and the Producing Artistic Director for Core Theatre Ensemble.

EMILY ELLEN*

(Production Stage Manager) has been stage managing in-person (and virtually) for about seven years. After recently earning a BFA in Stage Management with minors in English and General Business, Emily has mostly moved into production management work for live events with a company based in Richmond. However, Emily is thrilled to be back in the theatre world, and on a Pearl Cleage piece no less! Emily's favorite theatre experiences center on works that ask hard questions about identity, amplify voices that are often suppressed, and feature gorgeous, human writing. Some of Emily's favorite pieces to work on were Intimate Apparel (PSM, VCU, dir. Dr. Tawyna Pettiford-Wates), a radio play version of Grand Concourse (PSM, Shafer Alliance Laboratory Theater, dir. Caroline Mae Woodson), and The Niceties (ASM, The Conciliation Project, dir. Dr. Tawyna Pettiford-Wates). Emily wants to thank you for supporting live theatre and hopes you walk away with a little something to mull over!

TOM QUAINTANCE

(Producing Artistic Director) is in his seventh season with Virginia Stage Company. At the Wells, Tom has directed Every Brilliant Thing, A Merry Little Christmas Carol, Pride and Prejudice, The Santaland Diaries, and Matilda The Musical. Regionally Tom directed Twelfth Night at the Guthrie Theater, and as an Associate Artist at PlayMakers Repertory Company he directed An Enemy of the People, Shipwrecked! An Entertainment, The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, and The Little Prince. As Artistic Director of Cape Fear Regional Theatre (CFRT), Tom produced over 35 plays and directed many others, including the World Premiere of Downrange: Voices from the Homefront, a play based on interviews with military spouses from Fort Bragg. As the founder of FreightTrain Shakespeare in Los Angeles, he earned a Drama-Logue Award for his direction of Pericles. Other Los Angeles credits range from King Lear to The Devil With Boobs. A member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, Tom is a graduate of Wesleyan University (Middletown, CT) with a B.A. in Theatre and Economics, and the University of California, San Diego MFA directing program, where he was the assistant director on the original production of The Who’s Tommy. Tom and his wife Wallis are the proud parents of Mireille Julia and Annika Christine.

JEFF RYDER

(Managing Director) has been Managing Director of Virginia Stage Company since March 2022. Prior to coming to VSC, Jeff served in several roles at Cleveland Play House from 2013 to 2022. Jeff holds a Master of Public Administration Degree from the Levin College at Cleveland State University and a Bachelor’s Degree from Tufts University. At Levin, Jeff was inducted into Nu Lambda Mu, the international honor society for the study of nonprofit management and philanthropy. Jeff also holds a certificate in Diversity and Inclusion for HR Professionals from Cornell University. He has served on the boards of the Cleveland Kids’ Book Bank, Theatre Forward, the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network of Cleveland, and the Cleveland Professional 20/30 Club. In Cleveland, Jeff was honored to be a part of the Cleveland Leadership Center’s Advanced Leadership Institute and the Cleveland Foundation’s Foundations for Philanthropy Program. Jeff has also been a stage manager at several theatres including Talespinner Children’s Theatre, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, and Berkshire Theatre Festival.

‘39 Steps’ at Virginia Stage Company is flat-out funny

By Page Laws

The Virginian-Pilot | Jan 31, 2023 at 1:46 pm

NORFOLK — What’s so funny?

Well, I’d have to be a psycho to try to explain why “The 39 Steps” at Virginia Stage Company is so flat-out funny. I’m getting vertigo at the very thought of such scholarly acuity and daring! But here goes.

Step aside, Aristotle. Dr. Laws will attempt to explain why this MacGuffin-filled takeoff on Alfred Hitchcock and other old spy-thrillers can make a body ache with laughter.

