FRESH FACE: Jennifer Ferrin Is A Quick-Change Artist in The 39 Steps
By Kathy Henderson
Broadway.com
Age: 29
Hometown: Snellville, Georgia
Currently: Making her Broadway debut juggling three distinct roles-Annabella, a German spy; Margaret, a Scottish farm wife; and Pamela, a classically cool British blonde-in the Broadway comedy/mystery The 39 Steps.
Around the World: Ferrin never needed a survival job in New York: Before graduation, she landed a three-year contract as Jennifer Munson on the CBS soap As the World Turns. “It was such a gift to have a job right out of school,” she says of a role that brought her two Daytime Emmy nominations. Her front-burner character faced drug addiction and had a baby fathered by her stepdad (!) but, like World’s previous Emmy-honored redhead, Julianne Moore, Ferrin chose to depart at the end of her contract. “Anytime you leave a really good job it’s a difficult decision,” she says now. “But soaps work so quickly, you end up repeating yourself, and I like to be challenged. It was probably the hardest job I’ll ever have-I never have a problem now memorizing lines!”
39 Steps to Broadway: Landing the demanding trio of female roles in Patrick Barlow’s clever send-up of Hitchcock’s classic film was an incredible break for Ferrin, who had never acted onstage professionally. It helped that the British director of The 39 Steps, Maria Aitken, had no preconceived ideas about whom to cast. “Maria could see what the piece needed, and she took a risk on me,” says Ferrin, who mastered three accents for her audition. A satiric version of the spy film’s convoluted plot is enacted by a cast of four, with minimal props and plenty of darting about the stage. “I had no idea how physical the show would be,” Ferrin says with a laugh. “The [performance] itself goes by very quickly, but it takes a toll on your body. Running around in heels is not recommended.”
Stagestruck: “The beautiful thing about this play is that it’s a throwback to what theater can do that film can’t-the fun you can have with a minimal amount of technology,” Ferrin says of the old-fashioned appeal of The 39 Steps. Unwigged, she’s unrecognizable at the stage door, which, she insists, is totally fine. “I’m a private person, so I love that,” she says of maintaining her anonymity. “On the soap, my character’s name was the same as mine, so people would [call out] at airports, or when I was back home in the south. Being an actor is about morphing into other characters, so for me, this is great.” When her first Broadway gig ends, Ferrin wouldn’t mind returning to her musical roots. “I’m not a big dancer, but I love smart musicals like Sondheim’s, where you just have to sing because words aren’t enough on their own,” she says. “If there’s an opportunity for something like that, I would jump on it.”
To read the complete article, click on the following link: http://www.broadway.com/gen/Buzz_Story.aspx?ci=568092
