How to Succeed on Broadway by Really, Really Trying
So You Want to Be A Broadway Star. Step One. Become A Movie Star.
I saw How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying tonight. It was terrific! The production is just spectacular and full of retro charm. I felt transported to another time. Not even the '60s (when the show was written and takes place), but like the '90s when there used to be such awesome revivals of great old musicals. No commenting, no modernizing, no improving. No scaling down. Just a straight great production. There are pure pleasures in this show and Rob Ashford seems only concerned with bringing those pleasures to light, not with proving how relevant the show is or anything. I hope he gets nominated for a Tony for it.
I was skeptical about Daniel Radcliffe. While he was incredible in Equus, this role required him to sing and be American, two things of which I did not think he was capable. I was quite pleasantly surprised by his singing. I remember him trying to sing in Equus and he could not sing at all. If he was not tone deaf, he was tone hearing impaired. I had no idea you could teach someone to sing, but now I know you can. Seriously, how did you do that, Daniel Radcliffe? Oh my God, is he an actual wizard? That's the only explanation. More than the singing, his dancing was ON FIRE. How many male musical leads have to dance that often? Radcliffe wasn't just moving, but full-on dancing (and so beguilingly well!) in "Grand Old Ivy" and "Brotherhood of Man." I would say those songs were the only times when I really unequivocally bought his performance. Other than those songs, I felt like he was just too young and not charismatic enough. The other actors who have played this part on Broadway were in their 30s. Radcliffe is 21 and reads 16. He's so tiny and when he smiles (often accompanied by sound and lighting effects) it's not so much sly or mischievous as it is just cute. There's no real wink or eyebrow behind it. It's just a regular little kid smiling. The audience eats it up anyway, but I still think Matt Bomer would have been a far superior choice as Finch. That would have been a real star turn.
I don't want to downplay what Radcliffe has done, though. He and Ashford have really accomplished a huge feat. He was so much better than I thought he would be. When there was a joke about Queen Elizabeth and Radcliffe responded, as Finch, "This is an American program!" I was the only one around me who laughed, I suspect because I was the only one who remembered that he's British. His accent was that good.
And Radcliffe's size made for a really awesome sight gag, especially when he was standing next to John Larroquette (a perfect J.B. Biggley), who is easily a whole foot taller and towers over him like a giant. I giggled in every scene they had together. It's like when Seth Green is on Conan. I look forward to those appearances so very much.
Rose Hemingway was fine as Rosemary. She was cute and she sang well, but did they really have to ship her from England to play this part? Because it's not such a special part and she was kind of ordinary. She also did not have much chemistry with DanRad. I also hated how her character wore the same dress for the entire show. I know it wasn't literally the same dress, but she only ever wore the same shade of pink! It was almost like the costume designer thought we wouldn't know who she was if she wasn't wearing that color. Maybe they thought she was too bland to stand out?
I was going to say I liked the other costumes, but now that I think about it...the Paris Original dress was ugly because it had this sash across the hips in the front that turned into a wrap. I don't get why they couldn't have attached that to the back of the dress. It was really unsightly. I also didn't think Hedy's costumes were sexy enough, but I think that's just because I sort of hated Tammy Blanchard's performance. She spoke in this annoying Little Edie Noo Yawk accent and she also just isn't that sexy. Not like va-va-va-voom sexy. I remember her being great in Gypsy, but I think they needed someone who either was curvier (so she would physically stand out from the other girls more) or who was just really drop-dead gorgeous like Laura Benanti. I think Laura Benanti would make the perfect Hedy. I think her higher speaking voice and the way she acts dumb would have worked so much better than the trashy New Yorker act Blanchard had going. I half expected her to pop some gum. I don't know, I hated it. This isn't Guys and Dolls.
Mary Faber was great as Smitty and her costumes were actually cute! Although they kept making her repeat them. Couldn't she have a different costume for every scene? Okay, I think we've established that I don't want Catherine Zuber to win another Tony for this. But the sets were dope, Derek McLane! Seriously fabulous sets.