My first indication of monkey business was the presence of two new mezzanine-level theater box seats built far downstage right and left, plus a new large cameo portrait — the outlined profile of a chubby man’s face — at the apex of the proscenium. The profile seemed to match a curious disembodied slow and creepy voice that intoned “Good eeeevening,” and proceeded to warn the audience to turn off cellphones or face dire consequences. But why “remodel” a theater that’s on the National Register of Historic Places?! Why add fake box seats (later seized upon by the actors for their antics) when there were already lots of them available? Perhaps they didn’t want the genuine ones covered with blood?

But don’t bother looking for 39 steps — to the mezzanine or anywhere else. What are “The 39 Steps”?

Shtick around. Maybe someone will let us know. …

But first let us dispense with the provenance of the production in question, taken from the Samuel French print edition: “The 39 Steps, adapted by Patrick Barlow from the novel by John Buchan from the movie of Alfred Hitchcock licensed by ITV Global Entertainment Limited and an original concept by Simon Corble and Nobby Dimon.”

For a sense of historical context, the novel dates from 1915 and Hitchcock’s movie from 1935.

The VSC production has a similar hero, Richard Hannay, played by an agile, cheeky fellow named James Taylor Odom who is tasked with saving England and therefore the world from a dastardly Nazi masquerading as a British Professor Jordan (who, like his castmates, plays many other parts). The actor is one Steve Pacek, last seen as Miss Tracy Mills in “The Legend of Georgia McBride.”

Pacek is also billed as “Clown #2,” implying the presence of a “Clown #1,” who indeed exists and is deftly played by Michael Di Liberto (a master of half-audible, comic, mumble speak). Kristen Hahn joins in as Annabella Schmidt, Margaret, Pamela, and any other female role that sashays her way and hasn’t been grabbed by one of the men.

All four actors are brilliant physical comedians, guided by a clearly sadistic director, one Mark Shanahan, who is surely making actors run and jump and role-switch much faster than Actors Equity allows. To prove my point, the stage directions on Page 96 of the French edition read: “Quite a lot of this show depends on your actors’ level of Olympian fitness. It has proved an invaluable aid to weight loss.”

Weight loss? As if that were ever desirable!

At any rate, there are four actors playing dozens of witty/witless characters. Their goal? Apparently to mock every conceivable cliche from the Golden Age of Cinema, with special attention to the portly Master of Suspense and his oeuvre. (“Good eeeevening!”) Someone is also out to disembowel the very notion of a spy mystery, using slow, terrifying cruelty and questionable wigs.

Here are just a few of the shticks that poke at the ribs of spy-thriller fans.

Hannay, our world-weary hero, begins his efforts to cheer himself up with a trip to the theater, where he meets the English (or is she a Nazi?) agent Schmidt watching an elaborate music hall number. Mr. Memory (Di Liberto) and his “compère” (emcee, played by Pacek) do an outrageous act where Mr. M is supposedly asked questions by the Wells audience. (When the compère “repeats the question,” he’s actually planting a planned query for his partner to answer onstage.)

The funniest part is their exaggerated bows to one another and the repetition of “Thankoo” (cockney for “Thank you”). This is just the start of the ongoing accent shticks, hilariously mocking Oxbridge English, German and Scottish (Schmidt constantly switches her English V’s for W’s, and D’s for T’s — classic giveaways of a native German speaker). The “ch” at the end of German words is gargled and fairly spat across the stage; likewise, the “ch” ending on Scottish words is delivered with a choking bark: “Alt-na-Shellach!” (It takes about 10 seconds to expectorate that one.) Another nice trick when accent-mocking is using naughty words (untranslated) from that language. Annabella Schhhhhh-midt (“Sch” is lengthened) is fond of saying “Scheisse” for … well, ask your local German.

Talking funny is coupled, as mentioned, with pure physical comedy of the highest and fastest order (except when exaggerated slow motion is called for). The overall joke of the play is the playwright’s implicit insistence that anything film can do, theater can do better. We, therefore, get exaggerated light, wind and sound effects meant to recall every train scene in cinematic history. Though you can’t easily put a train car onstage, you can place two actors closely standing across from two other actors to mime moving within the close quarters of a train compartment. Awkward intimacy is involved each time somebody comes or goes. It’s mime time sublime.

