Casting Announced For THE 39 STEPS Pre-Tour Engagement At La Jolla Playhouse 8/11-9/13

La Jolla Playhouse is pleased to present The 39 Steps, directed by Maria Aitken and adapted for the stage by Patrick Barlow, based on an original concept by Simon Corble and Nobby Dimon, based on the book by John Buchan. The production will run August 11 - September 13 in the Mandell Weiss Theatre (media night: Sunday August 16 at 7:00 pm). The 39 Steps will make its West Coast premiere at La Jolla Playhouse and Seattle Repertory Theatre before starting on a national tour.

The Tony and Olivier Award-winning The 39 Steps is a thrilling, fast-paced whodunit packed with nonstop laughs and delightfully inventive staging. Seeking a frivolous night out at the theatre, Richard Hannay is lured into a world of intrigue by a mysterious woman claiming to be a spy. When she winds up dead in his flat, he flees London with the police hot on his trail. The show features a cast of four actors who, against all odds, breathlessly and hilariously attempt to reenact all of the characters, locations and famous scenes in Hitchcock's 1935 film thriller with just a few props and a lot of theatrical ingenuity and split second quick changes. The New York Times raved, "This gleefully theatrical riff on Hitchcock's film is fast and frothy, performed by a cast of four that seems like a cast of thousands."

"This runaway Broadway hit offers a riotous take on Hitchcock's classic film, spinning four virtuoso performances and wonderfully inventive stagecraft into a highly entertaining comedy thriller," said Playhouse Artistic Director Christopher Ashley.

The cast features Claire Brownell as "Annabella Schmidt/Pamela/Margaret," Ted Deasy as "Richard Hannay," Eric Hissom as "Man #1" and Scott Parkinson as "Man #2."

The production team includes Maria Aitken, director; Peter McKintosh, scenic/costume designer; Kevin Adams, lighting designer; and Mic Pool, sound designer.

Performance times for The 39 Steps are Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 7:30 pm; Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00pm; and Sundays at 7:00pm. Matinees are held on Saturdays and Sundays at 2:00pm. Single ticket prices range from $30 to $65. Tickets are currently available by calling the Playhouse Box Office at (858) 550-1010 or online at www.lajollaplayhouse.org.

The 39 Steps is sponsored by Procopio, Cory, Hargreaves & Savitch LLP.

Patrick Barlow (Adaptor) is best known in the UK for his hilarious two-man National Theatre of Brent, which has become a legend in British theatre, television and radio. Their comedy epics include Zulu, The Charles and Diana Story, Messiah and The Wonder of Sex. They have won two Sony Gold Awards, a Premier Ondas Award for Best European Comedy and the New York Festival Gold Award for Best Comedy. Other screenwriting includes The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole, Christopher Columbus, Queen of the East, Van Gogh (Prix Futura, Berlin Film Festival), Revolution!! (Best Comedy, Jerusalem Film Festival) and the BAFTA-winning Young Visiters, starring Jim Broadbent. Publications include Shakespeare: The Truth! and The Complete History of the Whole World. Screen/theatre acting credits include Wind in the Willows, Absolutely Fabulous, Clatterford, Shakespeare in Love, Notting Hill, Bridget Jones's Diary and Nanny McPhee. The 39 Steps won Patrick an Olivier Award for Best New Comedy.

Maria Aitken's (Director) productions in America and the UK include: The 39 Steps (Broadway: Tony Nomination; current Olivier Award-winning West End production), Simon Gray's Japes (Bay Street), Rattigan's Man and Boy (Duchess, London), Coward's Easy Virtue (Chichester), Vita and Virginia (Sphinx), Lady Bracknell's Confinement (Vineyard, NY), School for Scandal (Clywd Theatr), As You Like It (Regent's Park), Ludlam's The Mystery of Irma Vep (Leicester Haymarket and Ambassadors, London), Are You Sitting Comfortable (Watford Palace), The Rivals (Court Theatre, Chicago), After the Ball Was Over (Old Vic), Private Lives (Oxford Playhouse), Happy Family (Duke of York's). As a leading actress: Blithe Spirit, Bedroom Farce (Royal National), Travesties, Waste, The Happiest Days of Your Life (RSC), Humble Boy, Sylvia, Hay Fever, Other People's Money, The Vortex, The Women, Sister Mary Ignatius..., Design for Living, Private Lives and A Little Night Music. Film: A Fish Called Wanda. Visiting professor at BADA, Juilliard, Yale, NYU, Actors Center/NYC, Academy for Classical Acting. Author of two books: A Girdle Round the Earth and Style: Acting in High Comedy.

The nationally-acclaimed, Tony Award-winning La Jolla Playhouse is renowned for its tradition of creating the most exciting and adventurous new work in regional theatre. The playhouse was founded in 1947 by Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire and Mel Ferrer, and is considered one of the most well-respected not-for-profit theatres in the country. Numerous Playhouse productions have moved to Broadway, including Big River, The Who's Tommy, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, A Walk in the Woods, Dracula, Billy Crystal's 700 Sundays, the Pulitzer Prize-winning I Am My Own Wife, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Jersey Boys, The Farnsworth Invention, Cry-Baby, 33 Variations and Memphis. Located on the UCSD campus, La Jolla Playhouse is made up of three primary performance spaces: the Mandell Weiss Theatre, the Mandell Weiss Forum Theatre, and the Joan and Irwin Jacobs Center for La Jolla Playhouse, a state-of-the-art theatre complex which features the Sheila and Hughes Potiker Theatre.