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How to Succeed In Business Without Really Trying: Difference between revisions
How to Succeed In Business Without Really Trying (view source)
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A bit of musical theatre written by Abe Burrows, with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser, which was first staged in 1961. It's based on a book by Shepherd Mead, which had the subtitle "The Dastard's Guide to Fame and Fortune". Obviously, it is a satire.
The story starts out with a kid named J. Pierpont Finch, a window-washer at the World Wide Wicket company (no, that's not a [[Stealth Pun]], this was [[The Sixties]]). He's reading from the eponymous book, quotes from which are often provided by a disembodied Narrator. After a [[Crash Into Hello]] with the president of the company, Finch gets a proper job. Now, with only advice from the book, [[Indy Ploy|Indy Ploys]] and a [[Twinkle Smile]] to aid him, Finch must work his way up the corporate ladder, with the help and/or opposition of (amongst others): Bud Frump, nephew of WWW current president J.B. Biggley; [[Femme Fatale]] Hedy LaRue, who is having an affair with Biggley but causes [[Hello, Nurse!|instant attraction]] from just about any male character; Rosemary Pilkington, his [[Love Interest]]; and his own plans and schemes, which have a tendency to [[Gone Horribly Right|Go Horribly Right]].
[[The Movie]] version starring Robert Morse, Rudy Vallee, and Sammy Smith (reprising their respective roles of Finch, Mr. Biggly, and Mr.Twimble/Wally Whomper from the Broadway original) came out in '67. The show was revived on Broadway in '95 with [[Matthew Broderick]] as Finch and [[Walter Cronkite]] reading the book, for which Broderick won a Lead Actor Tony. Its 50th-anniversary revival in 2011 starred [[Daniel Radcliffe]] of ''[[Harry Potter (Film)|Harry Potter]]'' fame. In what may be a [[Casting Gag]], Radcliffe was replaced by [[Darren Criss]], of [[Glee]] and [[A Very Potter Musical]], in January 2012 for a two week run, to be replaced again by [[Nick Jonas]].
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* [[Grande Dame]]: Mr. Biggly's secretary, Miss Jones, has some affinities with the type.
* [[Guile Hero]]: Finch, Finch, Finch.
* [[Hello, Nurse!]]: Hedy
* [[Hey, It's That Guy!]]: Robert Morse, the original Ponty, plays Bert Cooper on the likewise business-oriented ''[[Mad Men]]''.
** Not to mention [[Daniel Radcliffe|Harry]] [[Harry Potter|Potter]] ([[Casting Gag|and later]] [[Darren Criss|Harry]] [[A Very Potter Musical|Potter]]) starring in the 2011 revival.
* [[Informed Attractiveness]]: Hedy. Or not, depending on who's playing her.
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* [[Sexy Secretary]]
* [[Sexy Walk]]: Hedy's gets its own music cue.
* [[Shout
* [[Silly Love Songs]]: Every Broadway musical is required to include at least one, and this show's silly love is "I Believe In You"; it's sung twice, first by J. Pierpont Finch [[Acquired Situational Narcissism|to himself]], and then by Rosemary as a pep talk when it looks like everything has gone wrong and J. Pierpont is probably going to get fired.
* [[Stepford Smiler]]: Rosemary looks like she's going to become one (see her [[Establishing Character Moment]], "Happy To Keep His Dinner Warm"). This is clearly played for laughs. It's a tongue and cheek portrayal of a 60's housewife.
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