My favorite related film shtick is the “wind” effect, necessary each time the train compartment door opens and repeated later out on the heath where Hannay runs to escape his assailants. There’s no real wind, just a lot of choreographed clothes-shaking to simulate the wind hitting cloth.

I’ve never seen a better example than Odom’s wind shakes. Odom’s likewise a hit in his “escaping from beneath the female corpse” and his “escaping as a handcuffed couple” routines, both of which also require the antics of the talented Hahn. Di Liberto and Pacek deserve commensurate awards for their quick-change “hat tricks” and duck-and-cover instant costume changes. In the climactic melee back at the London Palladium (Mr. Memory is on again), Pacek gets to spout a line not in the script that definitively and hilariously shatters the “fourth wall” between the audience and players.

As his evil Nazi guy Jordan gets shot by an unknown assailant (all four actors are standing innocently onstage), Pacek shouts in a final complaint: “It was supposed to be a cast of four!”

One final bit of praise for this manic masterpiece: Some of its silliness is soulful. Listen for the scripted “extemporaneous” speech Hannay is forced to make when he tries to hide out on the lam at a political rally.

Hannay calls for “A world where no nation plots against nation! Where no neighbor plots against neighbor, where there’s no persecution or hunting down, where everybody gets a square deal … A world where suspicion and cruelty and fear have been forever banished!”

What a funny idea! (Not.)

And what are “The 39 Steps”?? A gang of Nazis, a secret aeronautics plan, a MacGuffin (red herring, in Hitchcock-speak)?

You got me! Or maybe I got you … .

Page Laws is dean emerita of the Nusbaum Honors College at Norfolk State University. prlaws@aya.yale.edu

——

If you go

When: 7:30 Wednesday through Friday; 3 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday

Where: The Wells Theatre, 108 E. Tazewell St., Norfolk

Tickets: Start at $35

Details: 757-627-1234, vastage.org

The 39 Steps Goes Off Without a “Hitch”cock! Review from HR Spotlight

Dial “M” for “Must-See”…wait, wrong movie…

Words by Nathan Jacques. Images courtesy of the Virginia Stage Company.

It was a dark and wintry night on the streets of Norfolk, Virginia. A frigid breeze chased us down Granby street to the elegant Wells Theater. Alleyways on all sides were abounding with eerie shadows and unsettling sounds. Who (or what) could have been lurking in them? Yes, the setting was reminiscent of those often pictured in stories and films, saturated in intrigue and mystery; what on earth was in store for us? As we arrived at the remarkably ornate auditorium, we were met with…an exceptionally written and uproariously clever comedy based on an exceedingly dark film and book. Wait, what?

The 39 Steps first teased the brains of readers as a novel by John Buchan, published in 1915 during the thick of World War I. The public is likely more familiar with the 1935 Alfred Hitchcock adaptation of the novel, which is lauded as one of the best entries in Hitchcock’s filmography. Patrick Barlow adapted the story for the stage in 2005 and took quite the liberty in doing so – this new, improved version of The 39 Steps took one more step in a new direction; he went and turned it into a sidesplitting comedy that absolutely nails every gag and gaff within the script, well-earning each giggle and guffaw it elicits from its audience. It remains a classic tale of a man on the run, encumbered with the fate of his nation, but the refreshing, new tone of this staged version will prove itself as a classic, too. Unlike Hitchcock, I do not offer you a perplexing mystery; rather, let me offer a clear answer on whether you should see this production or not. To put it plainly, you’d have to be a “Psycho” to skip out on this one.

I am chuffed to inform you, dear reader, that Virginia Stage Company’s production delivers a farcically genius rendition of this very same play. Director Mark Shanahan, his production team, the cast, and crew all exhibit pure aptitude in bringing a tantalizing Broadway-quality performance to Norfolk audiences.

