Yesterday afternoon, David and I made our way to the Al Hirschfeld Theater on Broadway to attend the matinee performance of the new revival musical How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. As you may know, this new production of the show stars Harry Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe (who previously made his Broadway debut in the play Equus back in 2008). Ever since the show opened late last month, I’ve been anxiously awaiting my chance to see the show and yesterday was the day. Not only was it a full-blown show-tunes funfest but Radcliffe‘s exuberant excitement made the show an absolute delight to watch!
I loved everything about the show … the staging, the production, the choreography and of course the casting. While it’s true that Daniel Radcliffe isn’t the best singer on Broadway, his enthusiasm on stage is impossible not to love. You can tell that he relishes every moment he gets to perform on stage … and it really makes the show even better. John Larroquette is the other big name in the show and he, too, is fantastic. If you want a show that will wow you with it’s musical numbers, this is the one to see:
Even tho some of the songs may not be all that fantastic (I am referring to the “coffee break” song), the choreography and staging more than makes up for the song’s shortcomings. More than a few times, the musical numbers are so big and fun that you almost want to jump out of your seat to applaud (in this instance, I’m referring to the “football” dance number near the end of Act I and the “board meeting” number near the end of Act II). If I have one complaint, it would be a bit with the story subject matter. How to Succeed is set during a time period in our country when men make all the money and women are expected to take care of the home. While Dan Rad‘s character — J. Pierrepont Finch — is hellbent on clawing his way to the top of the business world, the lead female character — Rosemary Pilkington (played by Rose Hemingway) — is only interested in nabbing Finch as her husband so that she can quit her job as a secretary and stay home to cook his meals. There is a song where all of the secretaries refer to Rosemary as their Cinderella and they actually pray for her to get married so they can live vicariously thru her! Again, the time period is largely responsible for the tone of the story but I really couldn’t help but cringe every time the women in the show were praying for a marriage proposal. BUT, as I said, that is really the only thing I didn’t like about the show. The sets were so cool, very retro-looking … How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying is truly a fun show to see. This is a show I would heartily recommend to anyone … it may be the biggest hit on Broadway right now.
I loved it, you may too :D
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Added it to the list of shows I wanna see when I’m in New York! :D
Danny boy looks so damn cute on stage. I am so jealous you got to see this. I hope I can see it sometime soon!!!
Hitting the stage is the best thing Dan can do to break the mold he’ll be attached to for the next few years :). Very smart move and he’s fantastic! :)
He looks tiny but has a big presence. Not a bad dancer either. I agree his enthusiasm is infectious and is what brings the sparkle. :) Yay for your feminist side.
I skipped this show in favor of Anything Goes which featured great voices, amazing dancing and retro all the way back to the 30′s. I actually really like How to Succeed and I even really like Coffee Break… but with only a couple opportunities to see Broadway shows while visiting NYC I went with the huge talent of Sutton Foster and the legendary Joel Grey. I did my star gazing a few nights later at the Company concert instead!
I saw it last week. Dan was awesome and very sweet with the fans after the show. I was lucky to get an autograph from him and John. He has so much energy and I really want to see it again before it ends in November.Happy you got a chance to see the show. :D
The 1970s retro feminist dogmas that make you “cringe” at the thought any young woman might want to get married are leading to a couple generations of women working full-time, raising kids alone, and growing old alone in a household of cats.
Men are thrilled to marry the women they love. Why shouldn’t women be thrilled to marry the right guy?
Of course every woman should pursue any field of work she chooses to, from medicine to coal-mining, but it was an error of old-school feminism to value pushing papers in some office cubicle more than perhaps the single most important job human beings do: raising the next generation in a stable, loving, well-run home.
Real feminism should be about respecting different choices: working women, working mothers, and stay-at-home Moms should all respect each other. They’re all doing important work, but the Moms are doing arguably the most important job of all.
@Stephanie — You make it sound like I’m “anti-mom”. I’m actually anti the notion that is seemingly celebrated that men should strive to find success in business and women should pray to get married. I think the next revival of the show should feature a female lead working her way to the top and a male co-star wanted to marry her so he can take care of the home.
How to Succeed is one of my favorite musicals… and even I admit that “Coffee Break” is a strange, weak song that doesn’t really do much for me. Glad you were able to see this current revival – I’ll personally have to settle for buying the cast recording in June.
My high school did a production of this show back when I was in high school and I just loved it. I remember going home and downloading the songs from napster and adding them to My current cd mix.
I saw it last weekend and love it! Daniel made the show though – he was so darn cute I couldn’t keep my eyes off of him! I just wish I stayed after to see him leave the theater but I was by myself and felt silly so I headed off to the Harry Potter Exhibition at the Discovery Museum instead.