La Jolla Playhouse Drops Hudsucker Proxy, Brings in 39 Steps

La Jolla Playhouse’s previously announced workshop staging of The Hudsucker Proxy has been shelved in favor of the Tony Award nominated Broadway production of The 39 Steps. The production will play August 11 through September 13 at the Mandell Weiss Theatre. No casting has been announced.

"In light of the current economy, it simply wasn't feasible to workshop The Hudsucker Proxy at this time,” La Jolla Artistic Director Christopher Ashley said in a statement. “However, the project is still very much alive, and we sincerely hope to bring it back during a future Playhouse season, when we can give it the full treatment it deserves."

Based on the 1994 Coen brothers film of the same title, The Hudsucker Proxy, about a naïve mailroom employee who is promoted to the position of CEO in a plot to drive the company’s stock down, was to feature a book and lyrics by Tony Award winner Glenn Slater and music by Stephen A. Weiner. The show would have closed the 2009-2010 La Jolla season.

The 39 Steps, currently a hit both in the U.K. and on Broadway, is a rapid-fire stage adaptation and comedic spoof of the hit Alfred Hitchcock film of the same name. The production originally debuted on Broadway at Roundabout Theater Company’s American Airlines Theatre in January 2008, going on to earn two Tony Awards and critical acclaim before transferring to the Cort Theatre in April 2008. The show made its third New York transfer in January 2009, moving to its current home at the Helen Hayes Theatre. The 39 Steps was adapted by Patrick Barlow from the novel by John Buchnan, and features direction by Maria Aitken.