This cast does not suffer from “Stage Fright”. The principal, James Taylor Odom, is nothing short of spectacular. His performance as the hunted Richard Hannay oozes with charisma; with that said, Mr. Odom is every bit an athlete as he is an actor. The script calls for a seemingly insurmountable order of physical comedy but – have no fear – Mr. Odom makes it look easy! Don’t worry- the rest of the four-person cast, who all embody an exceptionally long laundry list of characters, are fantastic as well. Kristen Hahn offers an equally brilliant performance as various characters, including Pamela. Michael Di Liberto and Steve Pacek cover (literally) everyone else. Ms. Hahn, Mr. Di Liberto, and Mr. Pacek all offer performances for the ages, effortlessly morphing into different personalities that all manage to have distinct attributes and dialects. Never once did I find myself confused about who someone “was”. I did, however, find myself baffled about how such a miniscule cast could possess such incredible skill. Bravo, all – you got a standing ovation from me! If I keep going, you, dear reader, might become “The Man Who Knew Too Much”, so I will refrain from spoiling any surprises.

Such marvelous performances are impossible without the production teams and crews that make them happen. “I Confess” that costume designer Jeni Schaefer deserves special recognition for the Herculean effort of clothing all the quirky personas the cast members embody throughout the night. My hat goes off (ha!) to all the costume change specialists backstage as well, who go unnamed in the playbill.

Scenic designer D. Craig M. Napoliello and Assistant Scenic Designer Chen Wei-Liao take the “less is more” approach, and it pays off – such a fast-paced fiction requires a setting that can keep up with it. Richard and the cavalcade of characters that follow him move quickly, and the scenic designers have masterfully crafted a set that never once falls behind. A special round of applause is in order for Lighting Designer Alyssandra Docherty, Sound Designer Ryan Rumery, and Sound Engineer Shyloh Bailey, too – not a single cue felt “off”. In fact, many scenes where no set was present at all felt complete and full of life, thanks to well-timed sound cues and superb lighting schemes. The team director Shanahan pulled together is truly first-rate. I might not be able to keep myself from telling any “Strangers on a Train” I meet about how much I loved this production. It’s got me in a “Frenzy”.

The 39 Steps is one of Virginia Stage Company’s finest offerings thus far. I must admit, I have not seen the original Hitchcock film on which this play is based, but after seeing VSC’s version, I fear that the film might not hold my interest like this production did.

“Verti-go” to the box office website right this minute and procure a ticket at https://tickets.vastage.org/5646.
Original Article at HR Spotlight | https://www.spotlightnews.press/post/the-39-steps-goes-off-without-a-hitch-cock

Virginia Stage Company's "The 39 Steps" on Coast Live

HAMPTON ROADS, VA - Mix a Hitchcock masterpiece with a juicy spy novel, add a dash of Monty Python and you have "The 39 Steps", a fast-paced whodunit from Virginia Stage Company.

We talk with the show's director Mark Shanahan and actor Steve Pacek about the production, playing through February 5th at the Wells Theatre in Norfolk.

Presented by Virginia Stage Company
Box Office: 757.627.1234
VAStage.org
Checkout CoastLive for all your local news needs!

Thrilling, Humorously Delightful 39 Steps w/ Veer Magazine

by Jerome Langston

“I make no apology for loving both a good comedy, and a good mystery,” says Mark Shanahan, with both a smile and an emphatic tone—following a day full of rehearsing the latest Virginia Stage Company production, a play that will run at the midway point of the acclaimed theatre’s Season 44. Shanahan is a New York City based director/actor/playwright, who previously directed VSC’s The Hound of the Baskervilles for season 39, and penned A Merry Little Christmas Carol, a new take on the Dickens classic which wrapped an extended run here at the Wells just a few days ago. He is back in Norfolk to direct The 39 Steps, the fast-moving whodunit which won both Tony awards and the prestigious Drama Desk Award, for its Broadway run back in 2008.

