This is a simple story of a young man who climbs to a position
of great power and the girl who loyally hangs on during his climb and eventually
wins him. In this wonderful musical satire on the Organization Man, his success
is due neither to hard work nor any other ancient prescriptions for success.
He gets ahead following the simple rules detailed in a book entitled How To
Succeed In Business Without Really Trying."
Our hero, J. Pierrepont Finch, runs into many obstacles and overcomes them
like a modern, comic Siegfried: there's his rival (the boss's nephew), the mailroom
trap, the office wolf, the office party, the dangerous secretary, the board
meeting, jealous executives and, of course, the big boss himself.
From the first coffee break to the last elevator load on Friday night, office
life is never the same once "Ponty" Finch settles in for the trip to the top."
The Story: Act One
Scene One: J. Pierrepont Finch, a young window washer with large ambitions,
is at work on the windows of the World Wide Wicket Company. He has a squeegee
in one hand and a copy of the book How to Succeed in Business Without Really
Trying, in the other. A disembodied voice (the voice of the book) announces
that from the books lessons, Finch will learn everything he needs to know to
get ahead. Excited, Finch sings the titles of chapter headings in the book (How
to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying") as his scaffold descends. He
removes his overalls, under which he is wearing a business suit, and steps into
an office tableau.
Scene Two: After accidentally knocking down J.B. Biggley, the feared president
of the company, Finch announces he'd like a job. Biggley stuffily refers him
to the personnel manager. Rosemary Pilkington, a secretary, is impressed by
Finch's boldness. She offers to help him meet Mr. Bratt, the personnel manager,
who initially treats Finch brusquely, warming only at the mention of Biggley's
name. Finch ingenuously implies that he and Biggley are old friends, causing
a marked change in Bratt's attitude. Finch is promptly given a job in the mailroom.
One of his fellow workers is Mr. Biggley's nephew, Bud Frump, who never hesitates
to use his familial position to get ahead. Rosemary, who dreams of married life
in the suburbs with an executive, has taken a liking to Finch, and fantasizes
about him to her friend Smitty ("Happy To Keep His Dinner Warm").
Scene Three: A coffee break is called, but the machine has run out of coffee.
The caffeine-addicted office workers begin a frenzied dance ("Coffee Break").
Finch feels frustrated at having been at the company for a whole week without
discernible advancement. Through Rosemary, Finch meets Miss Jones, Biggley's
secretary. He flatters her and makes sure to put in a bad word against Bud Frump.
Scene Four: Twimble, the head of the mailroom, is moving to the shipping department
and must choose his successor. He explains to Finch that a lack of ambition,
a fear of being fired and an absolute trust in the company's wisdom have kept
him happily in the mailroom for 25 years ("The Company Way"). He announces that
Finch is his choice to head the mailroom. Finch - as per the book's careful
instructions - insists that Bud be given the job instead, for the good of the
company. This impresses Twimble and Bratt, and Bratt offers Finch a job as a
junior executive in the Plans and Systems Department, which is headed by Gatch.
Realizing he has been outmaneuvered, Frump fumes.
Scenes Five and Six: Biggley arranges a secretarial job for his beautiful
mistress, Hedy La Rue, formerly the cigarette girl at the Copa. Her entrance
attracts the attention of all the men in the office, prompting Bratt to explain
the office policy on flirting ("A Secretary is Not a Toy").
Scene Seven: It is late Friday afternoon, the end of the work week. As they
wait for the elevators, the secretaries complain of unwanted attention from
their male bosses, while the men talk of sales figures. The ever-attentive Finch
discovers that Mr. Biggley is a proud graduate of Old Ivy. He also learns Biggley
will be returning to the office Saturday morning to retrieve his golf clubs
for a game with Wally Womper, the Chairman of the Board. Rosemary arrives at
the elevator with Smitty, who knows that despite their awkward silences, Rosemary
and Finch like each other ("Been a Long Day"). Smitty recommends a dinner special
for two at a nearby restaurant, and Rosemary and Finch decide to take advantage
of it. After they leave, Bud Frump runs into Hedy and Biggley, who are arguing
about her job. Bud surmises the nature of their relationship and threatens to
tell his mother, Biggley's sister-in-law, if Biggley doesn't guarantee him a
promotion (Reprise: "Been a Long Day"). Biggley is trapped and Frump, like Finch,
is on his way up the corporate ladder.
Scene Eight: It is Saturday morning. Finch, knowing Biggley is coming to retrieve
his golf clubs, shows up at the office before Biggely arrives and creates a
mess to suggest he has been working there all night. When Biggley arrives, Finch
begins "absent-mindedly" humming Old Ivy's fight song, suggesting to Biggley
that they are both Old Ivy graduates ("Grand Old Ivy").
Scenes Nine and Ten: Biggley demands Finch be given his own office and secretary.
Bratt assigns Hedy La Rue to him. The book has warned him about just such inadequate
secretarial help - Hedy has many skills, but typing and shorthand aren't among
them. When Finch discovers Biggley is Hedy's sponsor, he sends her to Gatch
on an errand, knowing Gatch will make a pass at her. Soon Finch is sitting at
the desk of the now Venezuela-bound Gatch.
Scenes Eleven and Twelve: Rosemary hopes to win Finch over with her new dress,
a Paris original, at the reception for new Advertising Department head Benjamin
Burton Daniel Ovington. When she arrives at the party, Rosemary sees that every
woman there is wearing the same dress ("Paris Original"). Hedy has too much
to drink, and Biggley orders Bud to take her home.
Scenes Thirteen and Fourteen: Hedy goes up to Biggley's office to take a shower.
