University of Virginia Library

Top Notch Material

The reason is simple. In the past
few months, the Playhouse has
presented "Once Upon a Mattress,"
"I Do! I Do!," and "Carnival," all
of which are Grade B musicals. But
now, alas, they have top notch
material to work with and, for the
most part, they work with it well.

"How to Succeed" is
unquestionably among the ten
finest musicals to come out of the
sixties. Its book, by Abe Burrows,
Jack Weinstock, and Willie Gilbert,
is a sharp, witty satire on the
modern business world, beautifully
structured, fast moving, and loaded
with outrageously exaggerated
characters, amusing situations, and
hilarious one-liners. The score by
the late Frank Loesser is, for my
money, the best he ever wrote. His
work for "Guys and Dolls" was
very good, but every song in "How
to Succeed"-from the tender
"Happy to Keep His Dinner Warm"
to the rousing "Brotherhood of
Man"-has a special charm and
tunefulness, and that is no minor
achievement.

The story of J. Pierrepont
Finch, the boy wonder window
washer who conquers the business
world and makes it to the top of
World Wide Wickets simply by
reading a book (don't you wish it
were that easy in real life!) and
using his ingenuity, has been
adeptly staged in the round by
Albemarle's own boy wonder,
David Harper. He makes good use
of the arena stage, moves the
action smoothly, and, with only
two exceptions, has extracted
strong performances from his
troupe.