To purchase the New Broadway Cast Recording of HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING, click on the image above.
The second Broadway revival of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying opens tonight. The Pulitzer Prize-winning musical features a score by Frank Loesser with a book by Abe Burrows, Jack Weinstock and Willie Gilbert. Rob Ashford, the Tony Award winning director-choreographer who has staged shows like Promises, Promises, Thoroughly Modern Millie and Cry-Baby), is at the helm of this production.
The show stars Daniel Radcliffe as J. Pierrepont Finch, with Tammy Blanchard as Hedy La Rue, Christopher J. Hanke as Bud Frump and Rose Hemingway as Rosemary Pilkington. Rob Bartlett will play Twimble/Wally Womper, Mary Faber will play Smitty and Ellen Harvey will play Miss Jones. John Larroquette will appear as J.B. Biggley and the book’s voice will be recorded by CNN’s Anderson Cooper.
So I saw How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying yesterday. The show itself was pretty funny, but the songs as a whole sucked, except for “Brotherhood of Man”, which I enjoyed immensely. The show’s ending was also very abrupt, in my opinion.
Daniel Radcliffe was not that great of a singer, and he constantly tripped over his lines. I guess speaking at a breathtaking speed in an American accent is a little too difficult for him. He also had enunciation issues, so combining that with his flubbed lines, I had a lot of trouble understanding what Finch was trying to say. Acting-wise though, he had very good comedic timing, and had great chemistry with Rose Hemingway (Rosemary) and John Larroquette.
John Larroquette’s entrance applause was louder than Daniel’s last night, and he was absolutely hilarious. Like Daniel, he doesn’t sing that well, but he was an expert actor and he was just a treat. I can easily see why he won Best Featured Actor.
The rest of the cast was serviceable. Christopher Hanke as Frump, Rose Hemingway as Rosemary, and Tammy Blanchard as the lady everyone went nuts for, were all decent.
Did the ending for this musical change from the other two musical productions?
This is a musical that I would love to see.
Miss Adelaide, are you askng about changes in terms of narrative, or are you referring to the arrangement of “Brotherhood of Man”?
I’m not really familiar with the history of the show, so I have no idea what the previous endings were like.
I haven’t seen the show (unfortunately) but I’m listening to the cast album right now and, I have to say, it’s nothing special. I mean, it’s not terrible. But it kinda sounds like they took a high school production and set it to some (slightly) more fleshed out orchestrations. Nobody is particularly bad but, nobody’s standout either. It’s pretty generic. If you wanted to listen to the music because you were auditioning but didn’t want to be influenced by the singers performances, this would be the recording to get. Because there really isn’t much to be influenced by. As much as I love Daniel Radcliffe, he’s only in this show because of his name. Let’s face it.