Billed on its tour page as a blend of Alfred Hitchcock films, Monty Python comedy and "a juicy spy novel," "Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps" is described as "a fast-paced whodunit for anyone who loves the magic of theater."

"Fast-paced" is perhaps the most telling descriptor. Claire Brownell, an actor in the four-person national tour, said the cast just about collapses after each show.

"We come off the stage breathing hard and sweating," she said. "There are strategic sweat rags offstage ... we're all wearing wool costumes. There isn't much downtime at all, because as soon as you go offstage you're either doing a quick change into your next character, or you're sprinting around backstage to make your entrance on the other side of the stage.

"It never really stops. It's great in that sense, because it feels like as soon as you start it's over. You're just kind of shot out of the cannon."

Overture Center opens its Broadway season with what might appear to be an unusual choice. "The 39 Steps" is not a musical. It has a very small cast and no flashy set, unlike Disney's "The Lion King" and "Grease," two shows that fill out the Broadway series.

But "Steps," which Brownell called "a joyful send-up," earned accolades from critics when it opened on Broadway in January 2008. The New York Daily News's Joe Dziemianowicz said it was a "slight but ingenious spoof." Michael Feingold in the Village Voice described it as "harmlessly amusing piffle."

And Ben Brantley in the New York Times said "Steps" was a "fast, frothy exercise in legerdemain (sleight of hand) ... throwaway theater at its finest. And that's no backhanded compliment."

The title of "The 39 Steps" refers to a clandestine organization of spies. It's a classic 1935 spy movie, retold on the stage as a comedy with a bare bones set and props, including crates, trunks and flashing lights.

Brownell said viewers familiar with Hitchcock will recognize references to "The Man Who Knew Too Much" and "North By Northwest," among other films.

"The play, even though it incorporates almost verbatim, scene by scene recreations of the film, is like a gift of theatricality," Brownell said. "The staging is so creative and it's a very sparse set that relies a lot on actors moving things around and the investment of the audience and their imagination."

In the cast, Ted Deasy plays one character, and Brownell plays all of the classic Hitchcock females (including the "Hitchcock blonde," immortalized by actresses like Grace Kelly). Eric Hissom and Scott Parkinson play the rest of some 150 roles, which include women.

"It's an actor's dream, especially for a woman, to play more than one role in a show," Brownell said. "You get to be funny and you get to be sexy, and I just love it."

Brownell expects "The 39 Steps" to appeal to the audience base that may favor more standard Broadway musicals, because "it moves so quickly, it's funny, and there's a lot of vaudevillian elements.

"You don't have to have watched the film to really enjoy it."

IF YOU GO

Overture Center presents "Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps" from Tuesday, Nov. 10 through Sunday, Nov. 15. Tickets cost $15 to $50 and are available at the Overture Center Box Office, 201 State St., online at overturecenter.com or by calling 258-4141.

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