Mark has directed The 39 Steps multiple times before, but never with this talented cast of four actors who collectively portray more than 150 characters over the course of two hours. “I love this play because I’ve had a long history with it,” he says during our recent chat at a large rehearsal space in downtown Norfolk. The set is still very much a work in progress on the Wells stage. Mark and I are joined by actor James Taylor Odom, who plays the show’s lead role of Richard Hannay. The three of us discuss VSC’s take on this Hitchcockian, suspenseful and zany romp of a play—and how audiences are really craving such escapist, laugh-inducing smart entertainment these days, especially considering the collective stress of this mercilessly ongoing pandemic.

Photo Credit Sam Flint

When Mark was just a young lad of 10 years of age, his father took him to see the film version of The 39 Steps, which was part of a double bill at a second run movie house in NYC’s East Village. An Alfred Hitchcock directed classic from 1935, the suspense thriller was paired with another Hitchcock classic, The Lady Vanishes. That early experience with the artistry of the English master of filmmaking, inspired a young Mark in various ways.

“It was the granddaddy of a lot of spy stories that we still see today,” the actor/director says, referring to The 39 Steps film. His love of the film made him initially apprehensive of Patrick Barlow’s adaptation of it, based upon the John Buchan novel, into a play, till he saw an early version of it in London. Remarkably, Mark would later serve as the cover for the lead role of Hannay, during the highly successful Broadway run of the play, and did actually go on in place of actor Charles Edwards for several performances. “I got to really study the way the play was constructed, and see some wonderful actors do it,” Mark says about the experience.

His success with the play on Broadway led to the many offers to direct regional productions of the play, which was initially billed as Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps. He notes that “every production has to be handled differently,” though, and the premiere of it at Norfolk’s foremost professional theatre house is no exception. “I think it fits really beautifully in the Wells,” the director says.

“We wanted to create a set that sort of felt like an extension of the Wells itself,” Mark says, about his set that is being designed by D. Craig Napoliello. “This movie and play begins and ends in a theatre.” The creative team includes Jeni Schaefer as costume designer, with lights and sound handled by Alyssandra Docherty and Ryan Rumery respectively. Besides the aforementioned James Taylor Odom, the cast includes actors Kristen Hahn, Michael Di Liberto, and Steve Pacek, all of whom have worked with Mark before, but not for this play. Many of the cast members have portrayed characters in prior productions of The 39 Steps, however.

“We’ve all had experience with it, but we’re getting to come back to it after many years away from it, and reinvestigate it together, and make a new version of it for this theatre,” says its director, who also wrote and directed the inventive A Sherlock Carol, which ran Off-Broadway at New World Stages, and was a critic’s pick by The New York Times in December 2021. “I know from doing ‘Hound of the Baskervilles’ that this audience loves a good comedy, but it loves a comedy that’s smart…and shows you excellence on stage,” Mark says, regarding VSC patrons.

In The 39 Steps, Richard Hannay is a guy who goes on the run after being falsely accused of committing a crime. Along the way “he has to discover himself, fall in love, and save the world in order to save himself,” explains Mark. It’s quite a lot to portray during the show’s two acts, but Mark felt that James was the ideal actor for the role of Hannay. “His Hannay is very particular to what he’s rehearsing and finding…” he adds.

“Through this wild, espionage romantic thriller throwback, it’s a fun journey of self-discovery,” James says early on, about his character. “Richard Hannay is kind of going through a bit of a crisis himself. He has no friends, no partner, really no family…is stripped of any kind of specific identity, which is a great setup for where this character is going.” James and Mark have known each other for many years but are working together for the first time in this play. Mark tells me towards the end of our chat that working with this great cast is part of the joy of directing this production.

“You’re in the hands of really great actors for a two-hour evening, where you can forget your worries, but also be mesmerized by their expertise. And that’s the joy of it.”

WANT TO GO?

THE 39 STEPS 

January 18-February 5

Virginia Stage Company

Wells Theatre | Get Tickets Here