Hectic and fun '39 Steps' closing off-Broadway this January

NEW YORK (AP) - The off-Broadway show "39 Steps," the cheeky stage spoof of Alfred Hitchcock's 1935 spy thriller, is stepping away.

Producer Douglas Denoff said Monday that the show will close Jan. 3 at the Union Square Theatre. When this run ends, "39 Steps" will have played 14 preview performances and 303 regular performances.

The show is a whirlwind of dizzying costume changes as four actors play some 140 characters, from a Scottish policeman to a bog. Denoff has been in discussions with several theater owners to get it back on Broadway.

Adapted by Patrick Barlow from Hitchcock's espionage film, the play lifts lines directly from the film and has winks to other Hitchcock movies such as "Rear Window," ''The Birds" and "Strangers on a Train."

The play opened in London in 2006, transferred to the West End and won an Olivier Award for best comedy. It then raced over the Atlantic and opened on Broadway in 2008, winning two Tonys and running for over three years, before going off-Broadway for less than a year, closing in 2011.

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Online: http://www.39stepsny.com