ALTON - Prepared to be "spoofed".......when Alton Little Theater brings the very wacky and wonderful adaptation of Hitchcock's movie "The 39 Steps" to the Showplace October 20th thru 29th.

Directed by Lee Cox the Tony and Drama Desk-Award winning play features four actors (Howard Bell, Kurtis Leibel, Donna Wilson and Chris Lingel) portraying a total of 125 characters in a mad romp across the British Isles - And Brad Kincaid's voice adds a little BBC and Hitchcock presence to the second production in ALT's 84th Season.

Kevin Frakes has designed set pieces that bring back glimpses of Hitchcock favorites like "Rear Window", " North by Northwest", "Vertigo" - and more for a show often described as a Monty Python whodunit for anyone who loves the magic of theatre!

Indeed, Cox says she was drawn to the show to bring ALT audiences a little something out of the ordinary and because she had seen professional and amateur productions that were a riotous blend of virtuoso performances and wildly inventive stagecraft - and some good old-fashioned romance!

The "spy" novel was written by John Buchan who shared some serious themes in his novels in the mid 1930's with war looming on the horizon and his granddaughter Deborah, Lady Stewartby of Scotland believes that her father would love the deft and funny way that adapter Patrick Barlow reworked those themes into a very arresting piece of theater that continues to delight audiences across the country.

Tickets for the productions are $17 for Adults and $10 for students and can be obtained through the ALT Box office (618-462-3205) or online 24-hours a day (altonlittlehteater.org) Interviews and photo opportunities can be arranged through the director, Lee Cox (618-531-3777).