If a book were written about today's musicals, called "How to Succeed on Broadway," it would probably include chapters on high-tech effects, casting movie stars and revamping past hits. The slick revival of "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" at Washington's Kennedy Center would figure prominently in each chapter.
On the first count, this Broadway-bound production has the same director (Des McAnuff), choreographer (Wayne Cilento), set designer (John Arnone) and video team (Batwin + Robin) who were behind the multi-media production of "The Who's Tommy." It may seem unusual to list the video team so prominently, but video plays such a large part here, it's practically another character.
When Matthew Broderick, as ambitious window washer J. Pierrepont Finch, lowers his scaffolding outside the New York headquarters of the World Wide Wicket Company, projections indicate his descent in a driving rainstorm. In the next number, when Rosemary (Megan Mullally) is smitten with Finch and sings, "Happy to Keep His Dinner Warm," the projections are of a map, road signs and the dream tract house she envisions in New Rochelle. In the jittery "Coffee Break" number, a blimp advertising coffee is projected outside the office window. And on and on. . . .
The projections enhance the larger-than-life cartoon aura the production brings to this Pulitzer Prize-winning 1961 spoof of big business, with its peppy score by Frank Loesser and tongue-in-cheek script by Abe Burrows, Jack Weinstock and Willie Gilbert. But a larger-than-life approach calls for a larger-than-life star, and though Matthew Broderick exudes the requisite charm, his singing is competent instead of commanding.
This lack is most noticeable in "I Believe in You," the big number Finch sings to his own reflection in the executive washroom. The actor playing Finch has to sell this song, but unlike the energetic Robert Morse, who created the role, Broderick merely gets through it. He seems to have taken the "without really trying" phrase in the title too seriously.
This undoubtedly explains why McAnuff and musical director Ted Sperling brought in a ringer to inject the proper rousing tone into the final number, "Brotherhood of Man." Lillias White, as the seemingly prim secretary to the company's president, cuts loose with a lick of scat talk followed by a strong dose of gospel. The result not only saves the day, it brings a welcome touch of feminism to a show set in an era in which corporate America was strictly a man's world.
In terms of acting, Broderick has the cute and ingratiating -- need I say "Ferris Bueller"? -- aspects of the role down pat, making it easy to see why the office secretaries would fall for him. That makes it even more disappointing, though, when -- despite video projections of fireworks -- there's no perceptible chemistry between him and Mullally's less-than-perky Rosemary.
The production is brimming with strong supporting players, however, particularly teddy bearish Ronn Carroll as the company president, gawky Jeff Blumenkrantz as his evil nephew, squawky-voiced Luba Mason as the president's bubble-headed mistress and bespectacled Victoria Clark as Rosemary's frustrated friend, Smitty.
McAnuff and his creative team get around most of the politically incorrect, chauvinist aspects of the script by adhering firmly to the 1961 setting, pumping up the satire until it's as brash as the omnipresent projections, and adding a feminist fillip to "A Secretary is Not a Toy."
But in another respect, "How to Succeed" may not be dated at all. Even allowing for Broderick's so-so performance, in these newly Republican-dominated times, this musical about big business is likely to be a show whose time has come -- again.
THEATER REVIEW
What: "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying"
Where: Kennedy Center, Washington
When: Through Feb. 26; 8 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays; matinees at 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays
Tickets: $42.50-$60
Call: (800) 444-1324