Blissful silliness pays off in Little Theatre’s ’39 Steps’

I suppose you could say Patrick Barlow's hilarious "The 39 Steps" - now at Las Vegas Little Theatre - is a salute to Alfred Hitchcock's 1935 thriller, since it borrows heavily from the classic film.

But it's really a tribute to the stage's unique ability to tell a story. Planes crash, a man escapes the bad guys by climbing a bridge, a train undergoes calamities, our hero rides across the moors on a camel and jumps out of a closed window - that kind of stuff.

And sandwiched between is the original story performed by four actors.

A solid British chap gets caught up in World War II espionage. He's got to learn what the term "the 39 steps" means. Before he does, plenty of people bite the dust.

I don't want to say much more about the plot because its moment-by-moment surprises help make the comedy. Just think of it as the mating of Walter Mitty, Philip Marlowe, Buster Keaton and Hollywood suspense master Hitchcock.

Director Walter Niejadlik seems to have had a good time putting together this montage of blissful silliness. His pacing is nerve-rackingly on target. Our everyman barely frees himself from one web before being ensnared in another.

Light designer Ginny Adams goes a long way in establishing a sense of place - many places. And Arles Estes' sound not only heightens the tension, it adds to the humor.

There's a problem at the core with T.J. Larsen as the leading man. Larsen's English accent is his performance. He's onstage nearly the entire time, but he never relaxes into the role. We get no sense of who this man is.

Penni Paskett, on the other hand, plays a series of femme fatale roles (a step up for her; she last played a dog in "Sylvia") while never allowing the wacky happenings to interfere with her reality base. She gets the laughs but also gets under the skin of her characters.

And Mick Axelrod has a particularly memorable bit as a finger-challenged, dapper thug.

You wanna laugh? Go.

Anthony Del Valle can be reached at vegastheaterchat@aol.com. You can write him c/o Las Vegas Review-Journal, P.O. Box 70, Las Vegas, NV 89125.