BWW Reviews: HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS a Success at Dutch Apple

HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING is not only one of the longest titles in musicals, but one of the best shows no one seems to know. That it's not known is a surprise - opening on Broadway in 1961 with Robert Morse as J. Pierrepont Finch, window washer extraordinaire, it's been reprised in 1995 with Matthew Broderick, and in 2011 with Harry Potter himself, Daniel Radcliffe, lending some magic to the main character. Frank Loesser's and Abe Burrows' work has along the way copped seven Tonys, a Critics Circle Award, a Pulitzer for drama - that last one no mean feat for a musical - and one of the better film adaptations of a stage musical that's been done, starring Morse in his Broadway role, in 1967. It's a humorous look at the corporate ladder that is indirectly responsible for AMC's critically acclaimed "Mad Men," and a nod at the culture of self-help that believes that following the rules in a book will inevitably produce success.

At Dutch Apple Dinner Theatre, the current production of it is directed by Dean Sobon, who was responsible for the fine Prather Entertainment Group national tour of FIDDLER ON THE ROOF that played at Dutch Apple, part of PEG, last season. This production is equally tour-worthy, and one might hope that Dutch Apple's sister theatre, Broadway Palm in Florida, may pick it up before the rather spectacular Sixties sets by Dominic Lau are gone. Sobon's produced an homage to the Sixties in sets, costumes, and dance to match the go-go Sixties spirit of the show and its music, and it works perfectly; the only things missing that could generate more atmosphere are a kidney-shaped table and a Sputnik lamp. Certainly John P. White's costumes are a Sixties fashion parade, especially in the "Paris Original" cocktail party scene devoted to the Sixties fashion faux pas of Wearing The Same Dress.

In this production, Finch - Ponty to his friends - is played by Pittsburgh native Trey Compton, who first played Ponty in 2002 in the Steel City and won a Civic Light Opera Gene Kelly Award for it. (Zachary Quinto, currently on Broadway, and Courtney Mazza are also prior winners, placing him in some good company.) Not only can Compton sing, dance, and act, but he has that most important Ponty requirement, a winning smile that can twinkle on cue whenever a pointer in his self-help book has resulted in his next corporate brownie point. His "I Believe in You," one of the show's classic numbers, and his "Grand Old Ivy" with Dutch Apple favorite Paul Glodfelter as J.B. Biggley, company president, are standout performances.

Ponty's achievements would not be possible without assistance from the secretarial pool at the office, who star in two delightful production numbers, "Coffee Break" (unfortunately not in the movie version of the show), a hymn to the corporate necessity of caffeine, and "A Secretary is Not a Toy," which, alas, needs to be required listening in more than one MBA program. Personnel secretary Smitty, played delightfully by Britte Steele, leads off in "Been a Long Day," while Debra Thais Evans, the outstanding Bloody Mary in Dutch Apple's recent South Pacific, is the president's secretary, the fearsomely efficient and no-nonsense Miss Jones. Company receptionist Rosemary, who's sweet on Ponty and loves both him and his meteoric rise in the corporate ranks, is Kaitlin Doughty, who is able to convince a contemporary audience that working for your MRS degree is not in itself hilarious. Attitudes towards working women have changed so radically since 1961 that strong female talents are needed to keep the premises of clearly understood corporate gender lines and non-career-oriented businesswomen from themselves being either funny or horrific and altering one's view of the show (the gender issues here are, alas, not as dated as one wishes they would be in some parts), and Doughty manages to keep Rosemary balancing that tightrope.

Craig Smith, seen before at Dutch Apple primarily as a non-musical comic actor, steals the show, and a couple of rungs on the career ladder until caught, as Bud Frump, J.B. Biggley's nepotism-loving, inept nephew. Anxious to rise far past his level of incompetence, Smith as Frump schemes, plots, and weasels his way through the corporate maze, while delivering some remarkable physical comedy that only enhances his less-than-stellar fiendishness. Smith claims partial responsibility for tweaking Frump's on-stage wardrobe into some unique fashion statements that highlight his comic presence - do not miss his cocktail party semi-formal jacket, which is a masterpiece of amazement. His obvious delight in Frump's villainy - and in his then hiding behind his mother's skirts - is fun to watch.

Liz Bachman is a charmingly ditzy Hedy LaRue, whose va-va-voom exceeds the maximum allowed by corporate standards, and Robert Summers is a delightful Wally Womper, Chairman of the Board. Summers and Debra Thais Evans join with Compton's Ponty in the show's fabled "eleven o'clock" production number, "Brotherhood of Man," to deliver one of the best versions of it that this reviewer has heard.

Evans' lung power in this show is as extraordinary as it was in SOUTH PACIFIC earlier in the season. The singer, who was in the national tour of HAIRSPRAY as well, trained, it turns out, as an operatic soprano. Although it took her years, she says, to learn to belt, she's dazzling in some of the great women's numbers like "Bali H'ai," but stops the show in this production with some knockout scat singing in "Brotherhood of Man." She also has an interesting take on Miss Jones - usually portrayed as a block of ice who thaws slightly in Ponty's presence, Evans believes that Ponty brings out a (perhaps tiny) maternal instinct in the highest-ranking secretary in the firm that causes her to back his endeavors. Her depiction of that idea is spot-on.

HOW TO SUCCEED... is a show that deserves to be better known than it is; it's one of the best musicals around. If you don't know the show, this production is well worth seeing; if you know it already, you won't be disappointed. Sobon's given Dutch Apple a nearly flawless execution of one of Broadway's gems. To quote another musical's song title, welcome to the Sixties on the Dutch Apple's stage.

At Dutch Apple, sadly, only through November 9. Call 717-898-1900 or visit www.dutchapple.com for tickets.

Photo courtesy of Dutch Apple Dinner Theatre.

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