Casting Call: 'The 39 Steps'

Kelsey Theater will be holding auditions for "The 39 Steps" from 7-10 p.m. on Oct. 27 and 28.

This two-time Tony and Drama Desk Award-winning treat is one part Monty Python, one part Hitchcock thriller and one part Ringling Brothers.  Patrick Barlow's comical adaptation of "The 39 Steps" is a fast-paced, often hilariously irreverent recreation of Alfred Hitchcock's classic mystery thriller film of 1935. Four actors portray some 150 roles. Our leading man, Richard Hannay, meets a mysterious woman at a London music hall. After witnessing her murder, he becomes entangled in solving the murder, proving his innocence, and breaking a spy ring that seems to be attached to the whole affair. All roles require good comic timing.

Auditionees will need to prepare a comic monologue and bring a headshot and a resumé. Accents that are required include working-class English, Scottish, posh London and German.

Richard Hannay (early 30s-early 40's)	The dashing, leading man of the show; charming, innocent, and charismatic. Must have great endurance,superb comic timing, and a commanding presence. An standard-British dialect is required as well as outstanding physical comedic skills.
Annabelle Schmidt/ Pamela/Margaret (25-35)	This is the only scripted female role in the show. The role calls for multiple dialects - the actor must play a paranoid German spy, a lower-class Scottish farmer's wife, and the upper class, British romantic lead of the show. All three dialects ARE required. Must have excellent comic timing and great versatility. Actor should be able to play the sensuality and high style of the Hitchcock/film noir variety.
Clown 1 and Clown 2 (20-40)	These roles call for exceptional physical and verbal comic ability. These actors play multiple characters, male and female, sometimes simultaneously. Must be highly athletic with great endurance and focus, and have a mastery of various English, German, and Scottish dialects, maybe with a few more thrown in. These are clowns in the European/English Music Hall/Vaudeville tradition of physical clowning. The roles demand physical strength, vocal and physical transformation and delineation, stamina, and tremendous character.

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