Claire Brownell :: Playing a Hitchcock blonde (amongst others) in ’The 39 Steps’
Raised in Montana, Claire Brownell did community theater as a little girl. Then she left acting for sports in about 6th or 7th grade and didn’t return to it until college. She saw an audition notice for senior one acts. She figured, "No one knows me. If it’s awful, it doesn’t matter."
She didn’t get the part that first time. But the next time she did. So, she changed her major, went to grad school in San Francisco at the American Conservatory Theater and then headed for New York City. She’s now starring as the female lead - which is actually four roles - in the touring production of The 39 Steps. EDGE had the chance to catch up with Brownell by phone last week.
Show’s appeal
EDGE: Can you tell readers a little about "The 39 Steps"?
Brownell: It follows the plotline of the Alfred Hitchcock movie by the same name, which came out in 1935 It’s a thriller. Basically, an upper class Englishman decides he’s so bored he’ll go to the theater. He meets this woman, a spy-kind of character, who asks to go home with him. She says she’s being followed and that she has vital information that could save the country. Then she dies. He’s on the run for the rest of the show until the mystery is solved. In the end, he saves the day because that’s what a hero does. It’s a fast paced comedy thriller. It zings along. It’s witty. It just keeps moving since it’s a chase the entire time.
There are four people playing 120 plus roles. It’s like a whirlwind going on. On a dime people are doing quick changes. I’m lucky. I only play four characters and one of them doesn’t speak. [She laughs.] I have four full costume changes.
EDGE: How do you approach a piece like this that has such a well-known film as its basis?
Brownell: I did a good chunk of prep before I went into the audition. You want director to know you understand the film and the characters and yet it’s a departure from the film. I’ve always been a big fan of old movies. I watched them with my grandma. Hitchcock has a very specific style. One of the characters I play, Pamela is a cold, icy Hitchcock blonde. A Tippi Hedren or Madeleine Carroll. That character is more directly derived from that movie and the archetype. There are really funny moments but there has to be a real romance between them so she can’t have a crazy mole on her face for one of her characters. [She laughs.] Story continues on following page.
Watch this montage from the Broadway production of The 39 Steps.
