Curtain Call : How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying is a high - energy blend of choreography and corporate chaos Curtain Call : How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying

<p>In a world full of finance bros and business baddies, the Wirtz Center for the Performing Arts brings a step-by-step guide to success in the business industry with “How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.” The Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning musical opened on Feb. 20 as a high-energy blend of choreography and corporate chaos.</p>
<p>Based on the satirical 1952 book by Shepherd Mead, the show was adapted into a musical in 1961 by Frank Loesser. The show follows J. Pierrepont Finch, an ambitious window cleaner who learns how to climb the corporate ladder thanks to the advice of a self-help book he finds lying on the ground outside of the World Wide Wicket Company.</p>
<p>The musical opens with “The Book,” voiced by actor and comedian Richard Kind (Communication ’78), urging Finch (Communication junior Gabrielle Gutierrez) to open its pages, promising that with its guidance, he will achieve success quickly and effortlessly.</p>
<p>Under the direction of third-year MFA directing student and Director Christopher Michael Richardson, Wirtz’s production features gender-bent versions of the original characters Finch and Smitty (Communication junior Marcus Dowd). This choice subtly challenges the gender norms of the era in which this musical was originally written.</p>
<p>Rosemary (Communication senior Kennedy Naseem) is a secretary at the World Wide Wicket Company, the enterprise where Finch lands a job after applying the book’s suspiciously convenient instructions. The minute they meet, Rosemary falls in love with him and starts dreaming of their future.</p>
<p>Rosemary’s dreamy bubble of love is quickly popped by her best friend and matchmaker Smitty, who reminds her that she has more important things to focus on like her own responsibilities at the company.</p>
<p>Finch also encounters multiple corporate personalities: World Wide Wicket Company President J.B. Biggley (Communication junior Ibrahim Khan) and his nephew Bud Frump (Communication junior Jonah Mensch), two characters that illustrate how nepotism plays in the business sector regardless of capability.</p>
<p>Their scenes together become some of the production’s strongest comedic moments, particularly when office rivalries escalate due to Biggley’s romantic interest in an outsider woman he hires.</p>
<p>As the story progresses, the audience sees how Finch’s personality and goals shift with the success of his varying strategies, such as claiming to have attended the same college as Biggley, arriving early in the morning and pretending to have slept in the office or even flirting with his boss’ secretary so she recommends him for a junior executive role.</p>
<p>This shift in character from a young man who dreams of just getting by to becoming a successful businessman is also shown through their costumes, designed by third-year MFA stage design student Naya Tadavarthy. The clothing uses color and style to show different sides of each character. When Biggley shows his vulnerability, he sheds his suit. Meanwhile, Finch’s suits get more polished as he continues climbing the executive ladder.</p>
<p>Finally, even though Finch has a great ending with Rosemary and lands a chairperson role at the company, his way there is nothing but messy. He creates a failed advertisement campaign that almost leaves the company bankrupt and hurts Rosemary’s feelings by making her think he no longer cares about her after receiving a big promotion. Ultimately, this shows us the importance of being cautious of extreme ambition and disparaging those who were by our side from the beginning.</p>
<p>“How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” proves that satire ages well when performers understand the joke as deeply as they understand the score, and this cast and production crew clearly do. It’s an amazing show that brings back the old-timey Broadway feeling with big choreography, multiple ensemble-led songs and a storyline full of comedy and romance that never bores.</p>
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