I had a great time this week hosting a Talkback with the cast of The 39 Steps at the New World Stages in New York. If you haven’t seen the show yet, hurry and catch it. This production closes January 16, 2011.

Steven DeRosa moderating Talkback with the New York cast of THE 39 STEPS (John Behlmann, Kate MacCluggage, Cameron Folmar, and unseen to the right, Jamie Jackson).

The video quality is more than a bit lackluster (mostly poor audio but there are captions), but gives you an idea of what I spoke about with the cast—John Behlmann (Richard Hannay), Kate MacCluggage (Annabella/Pamela/Margaret), Jamie Jackson (Man #1), and Cameron Folmar (Man #2). We covered everything from Hitchcock’s working methods with his writers, to the MacGuffin, to his typical means of adapting source material such as John Buchan’s novel The Thirty-nine Steps, how the idea for transforming the film into a broad stage comedy for four actors came about, the actors’ process of “finding their clown” within the various roles they play in the show, and much more.

“I’d say they do REAR WINDOW next, but the producers of DISTURBIA would probably sue.”