A few days ago, I went to go see the musical How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying with the study abroad group. It was my favorite show I’ve seen so far in London!
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying is a 1961 award winning Broadway musical created by Frank Loesser, and a book written by Abe Burrows. The musical follows an ambitious and optimistic young man named J. Pierrepont Finch who receives help climbing the corporate ladder with a book called How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. J. Pierrepont Finch went from being a simple window washer to the chairman of the board of the World Wide Wicket Company, and a happily married man within a matter of months. The original production of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying opened on October 14th in the year 1967 at the 46th Street Theatre in New York City. It received thousands of positive reviews from the people, and the show went on to earn seven Tony Awards, Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and the New York Drama Critics’ Circle award. The show ran on Broadway for four years and performed 1,417 shows until its closing on March 6th in the year 1965.
There was a revival of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying in 1995 at the same theatre as the original production. The show ran for 548 performances. There was another revival of the show to celebrate its 50th year anniversary. It opened on March 27th in the year 2011, and it starred the famous actor Daniel Radcliffe as J. Pierrepont Finch. It ran for 473 performances.
I absolutely loved this production of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. It was the most fun I’ve had while seeing a show in London. I never stopped smiling. It was incredibly entertaining, and the set was so creative. The Southwark Playhouse was more of a Fringe theatre instead of a West End Theatre and you could tell by the set. The stage was small, but I liked the way the actors used the space they had. The acting was amazing, and you could tell that every single actor was having fun on stage. It was nice that we were able to talk to some of the actors after that show and walk with them to the tube station. The only thing that I didn’t like about the show was that in the beginning, I couldn’t tell if J. Pierrepont Finch liked Rosemary Pilkington or not. Yes, he seemed awkward and nonchalant towards her but, I thought it was because he wasn’t interested in her. It wasn’t until the song, Rosemary, was when I knew that he was in love with her. Other than that, I thoroughly enjoyed the show. I now have a new favorite musical!
Theatre in London U of A 