HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING A REVIEW

George S. Kaufman [that emenent and much loved all around theatre man] once said that satire is what closes on Saturday night. While there have been successful musical satires over the years,most of them have not had much of an after life." Of Thee I Sing" was the first musical to win the Pulitzer Prize and was the longest running book musical of the1930s, but when it was revived twenty years later it seemed awfully tame and mighty creaky. The fact is that most satires are very much of their time and date rather quickly.
When I reviewed the original production of "HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING" in 1961[I was in my first year of college and was their resident drama critic] I thought that this razor sharp poke at big business was beyond brilliant with it's devistatingly funny book by Abe Burrows [with help from Jack Weinstock and Willie Gilbert] and classic score by Frank Loesser. It won the Pulitzer Prize, ran 1,417 performances and is considered by many to be the classic musical satire. When it was revived in 1995 it still had some spark, but not much sting. Now in this 50th anniversary revival it has no spark and and it's once brilliant satrical edge is woefully dated in this high-tech age.
It's the familiar tale of a go-getter determined to get to the top of the business world at any price,but he has so much charm that you root for him to succeed despite his sinster underbelly. It's a difficult role to play and requires perfect balance between the charming and sinster aspects, and in it Daniel Radcliffe works hard and has charm to spare but does not have the underlying cunning that would make the role beleivable.
However, John Larroquette has fun with the role of the company head and has just the right amount of grumpiness and charm to make him seem likeable.
Newcomer Rose Hemingway is delightful as the go-getters girlfriend and Tammy Blanchard is halarious as the boss's mistress.
Director/choreographer Rob Ashford keeps things moving briskly enough in Derek McLane's colorful but oddly moodless sets,and the great Loesser score is not well served by Doug Besterman's new orchestrations which can't begin to compare with the wonderful Robert Ginzler originals.
The fact is that"HOW TO SUCCEED" is very much tied to it's period and what was a benchmark in musical satire now seems dated and even a little foolish.
AT THE AL HIRSCHFIELD THEATRE 302 WEST 45th STREET N.Y.C.