Meet the Cast: The 39 Steps
The Utah Shakespeare Festival announces the cast members for this summer’s production of The 39 Steps, directed by Aaron Galligan-Stierle. A thrilling comedy that blends farce, suspense, and romance, this play is a must-see for patrons in the upcoming season.
“The 39 Steps is hilarious, but it also has this focus on a character that starts the play lost, unsure of his meaning in the world, with a lack of community and connection, who then discovers his purpose,” Galligan-Stierle said.
“That to me speaks to our world and who we are as humans, and the need for everyone to get up off the couch and have these extraordinary moments and find connection with other people in this world.”
This is the second time the Festival has produced this play. Galligan-Stierle was in the Festival’s 2010 production. Fourteen years later, he is pivoting from acting to directing the very same play.
Galligan-Stierle continues, “Having performed in the [last] production of The 39 Steps, I am honored and excited to re-imagine the show for today’s audience by focusing on four storytellers who use their boundless imagination to tell a highly theatrical story full of thrills, romance and comedy. I am incredibly excited to return to my ’theatrical home’ for this production!”
The 2024 cast is as follows:
Tom Coiner is making his debut at the Festival as Richard Hannay in The 39 Steps and Camilo in The Winter’s Tale. He has been in A Christmas Carol and Gaslight at Merrimack Repertory Theatre, The Daughter in Law at Mint Theatre Company, and God Said This at Primary Stages to name a few. Television credits include The Good Fight, Law and Order: SVU, and It’s Bruno. Coiner received an MFA from National Theatre Conservatory and a BA from Kenyon College. He is a member of Actors’ Equity Association.
Michael Doherty is returning to the Festival as Clown #1 in The 39 Steps and Antigonus/Time in The Winter’s Tale. Previous roles at the Festival include Mr. Green in Clue, Narrator in Every Brilliant Thing, Charlie Baker in The Foreigner, and more. He has also appeared Off-Broadway as Jimmy in Dublin by Lamplight and on television in Wu Tang: An American Saga. Other roles include productions at Guthrie Theater, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Cleveland Play House, and the Denver Center. He received a BFA in Theatre Arts from the University of the Arts and is a member of Actors’ Equity Association.
Tracie Lane is returning to the Festival as Annabella/Margaret/Pamela in The 39 Steps and Hermione in The Winter’s Tale. Previous roles at the Festival include Joan de Pucelle in Henry VI Part One and others in The Merchant of Venice; Boeing, Boeing; Measure for Measure; and Twelfth Night. Other credits include the Play On! Festival at Off-Broadway’s Classic Stage Company, The Three Musketeers at Asolo Rep, Venus in Fur at Orlando Shakes, and numerous roles at American Shakespeare Center and Houston Shakespeare Festival. She earned her MFA at The Juilliard School and is a member of Actors’ Equity Association.
Bailey Savage is returning to Festival stages as Clown #2 in The 39 Steps and Cleomenes/Rustic in The Winter’s Tale. She was in the Festival’s Shakespeare in the Schools productions of Julius Caesar as Julius Caesar and Romeo and Juliet as Lord Capulet. Other credits include roles in Drunk Shakespeare Chicago, Twelfth Night at Midsommer Flight, and Peter and the Starcatcher at Lyric Repertory Company. Savage was Assistant Director for Guys and Dolls and A Midsummer Night’s Dream and served as Literary Seminar Manager at the Festival, and received a BIS from Southern Utah University.
Purchase your tickets now! The play lineup for the 63rd season includes Shakespeare’s Henry VIII, The Winter’s Tale, The Taming of the Shrew, and Much Ado About Nothing, along with the hilarious The 39 Steps, the moving Silent Sky, and the inspirational The Mountaintop.
The season runs June 17 through October 5.