Loved Michael Park as Mr. Bratt. Not a very big or flashy role but I thought he was perfect for it. Ellen Harvey was also wonderful as Miss Jones.
Christopher Hanke stole the show, in my opinion. I thought he was better than Daniel Radcliffe and I wondered many times what the show would be like if he were playing Finch. I like to call those "Spider-Man 3 moments," because that movie created a world in which the antagonist was played by an actor who was not only better than the lead, but the same type of actor. Topher Grace should have been Spider-Man and Christopher Hanke should have been Finch. I wish he were at least understudying him. Luckily, he is just aces as Bud Frump.* He has such precise timing and such ease on stage. I think that brought out Radcliffe's less polished, more workmanlike qualities. He also just has the best look. So weaselly. So Zack Morris. That works well for Frump of course, since he is an irredeemable weasel, but Finch is supposed to be a weasel too! In the beginning Smitty has all those lines about how she can tell how ambitious he is just by looking at him and I kept looking at Radcliffe thinking, "No, he looks like a sweet little angel to me!"
*(Trivia time: Raúl played Bud Frump in high school. He auditioned to play Finch and was better than the guy who played him, but that guy was a senior. That has happened to the best of us, Raúl. Either he's a senior or he's Harry Potter.)
Robert Morse, the original J. Pierrepont Finch, plays Bert Cooper on "Mad Men." I think it would have been such a coup to get him to play Wally Womper since Bert Cooper IS Wally Womper. Also...
Peggy Olson is Finch
Pete Campbell is Bud Frump
Joan Holloway is Hedy LaRue
Roger Sterling is J.B. Biggley
I really have to watch the film version. I love Morse's "I Believe in You." It's so funny and it's not even a funny song.
I also wish I had seen Matthew Broderick in this show. I don't usually like him, but it seems like such a good role for him. He probably still had some of that Ferris Bueller charm left in him then.
P.S. I already have a Daniel Radcliffe tag??
I saw How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying tonight. It was terrific! The production is just spectacular and full of retro charm. I felt transported to another time. Not even the '60s (when the show was written and takes place), but like the '90s when there used to be such awesome revivals of great old musicals. No commenting, no modernizing, no improving. No scaling down. Just a straight great production. There are pure pleasures in this show and Rob Ashford seems only concerned with bringing those pleasures to light, not with proving how relevant the show is or anything. I hope he gets nominated for a Tony for it.
I was skeptical about Daniel Radcliffe. While he was incredible in Equus, this role required him to sing and be American, two things of which I did not think he was capable. I was quite pleasantly surprised by his singing. I remember him trying to sing in Equus and he could not sing at all. If he was not tone deaf, he was tone hearing impaired. I had no idea you could teach someone to sing, but now I know you can. Seriously, how did you do that, Daniel Radcliffe? Oh my God, is he an actual wizard? That's the only explanation. More than the singing, his dancing was ON FIRE. How many male musical leads have to dance that often? Radcliffe wasn't just moving, but full-on dancing (and so beguilingly well!) in "Grand Old Ivy" and "Brotherhood of Man." I would say those songs were the only times when I really unequivocally bought his performance. Other than those songs, I felt like he was just too young and not charismatic enough. The other actors who have played this part on Broadway were in their 30s. Radcliffe is 21 and reads 16. He's so tiny and when he smiles (often accompanied by sound and lighting effects) it's not so much sly or mischievous as it is just cute. There's no real wink or eyebrow behind it. It's just a regular little kid smiling. The audience eats it up anyway, but I still think Matt Bomer would have been a far superior choice as Finch. That would have been a real star turn.
I don't want to downplay what Radcliffe has done, though. He and Ashford have really accomplished a huge feat. He was so much better than I thought he would be. When there was a joke about Queen Elizabeth and Radcliffe responded, as Finch, "This is an American program!" I was the only one around me who laughed, I suspect because I was the only one who remembered that he's British. His accent was that good.
