HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS
WITHOUT REALLY TRYING
Music and Lyrics by Frank Loesser
Book by Abe Burrows,
Jack Weinstock &
Willie Gilbert
5th Avenue Theatre
Directed by Bill Berry
Musical Director: Dan Pardo
Choreography: Bob Richard
Scenic Design: Tom Sturge and David Sumner
Costume Design: Rose Pederson
Lighting Design: Robert Aguilar
Sound Design: Kevin Heard
Wig and Hair Design: Mary Jones
In 1961 Frank Loesser and Abe Burrows unveiled their satiric masterpiece, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. There had been workplace musicals before, but few of their plots turned on the actual everyday details of office life. How to Succeed is not “about” its boy-meets-girl romance—romance itself is skewered in the story and songs. The show is a sharply satirical account of what went on behind the glass walls of corporate office buildings in the Mad Men era, and no one is spared: from the out-of-touch chairman of the board to the warring executives to the fawning yes-men to the predatory managers to the husband-hunting secretaries to the lowliest mail-room drones. All their motivations and schemes are exposed, all their petty rivalries and grudges, their blatant favoritism, their exploitation of old-school ties, even their coffee break rituals.
How to Succeed was something different: an equal-opportunity evisceration, but done with such wit that the very people it skewered laughed the hardest, propelling it to a long run, seven Tony Awards®, and even a Pulitzer Prize. Of course, none of this would have worked without the brilliant music and lyrics of Frank Loesser and the sharp-as-a-paper-cut script by Abe Burrows. Burrows also directed, giving him and Loesser complete creative control.
Text by Albert Evans, Artistic Associate- 5th Avenue Theatre
Cast
J. Pierrpont Finch……………………Eric Ankrim
Rosemary Pilkington…………..Sarah Rose Davis
Bud Frump……………………………………Adam Standley
Smitty………………………….…………………..Sarah Rudinoff
J.B Biggley……………….…………………..Allen Fitzpatrick
Hedy LaRue……………….………………..Jessica Skerrit
Miss Jones…………………………………..Cristin J Hubbard
Mr Twimble…………….…………………..Allen Galli
Bert Bratt……………………………………..Jeff Steitzer
Ensemble
Greg McCormick Allen, Kyle Bernbach, Kristin Burch, Kyle Robert Carter, Gabriel Corey, Taryn Darr, Lauren Du Pree, Paul Flanagan, Nik Hagen, Alexandria Henderson, Nicholas Kim, McKayla Marso, Trina Mills, Taylor Niemeyer, Emily Johnson, Richard Peacock, Matthew Posner, Aaron Shanks, and Dane Stokinger
Gregory Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical 2016
Reviews
“An uproarious comedy, ‘How to Succeed’ will have you laughing all night. Using subtle cues and quick-witted one-liners, the show takes the simplicity of corporate mundanity and turns it into a complete mockery.”
-Colin Piwtorak, The Daily
“And then there was that cast. With an entire ensemble delivering their A game there's not one weak link in the bunch. Sarah Rudinoff makes for a wonderfully snarky Smitty.”
-Jay Irwin, Broadway World
Gallery
Production Photos By Mark Kitaoka
