Richard Hannay is just looking for a frivolous evening’s entertainment when he meets Annabella Schmidt, a beautiful spy who lures him into a world of intrigue. John Buchan wrote the story of The
39 Steps during World War I as he lay recovering from a serious illness.
Alfred Hitchcock translated the story to film in 1935 and it has been remade
several times since. The stage adaptation by Patrick Barlow is, perhaps,
the most popular incarnation of the tale to date. It has earned numerous
awards, including the Tony and Olivier. Claire Brownell, who portrays Annabella
Schmidt and the other women in The 39 Steps, grew up far from
big city intrigue amid the five thousand souls of Polson, Montana. A tourist
community, Polson sits on Flathead Lake, halfway between Mizzoula and Kalispel.
SD: So you knew everybody in town?
CB: Pretty much. Because the town is on the lake, the
population does swell in the summer when people come to their lake homes.
But we just had one middle school and one high school and you get to know
everyone pretty well. It was a great place to grow up.
SD: Were you ever a member of the Port Polson Players?
CB: When I was a little kid, I did community theatre with
them. But I never did
a summer stock production there. One summer when I was in college after
I
had decided to pursue theatre, they asked me to come work with them. I
wanted to do it, but I had been accepted into a program to study Shakespeare
in Massachusetts.
SD: Where did you get your undergraduate degree?
CB: Carroll College in Helena, Montana. It’s a private,
Catholic, liberal arts and pre-professional college mostly known for its
premed and engineering programs.
SD: They must have a respectable theatre program, but
it sounds like you didn’t set out to tread the boards.
CB: No, I went there to study chemistry. But when I saw
the audition notices from the theatre department, I just couldn’t
help myself. I hadn’t done theatre since the seventh grade at that
point, and I wanted to do it so badly. So I auditioned and didn’t
get picked. I auditioned again later for a student one-act and, based on
that performance, the head of the program encouraged me to audition again.
SD: After graduation, you went to San Francisco to study
with the American Conservatory Theatre (ACT). Was that an immediate move?
CB: I knew there was no way I could move to New York or
L.A. The only people I knew lived in Montana. For as little as I knew about
the world, I felt that I would be eaten alive if I went there directly,
not knowing a soul with no sense of what professional theatre would be
like. It was bad enough going to New York after graduate school; I can’t
imagine what it would be like without a community of alumni as strong as
the ACT group. It was really great having them there.
SD: So you took a studied approach to the whole thing.
CB: Oh, yes. I did.
SD: And how long ago did the big move take place?
CB: I graduated from ACT in 2006.
SD: So this is all fairly recent?
CB: Yes. I did a showcase in New York and started working
with my agency. I did a solid year of auditions and getting to know casting
directors who would call me back and promise to keep me in mind for the
next project – that sort of thing. Then I was cast in The 39
Steps as the understudy. We started at the Huntington Theatre in Boston, knowing
we would be moving to Broadway.
SD: Were you thinking at that point what might come after
New York?
CB: I hoped the show would go on tour from the beginning.
This is the perfect show for the road: four people and some trunks. I told
myself then that when the tour happened, I was going to be part
of it.
SD: Still, there are more than 150 characters in the show!
CB: If you count the rocks and things –which humans
do play. But they don’t necessarily have lines.
SD: How many characters do you play?
CB: I play four if you count the police officer who shines
the light on her face – which I do because the other guys get to
count their characters like that. But I play three characters who actually
speak.
SD: Is Annabella Schmidt your main character?
CB: My character with the most through-line is Pamela,
the love interest.
SD: There have been numerous adaptations of this story,
but this version is based on the 1935 Hitchcock film, right?
CB: Almost scene for scene.
SD: Did you watch that film before auditioning?
CB: Oh, yes. There is a wonderful research process that
goes into each audition. It’s not a really well-known Hitchcock movie;
you cannot find it in video stores. I found it as part of a larger DVD
collection called Three-of-Hitchcock’s-Old-Unknown-Movies-No-One-Will-Ever-Rent-This-DVD.
