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All Reader Reviews of...

The 39 Steps

Helen Hayes Theatre
240 W. 44th St., New York, NY, 10036
nr. Broadway
212-944-9450

8.0 "Recommended"
Average Reader Rating
on a Scale of 10		 Write Your Own Review
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  • Showing reviews 1 through 3 of 3

this is a great place

dingdingding from 2345 | Posted on 7/15/09

Overall Rating: 10 (Highly Recommended)
Would you recommend? Yes

I had a great time at this event

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10 out of 22 people found this review helpful.

Great Skill in Climbing the Steps, But Need Better Steps

NightWingNoVA from 22314 | Posted on 6/1/08

Overall Rating: 6 (Mixed Reviews)
Would you recommend? Yes

The 39 Steps achieves brilliant technical performance - in the actors' recreation of the physics of the natural world, their handling of props, and their use of minimal set design to recreate the varied and often fast-paced, shifting environments; the two former items greatly enhance and lend towards making the latter come together and work as the backdrop for the plot. Arnie Burton brilliantly distinguishes each of his many characterizations. Cliff Saunders is only less so; his distinctive voice and mannerisms sometimes make it difficult to differentiate his characters, especially the less distinctive ones. Jennifer Ferrin is fine, except in her over-the-top depiction of Annabella Schmidt. While everyone else in the audience seemed to be having a good time, I found my attention lapsing often because the story just does not warrant the skill brought to it. The convoluted plot only sporadically rises from mundane narrow escapes and chase sequences to justify the hilarity and surrealism the actors bring to the show.

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25 out of 41 people found this review helpful.

A Comic Homage to Hitchcock

emeott from 11415 | Posted on 1/18/08

Overall Rating: 8 (Recommended)
Would you recommend? Yes

I'm going to be that guy who says, "we saw it in London, and... " THE 39 STEPS was a witty and fun production with a charmingly lo-fi feel. I was familiar with the film, my girlfriend wasn't, yet we enjoyed it equally. The entire plot of the film is included; the fun is in the second-rate company concept: cast shortages with requisite mayhem, the square-jawed leading ham and necessity-is-the-mother-of-invention effects. (A chase on top of a train is recreated with little more than steamer trunks and men flapping their coattails. Brilliant.) The self-conscious approach occasionally lapses into wink-winkiness, and some of the UK stereotypes could be lost on a U.S. audience. I'm curious to hear if the remount tightens those screws. Hard to fault it for much, though, when it's often blasted funny... usually in the "how did they think up that bit" way.

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51 out of 97 people found this review helpful.

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