As she showers, Bud tells Finch that Biggley is waiting to see him there. Bud
goes off to find Biggley, hoping to trap Finch with Hedy. Hedy finds Finch in
the office and makes a play for him, but when she kisses him he realizes he
loves Rosemary, who enters as Hedy returns to the bathroom. Finch proposes to
her ("Rosemary"). As Rosemary is about to accept, Hedy comes out of the bathroom
in a towel. Rosemary angrily leaves the office, but returns to announce that
Bud and Biggley are just outside the door. Hedy goes back into the bathroom,
and Finch and Rosemary embrace as Biggley enters the room - Bud's plan is foiled.
Bratt and Ovington enter, looking for Biggley. Ovington is forced to resign
after Finch prompts him to reveal that his alma mater is the arch-rival of Old
Ivy. Biggley then makes Finch Vice-President in Charge of Advertising, just
in time for a big strategy meeting two days later. Biggley departs, leaving
Finch and Rosemary alone again. They declare their love for each other as Bud
vows to stop Finch's meteoric rise ("Finale - Act One").
Act Two
Scene One: It is the morning of the big meeting. Rosemary, feeling neglected
by Finch, has decided to quit. Smitty and the other women in the office convince
her that she can't quit and remind her that she's living their dream of marrying
an executive ("Cinderella, Darling").
Scene Two: Finch is quite pleased with his promotion, though the book sternly
warns that this new advertising job is a dangerous position. However, as long
as he already has the job, the book suggests that the one way to save his situation
is to come up with a good idea. Unfortunately, Finch doesn't have one. The book
forsees this and suggests that he steal someone else's. It is at this moment
that Bud Frump approaches him with the idea for a televised treasure hunt. Delighted,
Finch adopts the notion, unaware that Biggley has already heard the idea and
shot it down. Finch tries the idea out on Rosemary, who responds by telling
Finch she loves him (Reprise: "Happy to Keep His Dinner Warm").
Scene Three: Hedy, unhappy with her secretarial duties, announces to Biggley
that she is quitting. Biggley pleads with her to stay ("Love From a Heart of
Gold").
Scene Four: In the executive washroom, Bud assures the other executives that
Finch's presentation will flop and end his rapid rise in the company. Finch
enters and gives himself a pep talk before the meeting as he washes his hands
("I Believe in You").
Scene Five: Finch presents his idea for a televised treasure hunt/give-away:
he will hide five thousand shares of company stock in each of the ten company
offices around the country, and give the audience weekly clues as to their whereabouts.
Biggley doesn't like the idea until Finch explains that each week's clue will
be given by the scantily- dressed World Wide Wicket Treasure Girl, Hedy La Rue.
Scene Six: During the first television show, Hedy, as the Treasure Girl, is
asked to swear on a Bible that she doesn't know the location of the treasure.
She can't lie: the previous night Biggley told her the treasure is located in
each of the ten company buildings - a fact she relates to the entire television
audience.
Scenes Seven and Eight: Eager treasure hunters have wrecked the World Wide
Wicket office, and the executives, including Chairman of the Board Wally Womper,
are waiting in Biggley's office for Finch to appear to hand in his resignation.
Rosemary, told by Finch that he'll probably have to go back to washing windows,
assures him she'll still love him just as Bud arrives to take Finch up to the
office.
Scenes Nine and Nine-A: Finch, about to sign his letter of resignation, reveals
he was a window washer before coming to the company. This immediately draws
the admiration and trust of Womper, also a former window washer. Finch adroitly
places the blame for the give-away show on Bud. He also tells Womper that Bud
is Biggley's nephew. Womper is about to fire all the executives when Finch convinces
him to spare them, telling him that everybody is part of the human family ("Brotherhood
of Man"). Bud Frump, however, is fired and escorted out of the office.
Scene Ten: The show ends with the announcement to the employees that Biggley
is still the president, that Womper is retiring to travel the world with his
new wife, Hedy, and that the new Chairman of the Board is Finch. Finch calls
Rosemary to his side as he starts to think about capturing the Presidency of
the country. Outside, Bud Frump is seen on a window-washing scaffold, reading
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying ("Finale").
"
History: When Shepherd Mead's book How To Succeed In Business Without Really
Trying" became a huge success, playwright Willie Gilbert and neurosurgeon Jack
Weinstock wrote a dramatic adaptation in 1955. The play remained unproduced
until 1960, when theatrical agent Abe Newborn brought it to the attention of
Broadway producers Cy Feuer and Ernest Martin, who thought the play could work
as a musical. Feuer and Martin had had a huge success with Guys and Dolls in
1950 and asked the authors of that show, librettist Abe Burrows and composer/lyricist
Frank Loesser, to write the adaptation. Burrows and Loesser turned it into an
hilariously cynical show, with songs as biting and satirical as the book from
which they sprang (for example, the closest thing to a love song in the show
is sung by the main character to himself).
Rehearsals began in August, 1961, with Robert Morse, fresh from a Broadway
success in Burrows's Say, Darling, as Finch, the ambitious window washer. Rounding
out the principal cast were Charles Nelson Reilly as Bud Frump (the boss's equally
ambitious nephew), Bonnie Scott as Rosemary, and 1920s/30s recording star Rudy
Vallee as J.B. Biggley (the stuffy philandering company president). The choreography
was credited to both Hugh Lambert and Bob Fosse although Fosse, already an experienced
choreographer, contributed most of the big ensemble numbers; Lambert's contribution
seems to have consisted of mainly the TV Treasure Hunt number. Burrows directed
and Loesser co-produced.
The show opened in October, 1961, to almost unanimous raves from the critics.
It ran a total of 1,417 performances, winning multiple Tony Awards (including
Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical, Best Director of a Musical, Best Actor
in a Musical, Best Supporting Actor in a Musical, and Best Musical Director),
a New York Drama Critics Circle Award, and a Pulitzer Prize for Drama, only
the fourth awarded to a musical."