So I got it and watched it; it’s a good film. It holds up.
SD: The film, aside from being remade, has also been reinterpreted
over the years. The villains are mysterious and, at various times, have
been the Nazis, the Soviets or some other menace du jour. This show won
the 2008 Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience. What is it
that makes this production so different?
CB: I think what makes it unique is that it is specifically,
and joyfully, a theatrical experience. The show uses theatrical tricks
to make a lot out of very little, and audiences love being part of it.
There are a lot of shows out there that provide everything; The 39
Steps asks audiences to be active participants in creating the scene in tandem
with the cast. You’ve got these masters of Vaudeville who have every
character under the sun right up their sleeves. That’s especially
true of Man 1 and Man 2 – it’s a wonderful showcase for what
an actor can do. The show is funny and creative and requires us, as actors,
to use all of our resources. It’s not modern realism and it never
tries to be.
SD: Just to reiterate, even though this is based on a
Hitchcock thriller, The 39 Steps is a comedy.
CB: It’s a hoot. I watched it any number of times
in New York and it’s just funny…and surprising! You get wrapped
up in this thing and suddenly two hours have flown away and it’s
over. While it is a spoof, it’s as much an homage. Someone described
it as “giddy excitement.” It’s very intelligent and witty – I
think Patrick Barlow adapted it brilliantly. It’s a great combination
of physical ingenuity, theatrical craft and the bones of the story Hitchcock
has provided.
SD: You joined the show in Boston as the understudy. How
many people actually travel with this production?
CB: There are six actors in the company. Scott Parkinson
and Eric Hissom play
Man 1 and Man 2. Ted Deasy plays the leading man, I play the women and
Sheffield Chastain understudies all three male roles – it’s
a bear of a job. Allison Jean White, who attended ACT with me, is my understudy.
SD: Is it a fairly young cast? It sounds like a physically
demanding show.
CB: It is a demanding show. I don’t want to give
away people’s ages, but I will say I am the youngest member of the
cast.
SD: So I imagine with so few actors you are on every night
for most of the show.
CB: That’s another thing that makes this theatrical
experience so unique. It’s easier for me in that I don’t do
quite as much sprinting as the other three, but I do it all in heels! I
feel like I do my fair share, but these guys never stop. If they are off
stage, they are doing a quick change or they’re sprinting from one
side of the stage to the other to make an entrance. It’s not a marathon – it’s
a sprint!
SD: Ted Deasy is the only person in the show who plays
only one character – Richard Hannay.
CB:Yes, and you might not think it would be as demanding
since he doesn’t have a costume change, but he never leaves the stage
and spends three-quarters of the show running from somebody– either the police or the bad guys. The show will lift you up and carry
you along and then it’s finished…and we go home and fall asleep!
SD: Is this your first tour?
CB: It is. We had our first two “sit-downs” in
La Jolla and the second at the Seattle Rep. Now we’re getting ready
for the second part of the tour where we are in a place for a week or two
at a time.
SD: Unfortunately, I think you will have only a week to
explore Louisville.
CB: Right. It’s a short stay, and I’m excited
to see just how much of each city I’ll be able to see. But this is
my chance to really see the country.
SD: Well, you will be within walking distance of some
great Louisville attractions. Before we finish, I am sure people are really
curious to know what the 39 steps refers to. Can you fill us in?
CB: Sure. The 39 steps is xcof annothpz jlomp choitwes
vabolon treoph theas at sombretta cofroest alento and a ballerina who wants
to join the circus.
SD: I certainly never would have imagined that! Thanks
for giving us a heads-up.
I’ll be sure to bring an umbrella!
The 39 Steps is presented by PNC Broadway Across America – Louisville.
Claire and the rest of the cast will perform in The Kentucky Center’s
Whitney Hall March 16-21 for a total of eight performances, including Saturday
and Sunday matinees. Get your tickets through The Kentucky Center box office,
at www.kentuckycenter.org or by calling 502.584.7777.