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MBT's '39 Steps' has its ups and downs

By Jenn McKee

At the start of "The 39 Steps" – now having its Michigan premiere at Meadow Brook Theatre – the main character, Richard Hannay (Rusty Mewha), is briskly rolled onto the stage in an armchair and soon declares that he plans to battle his boredom by going to the theater.
Of course, he says this to a crowd of theatergoers, who seek the very same escape from reality. But do they get it? Well, in the spirit of "Steps," John Buchan's novel that was made into an on-screen suspense classic by Alfred Hitchcock, you'll just have to keep reading to find out.
Hannay's tale of intrigue begins at the theater, where he meets, and takes home, a mysterious woman (Stephanie Wahl) with a thick accent and top secret information. When she dies in Hannay's arms, he flees to Scotland to follow her instructions and clear his name. But this only sends Hannay further down this underworld rabbit hole.
But the stage version of "Steps" never takes itself too seriously. Constantly drawing attention to its theatrical artifice – through self-conscious gestures (like the actors turning a door around to connote being inside a place rather than outside it), gags, and three actors playing multiple roles – the show means to be a silly romp.
And director Travis W. Walter stages certain parts of the show very well. A train scene, for example, pretty much has everything you could want: Hannay kissing a stranger in an attempt to hide his identity; a pantomimed, fun, train car-straddling chase; and several cleverly orchestrated, on-stage changes by the show's primary character chameleons, Kevin Young and Rob Pantano.
Yet the story's meandering second half loses some of its snap, crackle and pop, and a few of the show's comic bits, as staged by Walter, feel sluggish and labored. The wife of the villain whistles all her "s"s, for instance, and the gag is mildly amusing the first couple of times its employed. By the eighth time, though, it seems a painful impediment to the show's progress.
Indeed, like Hitchcock's film, Patrick Barlow's stage adaptation is packed with scenes and takes some strange detours, and consequently, momentum and energy have to be high throughout the show in order to make it really work. Yet because things occasionally get bogged down in Meadow Brook's production, the show feels merely cute rather than "must see."
High marks go to the game, all-in cast, though, led by Mewha, the show's self-consciously dashing and debonair hero. Mewha has the perfect look for the part, and skillfully uses his long, lean frame to enhance both the show's action and comedy sequences. Young and Pantano are the show's dynamic comedy duo, shifting between characters in an eyeblink and hamming up the background roles for big laughs (Young in particular is a standout). And Wahl crafts her three roles well, clearly having the most fun as the femme fatale who sets the action in motion.
Liz Moore's thoughtful costume design makes all the show's quick changes possible, of course, and set designer Kristin Gribbin provides "Steps" with its simple, necessarily versatile backdrop. Reid G. Johnson's lighting, and Mike Duncan's sound (used for an early gag), both complete the illusion of "Steps'" roller coaster world.
And Hitchcock fans will delight in a chase scene that not only uses an excerpt from "North by Northwest"'s soundtrack, but also features both a Hitchcock shadow puppet and planes pursuing Hannay. The whimsically goofy segment is one of the show's highlights; but it also makes the comic moments that don't connect as well all the more noticeable.

REVIEW:
'The 39 Steps'
Meadow Brook Theatre, 2200 N. Squirrel Rd., Rochester. Wednesday-Sunday through Jan. 30. $30-$39. 248-377-3300. http://www.mbtheatre.com

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