The acclaimed musical How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (H2$ for short) will kick off Minnetonka’s 2010-11 theater season on November 5th. While it can’t be called one of the classics, it bears an interesting history of accolade.
H2$ was written by Shepherd Mead in 1952, subtitled The Dastard’s Guide to Fame and Fortune. What started out as a satirical, mock-intellectual manual on how to climb the corporate ladder became one of the most popular Broadway musicals to date.
The musical has received eight Tony awards and the 1962 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It was revived in 1995, and since has featured a multitude of familiar stars, including Walter Cronkite, John Stamos and Matthew Broderick. Next February, it will be revived again, with Daniel Radcliffe to star.
CJ Feuer and Ernest Martin, the producers of Guys and Dolls (another acclaimed musical), found Mead’s book funny enough to base a show around. H2$ bears a similar old-fashioned, jazzy feel, as composer Frank Loesser wrote both scores, and Abe Burrows both books.
The play focuses on window washer J Pierrepont Finch who becomes inspired by the voice in his book to conquer the executive world. Finch begins to work his way through the mailroom and up, encountering romance and competition.
The musical’s view of big business tycoons is more relevant than ever in our current economic situation. The orchestra’s pianist, English teacher Paula Crist, says “It really pokes fun at all of it. You really question what they base their success on… These are men with big positions who care about names and titles, but don’t actually do a lot.” So, when Finch’s book runs out of ideas, he finds that his showy tactics may not have much value after all.
Minnetonka Theatre is happy to be bringing back Ivey award-winning choreographer Michael Matthew Ferrell, who also choreographed the Arts Center’s production of The Drowsy Chaperone this past summer and is well known throughout the Twin Cities theatre community. The show will also feature WCCO news anchor Don Shelby as the narrator. The caricatured, slap-stick show will premiere on November 5th and run for two weeks.