And Radcliffe's size made for a really awesome sight gag, especially when he was standing next to John Larroquette (a perfect J.B. Biggley), who is easily a whole foot taller and towers over him like a giant. I giggled in every scene they had together. It's like when Seth Green is on Conan. I look forward to those appearances so very much.
Rose Hemingway was fine as Rosemary. She was cute and she sang well, but did they really have to ship her from England to play this part? Because it's not such a special part and she was kind of ordinary. She also did not have much chemistry with DanRad. I also hated how her character wore the same dress for the entire show. I know it wasn't literally the same dress, but she only ever wore the same shade of pink! It was almost like the costume designer thought we wouldn't know who she was if she wasn't wearing that color. Maybe they thought she was too bland to stand out?
I was going to say I liked the other costumes, but now that I think about it...the Paris Original dress was ugly because it had this sash across the hips in the front that turned into a wrap. I don't get why they couldn't have attached that to the back of the dress. It was really unsightly. I also didn't think Hedy's costumes were sexy enough, but I think that's just because I sort of hated Tammy Blanchard's performance. She spoke in this annoying Little Edie Noo Yawk accent and she also just isn't that sexy. Not like va-va-va-voom sexy. I remember her being great in Gypsy, but I think they needed someone who either was curvier (so she would physically stand out from the other girls more) or who was just really drop-dead gorgeous like Laura Benanti. I think Laura Benanti would make the perfect Hedy. I think her higher speaking voice and the way she acts dumb would have worked so much better than the trashy New Yorker act Blanchard had going. I half expected her to pop some gum. I don't know, I hated it. This isn't Guys and Dolls.
Mary Faber was great as Smitty and her costumes were actually cute! Although they kept making her repeat them. Couldn't she have a different costume for every scene? Okay, I think we've established that I don't want Catherine Zuber to win another Tony for this. But the sets were dope, Derek McLane! Seriously fabulous sets.
Loved Michael Park as Mr. Bratt. Not a very big or flashy role but I thought he was perfect for it. Ellen Harvey was also wonderful as Miss Jones.
Christopher Hanke stole the show, in my opinion. I thought he was better than Daniel Radcliffe and I wondered many times what the show would be like if he were playing Finch. I like to call those "Spider-Man 3 moments," because that movie created a world in which the antagonist was played by an actor who was not only better than the lead, but the same type of actor. Topher Grace should have been Spider-Man and Christopher Hanke should have been Finch. I wish he were at least understudying him. Luckily, he is just aces as Bud Frump.* He has such precise timing and such ease on stage. I think that brought out Radcliffe's less polished, more workmanlike qualities. He also just has the best look. So weaselly. So Zack Morris. That works well for Frump of course, since he is an irredeemable weasel, but Finch is supposed to be a weasel too! In the beginning Smitty has all those lines about how she can tell how ambitious he is just by looking at him and I kept looking at Radcliffe thinking, "No, he looks like a sweet little angel to me!"
*(Trivia time: Raúl played Bud Frump in high school. He auditioned to play Finch and was better than the guy who played him, but that guy was a senior. That has happened to the best of us, Raúl. Either he's a senior or he's Harry Potter.)
Robert Morse, the original J. Pierrepont Finch, plays Bert Cooper on "Mad Men." I think it would have been such a coup to get him to play Wally Womper since Bert Cooper IS Wally Womper. Also...
Peggy Olson is Finch
Pete Campbell is Bud Frump
Joan Holloway is Hedy LaRue
Roger Sterling is J.B. Biggley
I really have to watch the film version. I love Morse's "I Believe in You." It's so funny and it's not even a funny song.
I also wish I had seen Matthew Broderick in this show. I don't usually like him, but it seems like such a good role for him. He probably still had some of that Ferris Bueller charm left in him then.
P.S. I already have a Daniel Radcliffe tag??