Playgoers of Lethbridge’s February  production of “The 39 Steps” requires a multi-talented cast.
 Auditions are at 7 p.m. both Wednesday, Dec. 4 and Friday, Dec. 6.
The production takes place at the Yates Theatre, Feb. 12-15. It is approximately 90 minutes long.

 “It‘s based on the Alfred Hitchcock movie, ‘The 39 Steps,’” said director Stephen Graham, who has performed in several Playgoers Of Lethbridge productions including The Importance of Being Earnest and How the Other Half Loves. He directed a successful production in this year’s One Act Play Festival. He is excited about directing his first main stage production for Playgoers of Lethbridge. The movie was inspired by Scottish novelist John Buchan’s 1915 adventure novel “The 39 Steps,” which was in turn was rewritten into a 2005 play by Patrick Barlow.

“It’s as much fun as the movie but as a play with four actors,” Graham described.
The hero is Richard Hanney a 40 something man who gets caught in the middle of an adventure and along the way has romantic entanglements with three women all to be played by one actress. The other two actors are a “cast of thousands” who perform everything else from an entire Scottish pipe band to Mrs. Higgins — a Mrs. Doubtfire like character.

 While the original novel takes place during the First World War, the Alfred Hitchcock movie is set in the Second World War, which is where the play is also set.

“It is a really fun story,” said Graham, adding the roles require a very talented cast.
“ But Lethbridge has a lot of talent,” he said.

 The Huron Carole, a cross Canadian tour of big name musicians to raise money for community food banks, doesn’t come to Lethbridge very often, so when it come to the Southminster United Church, Dec. 6 , it will be like — well — Christmas for Lethbridge’s food banks.
“It brings a lot of awareness to our cause, because of the big names involved,” said Interfaith Food Bank executive director Danielle McIntyre.
“The message goes further when there is a celebrity attached,” she continued.

Tom Jackson has a 40-year career in music, television and films, but he wants his legacy to be feeding the hungry.
 He brings the annual Huron Carole celebration to the Southminster Church with George Canyon, Beverly Mahood, One More Girl and Shannon Gaye to raise money for Lethbridge food banks  including the Interfaith Food Bank, Lethbridge Food Bank and the Kainai Food Bank in Stand Off.

 He has been spreading good will and good cheer for this good cause since 1987, but has only been to Lethbridge with the Carole three times.
“I was fortunate to meet a member of the elders and one memorable thing he said to me was ‘I’m afraid I’m going to lose my shadow,’” said Jackson before one of the first shows on this year’s tour in St. John’s, Newfoundland.
“What that means is you want to have to opportunity to create a legacy for your children to remember. I want my legacy to be feeding as many children as I can for a long as I can. And I want to tell your readers that it is is a team effort and I love you,” he said.

“It is a lot of work. Mostly for my wife Alison. But it doesn’t feel like it. It is a labour of love.”
Jackson has lead Huron Carole all over the country raising money for the food banks in each community since 1987. The line up changes slightly every year.

 He said the performers will sing solo sets as well as together.
“It’s all of that,” he said.

He said the show will put people into a Christmasy mood.
“I used to do an event called ‘Stories, Song and Tomfoolery.’ So there will be a lot of that,” he said.
“So there will be lots of Christmas stories and lots of laughter. I can sense people’s spirits being lifted when they are leaving,” he said.

 He praised his fellow performers.

“ I‘ve known Carly and Britt McKillop who are One More Girl since they were little. I used to sit in their living room and listen to them sing like siblings only do and knew I was seeing the future of country music. I’ve known Shannon Gaye for 16 years. Beverly Mahood is one of those people I can ask to do a favour and she’ll do it. She won’t even ask what it is. I just met George Canyon at the floods in Alberta. He’s a guy who walks the walk and talks the talk. He’ll bend his back when he could be be doing other things,” he enthused.
The lineup is stellar. Juno Award winner George Canyon is one of Canada’s top country stars. He has sold over 300,000 albums and has charted countless hits including his latest ‘Slow Dance,’  ‘All or Nothing’ and ‘Seven Spanish Angels,’ to name just a few.

Dean ‘ the Deaner ’Murdoch, the alter ego of Toronto actor Paul Spence, will be in Lethbridge at Studio 54, Dec. 7 to ‘give’r’ during the Deaner Does XMAS —  the first and best Christmas party of the season featuring Calgary rock band Shelbi and local acts to be announced.

The Deaner is the drunken, head banging bastard child of Canadian hoser kings Bob and Doug MacKenzie and Saturday Night Live metalheads Wayne and Garth from Wayne’s World. He made his name as the star of Canadian cult movie classics FUBAR and FUBAR 2.

“November is too early for Christmas, but December — well, you’ll jingle and jangle until your t--s fall off,” promised the Deaner, never one to shy away from dropping an f-bomb in casual conversation.

 This time he won’t bringing his band Night Seeker, in which he plays bass and performs original music and classic metal like Iron Maiden Black Sabbath and AC DC plus original music.

“I couldn’t get hold of the band. Plus my guitarist got electrocuted in the forest where he was doing an experiment,” he said.
“ But it’s all right. He’s fine. It wasn’t his beer drinking hand. He’ll be ready to rock,” he said.

 “But it will just be me in Lethbridge this time. I’ll be the party leader. I’ll be singing with some bands there. We’ll shotgun some beers and I’ll be giving out free s--t.  I’ll be giving out some sweet VIP packages,” he said.

“If you’re a chick, the VIP package means you’ll be able to give me a massage,” he chuckled from his ‘office.’
“I just call it my office. It’s where I keep my book. It’s about wild animals,” he chuckled riffing on the animals in the book, about caribous and moose and cheering for the Rough Riders in  the Grey Cup.

“I had to cheer for the Riders. My old man is from Saskatchewan,” he said.

“And because the Tiger Cats beat The Stampeders and they’re my team, so I can’t cheer for a team that beat the Stampeders,” he said not mentioning The Riders beat the Stampeders in the previous round.