Stage Review - How to Succeed at Business Without Really Trying (Auburn Community Players)
Stage Review - How to Succeed at Business Without Really Trying
Presented By: Auburn Community Players - Auburn, WA
Show Run: March 07 - March 16, 2025
Date Reviewed: Sunday, March 16, 2025 (Closing Weekend)
Run Time: 3 Hours (including a 15 minute intermission)
Reviewed By: Greg Heilman
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying is one of those classic musicals with staying power. Originally hitting the Broadway stage in 1961, it was followed by a run on the West End, two more Broadway revivals, national tours, and too many regional professional and community productions to count. Catchy songs from Frank Loesser, a story from Abe Burrows, Jack Weinstock, and Willie Gilbert, based on the 1952 Shepherds Mead book, and big dance numbers from Hugh Lambert along with his successor, who quietly took over for him so as to not ruin his career by upstaging the lesser known choreographer, Bob Fosse, combine to produce a musical that is an hilarious and satirical look at the business world of the 1950s, when women were relegated to the typing pool, and men were always looking for their way up the ladder, in this case by exerting the least amount of effort possible. The latest version of the show produced locally just wrapped up its run at the Green River College Student Affairs Building, in a presentation from the Auburn Community Players, directed and choreographed by Megan Hicks and with music direction by Angie Pedersen.
The story follows window washer J. Pierrepont Finch as, after reading a book about succeeding at business without really trying, he worms his way into the company World Wide Wickets by using some verbal tricks he learned from the book. Finch is hired into the mailroom and then begins working his way up through the company, much to the chagrin of the nephew of the CEO, Bud Frump. CEO J.B. Biggley and his team are easily persuaded by the tricks Finch learns from the book, which he refers to throughout, but the biggest challenge that the young executive faces is his feelings for secretary Roesmary Pilkington, who is convinced after seeing J. Pierrepont that they’re destined to be married and settle to raise a family in New Rochelle. The story is funny and entertaining, and as they both try to dream of their respective futures and find an intersection between them, the audience follows along through the familiar accompaniment of popular songs like “How to Succeed”, “Happy to Keep His Dinner Warm”, “Company Way”, and “Brotherhood of Man”.
The Auburn Community Players production is good, but it’s long, and it’s limited by the size of the Green River College venue. The room is more akin to an elementary school “cafegymatorium”, one of those multi-purpose facilities that schools use for gym class, assemblies, and, yes, lunch. For a cast of 26, give or take, a smaller stage can feel crowded, and very constraining, especially in a show that relies on big dance numbers. There’s only so much movement that Megan can design with a cast this large sharing the stage with Travis Hicks’ scenic office backdrop, with its doors and elevators, and the set pieces that accompany the musical number scenes. Perhaps it’s this restrictive space and the sheer size of the cast that makes it feel like the show is acted, danced, or sung and not necessarily performed. It never feels like the actors stretch themselves emotionally as much as they could in their roles. And yes, the show is extremely long, clocking in at three hours. Content-wise, it should be about 30 minutes less than that. Here, much of that extra time is spent in scene and set changes, and in those transitions. It feels like there are ways in which these changes can be performed more efficiently, whether it’s positioning one scene on a side of the stage that allows the next scene preparation to begin in shadow while the other is finishing up, or not waiting for the transitional music to stop before turning up the lighting on a scene, there are a few ways in which the show could be sped up. These changes also hinder some of the energy and flow of the show that feels a bit choppy at times.
Otherwise, though, How to Succeed as performed by the Auburn Community Players is an entertaining show. There are some very good performances from individuals, and as an ensemble, the group’s harmonies and overall sound are very good. Credit to music director Angie Pedersen for keeping the group in sync vocally. In addition, Megan’s choreography is both designed and executed well by the group, though I’d love to see what could be accomplished with more space, a larger canvas so to speak. The smaller space also makes the tap dancing feels a bit forced, especially when the stage is so crowded.
Out of this excessively large cast, the leads and supporting cast are the ones who are looked to in order to carry the humor and the musicality. Spencer Wiedmann as J. Pierrepont Finch is very good, he’s funny and schlocky, just the way he should be, and he does a nice job with playing to the audience, with the help of spotlighting, part of Cody Rollins’ lighting design, to accentuate when he’s used a piece of advice from his guidebook. A quick note on the guidebook, which is represented in the musical by a voice, reading the parts of it that are relevant and that Finch is about to follow. In Broadway versions, voices that have been used include the likes of Walter Cronkite and Anderson Cooper, both clear and authoritative, the opposite of the voice that is used here. In this version, the voice is barely comprehendible, and while I’m sure the voice used is meant to garner some laughs, I think it accomplishes the opposite, devaluing the overall importance of the book as a character unto itself. While Spencer’s Finch is upwardly mobile, it’s Calvin Breamfield’s Bud Frump who aims to stand in his way. Frump, J.B. Biggley’s nephew, has his own aspirations and this fresh new face is standing in his way. Calvin is good as the backstabbing nepotism hire in the firm. Other highlights in the cast of leads include Jordan Duncan as Rosemary, the secretary and the the unexpected surprise that could hold Finch back from his rise to the top, Anna Horn as Smitty, Rosemary’s friend and assistant to the head of personnel, and Angel Mergens as Hedy LaRue, the curvy new secretary personally picked by Biggley. I like Jordan as Rosemary, her vocals are strong in “Happy to Keep His Dinner Warm” and she plays Rosemary well, both as the woman of her time, dreaming of being the housewife to her corporate climbing husband, but also one who understands her own value. Meanwhile, one of my favorite numbers, “Been a Long Day” is masterfully conducted and led by Anna’s Smitty, while both Spencer’s Finch and Jordan’s Rosemary navigate the nervousness of a budding relationship, unable to decide whether to go to dinner with each other or where to go. It’s a fun number, and one of the best performed in the show. And Angel as Hedy LaRue is quite funny herself, cleary not qualified for any job at the firm, Hedy uses her “charms” to get ahead. I like this performance, too, the way Angel carries herself is extremely funny and just very good in the role. Her duet with Jeffery Swiney-Weaver’s Biggley in “Heart of Gold'“ is sweet, and their voices solid together. Finally worth mentioning is Sam Barker as Twimble and his performance in “Company Way”. It’s such a fun number and is a pivotal part of the plot, Sam’s performance in it is very good, he definitely takes advantage of the small amount of time he has on stage.
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying is a great example of mid-20th century corporate satire. The story of J. Pierrepont Finch and his unlikely but meteoric rise to the top of the World Wide Wicket organization and the woman who dreams of a life with him, together in New Rochelle, is a fun musical that never takes itself seriously, one that has maintained its popularity through revivals, regional, and community theatre performances. The Auburn Community Theatre production has some very good individual performances, and while it has the potential to be something superb, it falls victim to its length, its surroundings, and a venue that just isn’t made for a show and a cast of this size.
How to Succeed at Business Without Really Trying, which was presented by the Auburn Community Players and ran on stage at the Green River College Student Affairs Building, closed this past weekend, but if you’d like more information on the theatre company and their upcoming shows, please visit them at https://www.auburnwa.gov/city_hall/parks_arts_recreation/arts_and_entertainment/theater_and_performing_arts/auburn_community_players.
Photo credit: Jim Kleinbeck
