A show from the composer & lyricist of the iconic Guys & Dolls that came some ten years later, and his only other show that appears to have survived, though it’s rarely revived. It’s 18 years since I saw it in Chichester and six since a London fringe outing at Wilton’s Music Hall.
It doesn’t live up to the earlier show (what does), but it has some great tunes, it’s huge fun and the premise – how nepotism, sycophancy and back-stabbing can propel your career – proves rather timeless! The show’s title is a self-help book (it probably exists and is still in print!) which window-cleaner J Pierrepont Finch uses as his guide to enter the business world, starting his meteoric rise in the mailroom of the World Wide Wicket Company. In quick succession he becomes Mailroom Manager, then Junior Executive in Plans & Systems before being promoted to that department’s head. Finally he gets what has hitherto been the corporation’s poison chalice of Advertising Manager. His nemesis is company president J B Biggley’s nephew Bert Frump, but he even turns this to his advantage. Along the way he falls in love with secretary Rosemary Pilkington.
There’s a comic book quality to the show and the production has a charming tongue-in-cheek style which is well matched to this. The Southwark Playhouse space seemed particularly small on this occasion, so Georgie Rankcom’s staging and Alexzandra Sarmiento’s choreography face their challenges, even with just ten performers, but win. It may be the most diverse cast you’ll see in any London theatre, in every sense of the word. The roles of Biggley and Finch, usually played by men are here played by women, with Gabrielle Friedman bringing a cheeky but determined quality to Finch. In a cast that’s strong in both dance and vocal departments, Allie Daniel and Danny Lane stand out as Rosemary and mailroom boss Twimble / company chairman Womper respectively. MD Natalie Pound’s small band do a grand job, with particularly good orchestrations bringing strings to the fore.
It’s a touch long at 2 hours 45 minutes (particularly as the theatre website suggests 30 minutes less) but it is an infectious ball of fun which carries you away, and with his masterpiece a mile down the road at The Bridge, a great opportunity to see what Loesser did next. Catch it while you can.
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