Reprise Ends Season with a Bang!

How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying book by Abe Burrows, Jack Weinstock & Willie Gilbert music & lyrics by Frank Loesser directed & choreographed by Marcia Milgrom Dodge Reprise Theatre Company @ The Freud Playhouse, UCLA through May 23

Does Abe Burrows' now classic show How to Succeed in Buriness Without Really Trying still hold up themewise? Well, nepotism will always rear its ugly head and those that climb the corporate ladder will continue ruthlessly to step on those beneath them and on those by their sides as well. So, the answer is a resounding yes! Judging by Wednesday's young audience @ the Freud who were literally rolling in the aisles with laughter, ...Business has still got the stuff . Director Marcia Milgrom Dodge has pulled out all the stops and every character actor - just about the entire cast - is spot on perfect. What a way to end a season! Reprise has another hit!

Josh Grisetti as J. (Ponti) Pierrepont Finch is a fabulous actor and singer. Robert Morse, who created Ponti on stage and celluloid, was great, but Grisetti propels the show and makes Ponti his very own creation. Loveable as well is Nicole Parker as Rosemary. Every character becomes totally memorable here due to formidable casting: Vicki Lewis as Smitty, Ruth Williamson as Miss Jones, John O' Hurley as Biggley, Melissa Fahn stealing the spotlight as Hedy LaRue and also Simon Helberg as Bud Frump - I almost rooted for the schmuck, thanks to Helberg's winning performance. Let's not leave out E. E. Bell, Michael Kostroff, Larry Raben, Matt Bauer, Justin Michael Wilcox, Matt Crabtree, Jeff Marlow, Ray Wills, et al The World Wide Wicket Company is what it is due to their team leadership. Heaven help us, they just don't make happy endings like this anymore!

This is hardly Frank Loesser's best score, but I could not help to compare "Brotherhood of Man" to "Sit Down You're Rockin' the Boat" the ensemble tune at the mission in Guys and Dolls, another rollicking Burrows/Loesser collaboration with cartoonish characters and incredible reversals of fortune. Satire is goofy and things change quickly as if by magic. And...this kind of broad humor will never be dated - look at the silliness and schtikiness of Spamalot! An evening of dynamite entertainment! Go and have a ball!

This was adult fare in the 60s. By today's standards, the kiddies have seen and heard it all, but I'd still leave the littlest ones at home.

 

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