The outrageously funny stage version of Hitchcock's 1935 film thriller, "The 39 Steps,'' opens Friday night, Sept. 30, 2016 at 7:30 p.m. by the Kings Mountain Little Theatre at the Joy Performance Center downtown with shows on Saturday night at 7:30 and 3 p.m. Sunday.
"This show is unlike any I have done before, it's incredibly fast-moving and the cast is amazing as they create the scenes and characters before your eyes,'' says Director Wendy Walega.
She continued "I read somewhere that tech is considered another member of the cast of "The 39 Steps" and its' true. There are almost 100 sound cues and about 50 light cues, not to mention the fog machine,'' she says. Walega says there are several homages to classic Hitchcock movies for those keeping a sharp eye and ear and just like in the movies the man himself may make a cameo appearance.
This two-time Tony and Drama Desk Award winner includes theatrical hi jinks including gunshots and other loud noises, pratfalls, staged violence, daring feats of physical agility, unabashed silliness ad the use of flickering lights and fog machines.
Kurt Hassler plays the ''hero'' Richard Hannay and Dawn Rickus plays all three female roles - Annabella Schmidt, the mysterious spy; Margaret, the Crofter's wife who becomes an ally of the wanted fugitive and Pamela, the feisty, reluctant partner.
Kevin Burke, Jim Chandler, Trey Ross and Austin Willis play all the remaining 60 characters, at times changing from one character to another within seconds.
The plot centers around Richard Hannay ( Kurt Hassler), a bored Londoner until
he tries to help a counter-espionage agent prevent an organization of spies from stealing top secret information. But when the agent is killed, Hannay stands accused of murder and finds himself on the run with a beautiful stranger who is less than eager to save him and thwart the spy ring. Six actors playing an incomprehensible number of characters romp through a dizzying array of locations, train rides, chase scenes, and pratfalls in this charmingly audacious homage to classic suspense cinema.
Follow the incredible adventures of the handsome hero complete with stiff-upper lip, British gung-ho and pencil mustache as he encounters dastardly murders, double-crossing secret agents,and, of course, devastatingly beautiful women.
General admission tickets are $15 with students/seniors $10.
Reservations may be made by calling the Box Office at 704-730-9408 or by email: tickets@kmlt.org.

Pictured: Kurt Hassler as Richard Hannay, the hero, and Dawn Ruckus, who plays all three female roles, in the Kings Mountain Little Theatre's "The 39 Steps,'' which opens Friday, Sept. 30 at Joy Theatre. Photo by Bryan Hallman