The 39 Steps

Joyce and I were delighted by Broadway's The 39 Steps. It was four actors taking on 150 roles: my kind of play!

When I saw it in London's West End I bought a balcony seat, but saw an empty seat on the second row, center. At intermission I high-tailed it for the seat and made it before any others who wished to "upgrade." I relaxed throughout the intermission, but just as they were dimming the lights, the ticket holder for my seat was waiving her stub at me. I didn't have time to make it back to my seat in the balcony without missing something, so I grabbed the first free seat I saw. Unfortunately it was well under the balcony. This didn't prove to be problematic until the finale in which half of the action took place out of sight!

So I was delighted to see on Broadway the fun business that had been making people howl on the West End! When you book tickets, make sure you can see the whole stage.

For more on the play, visit my friends' reviews:

Paul Crozby: 'The 39 Steps' -- Broadway Review
Retta Blaney: The 39 Steps (This review was before the play moved to The Helen Hayes Theatre, where it will play through Sept 6)

You can watch the brilliant Hitchcock film that inspired the play for free on IMDb.com, but you'll miss the insightful commentary by Hitchcock scholar Marian Keane on the DVD.