Suburban Players' HOW TO SUCCEED... Is Worth Trying

For their 35th-anniversary production, the Suburban Players are mounting Frank Loesser's Pulitzer Prize-winning musical satire of corporate greed and incompetence, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, and the timing could hardly be better. Why let the threat of a depression depress you? As many Americans watch their dubiously sustained dollars dwindle, and yet continue to cling to the reality-show pipe dream of having someone give them something for nothing, all you can do is laugh, and How to Succeed... makes us do so with interest.

Set in the Mad Men milieu of the early 1960s (albeit facetiously transposed to Baltimore in this version), the show charts the rise, from window-washer to Chairman of the Board, of J. Pierpont Finch, a living embodiment of the Peter Principle. Much like our previous President, "Ponty" won't let his mere complete lack of ability stand in the way of his "succeeding," at least in the sense of swiftly replacing anyone above him who stands in his way.

One could say the same of this show, which, for all its charms, is easily the least distinguished of the seven musicals to win the Pulitzer. Out of its twenty musical numbers, seven are reprises, yet many scarcely merit one rendition. "Cinderella, Darling," for instance, has to be the worst second-act opener ever to burden a Broadway hit. (Is it just a coincidence that the Suburban Players neglect to list it in the program?) And a hymn to women's non-liberation, "Happy to Keep His Dinner Warm," is regurgitated not once, but twice, like the cud of a cow, only less appetizing. Even at its jaunty best, the score is lesser Loesser, never rising to the level he attained in Guys and Dolls, The Most Happy Fella, or even the legendary flop Greenwillow.

Moreover, the show runs three hours, which in this case can be really, really trying. Such a protracted length not only negates the sense of Ponty's rapid ascent, but also begins to make the audience feel trapped as if in a dead-end job with no prospect of retirement. Director John Desmone keeps things moving as best he can, skillfully distracting our attention throughout the frequent scene changes, but he's unable to divert us during the leaden dialogues between the executives of the World-Wide Wicket Company. These men are clearly less qualified than Finch, as either managers or performers, and though they don't deserve a bailout, you may find yourself wishing you could bail out whenever they're onstage.

Despite being better theatrical company, Jim Gerhardt is equally problematic as Ponty. No one will ever surpass the original Finch, Robert Morse, and Gerhardt certainly isn't trying. Judged on his own merits, he has an appealing tenor voice and a suitably deceptive baby face, but you'd never be duped into lending him a tenner, much less adopting him. Worse, he seems to have missed the irony of "without really trying," since he scrupulously avoids displaying any hint of ambitious drive. Little wonder that when he croons "I Believe in You" to his image in a mirror, neither of his two faces appears convinced.

Fortunately, as his allegedly even more odious nemesis, Bud Frump, Roger Schulman is a one-man stimulus package. He, too, has big shoes to fill, following in the steps of Charles Nelson Reilly, but he shrewdly takes the character in a completely different direction without ever going off-course. What's more, he manages to be both thoroughly despicable and utterly adorable simultaneously. Indeed, in the Apprentice-style rivalry between him and Finch, Frump towers, if only in charisma. On the basis of audience reaction, I was not alone in rooting for Bud over Ponty at every turn, and when Desmone ends the show with the intimation that Bud will rise again, it's enough to make your spirit soar.

No less delightful are John Suchy, a master of hilarious underplaying, as J. B. Biggley, the boss with too many skeletons in his closet, and Mary Elizabeth Mullin as Hedy LaRue, a brassy blonde bombshell with barely any brains in her head. Their tongue-in-cheek duet, "Love from a Heart of Gold," is the show's most precious moment.

Jacki Walsh makes a meal of every crumb she's tossed as the wisecracking yet also genuinely wise secretary, Smitty. That Finch would choose the flavorless Rosemary of Stephanie Knox over her is one more indication of his questionable judgment. And special attention must be paid to Basil Lambros, who plays Mr. Twimble, the endlessly accommodating mail room supervisor who is celebrating a quarter of a century in his post. In a happy example of art imitating life, Lambros portrayed this same role in the Suburban Players' first production of How to Succeed... nearly 25 years ago, and he seems as comfortable and contented in the part as ever.

One can't expect Deborah Goetzinger to meet the standards set by this show's original choreographer, Bob Fosse, particularly with a cast whose dancing talent is closer to drossy. Nevertheless, she comes through with Finch-like ingenuity, especially in "A Secretary Is Not a Toy," which turns the tables, quite literally, on the song's inherent sexism.

Peter Beleos resourcefully dresses his unit set to serve as multiple locations, thereby underscoring the joke that each rung of the ladder Finch climbs is simply more of the same. In addition, Mark Alberding boosts the comic tone with his cleverly cartoonish props. Especially notable are the typewriters sculpted from Styrofoam, which suggest that even less typing is being done than the studiously idle secretarial pool pretends.

Regrettably, the live orchestra is often unsuccessful at staying on key, but conductor/keyboardist Sally Tarr never allows it to stray behind or race ahead of the vocalists - a feat that's all the more remarkable given that the instrumentalists are placed in a separate room with no direct view of the stage. And thanks to microphone coordinator Zachary Fellner, you won't miss a word, even if you'll catch plenty of unintended noises as well.

Best of all, the pre-show buffet is lovingly prepared by chef Kosta Mavrophilipos and congenially served by a small army of volunteers. Even when the onstage action is less delicious and more filling than it might be, the food on your plate is sustenance enough, not to mention food for thought about what really matters in this time of economic crisis.

How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying runs at Saint Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church, 2504 Cub Hill Road, through February 28. Dinner service begins at 6:30 on Friday, 5:30 on Saturday, and 4:30 on Sunday, with the show starting 90 minutes later. Tickets are $40. For reservations, call 410-467-3348.

To post a comment, you must register and login.