DRAYTON – Power, ambition, and greed; it’s just another day at the office in this Pulitzer Prize-winning musical comedy about one man’s climb up the corporate ladder of success.
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying plays at the Drayton Festival Theatre from Aug. 17 through Sept. 3.
Theatregoers will step back to the swinging 60s and into the heart of corporate America in this Tony Award-winning musical about an optimistic young man who is determined to get the corner office at any cost.
“This is an hilarious big business musical of executive dreams and office romance,” said Alex Mustakas, Artistic Director of Drayton Entertainment. “It’s a funny take on the real life balancing act of business and pleasure.”
Following the advice of a book entitled “How to Succeed in Business,” crafty young window-washer J. Pierrepont Finch begins a meteoric rise from the mail-room to vice president of advertising at the World-Wide Wicket Company
However, Finch’s unorthodox and morally-questionable business practices jeopardize not only his career, but also his office romance with a sweet secretary named Rosemary Pilkington.
With a score by composer Frank Loesser, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying is packed with hit standards such as I Believe in You, Happy to Keep His Dinner Warm, The Company Way and Brotherhood of Man.
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying opened to critical acclaim on Broadway in October 1961, running for 1,417 performances. The show won seven Tony Awards including Best Musical and Best Book, the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Musical, a Grammy for Best Original Cast Show Album, and is one of only eight musicals to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
In 1967, a film based on the musical was released by United Artists. The 1995 Broadway revival starred Matthew Broderick, and a new revival opened on Broadway earlier this spring starring Harry Potter’s Daniel Radcliffe as Finch.
Director and choreographer Michael Lichtefeld, who last season helmed the Drayton Entertainment production of Guys and Dolls, leads the creative team in this production.
“We are thrilled to be working with Michael again,” says Mustakas. “His lengthy list of credentials and vast experience make him an ideal director for How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.”
Ari Butler takes on the coveted role of Finch and Jayme Armstrong is Pilkington. Canadian theatre veterans Victor Young and Jayne Lewis are J.B. Biggley and Miss Jones respectively with Ayrin Mackie as the office vamp Hedy LaRue.
Rounding out the cast are Thomas Alderson, Matthew Armet, Stephen Cota, Rachel Crowther, Nicko Giannakos, Carla Giuliani, Caitlin Goguen, Sarah Harries, Jessica Horn, Mike Jackson, Noah Long, Brian McKay, Curtis Sullivan, Patrick Stiles and Heather E. Wilson.
For tickets call the box office at 519-638-5555 or toll free at 1-855-372-9866. For information visit draytonfestivaltheatre.com.
