the Informer

[caption id="attachment_1500" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="The Hartt School performed “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” last weekend. (Courtesy of Larry Rowe)"][/caption] The premise is quite simple; it’s purely, how to succeed in business without really trying. Step one, make the right connections, or just bump into them on the street. Step two, impress the ones that can help you get to the top, or flirt with the boss’s secretary until she becomes your ladder climbing accomplice. And finally, step three, when everything seems to be falling apart, just fake it until you make it, because honestly does anybody really know what anyone else does in a big corporation anyway? “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” is a remarkable and frighteningly true satire of the world of big business seen through the deluded eyes of J. Pierrepont Finch. This past weekend, under the direction of Diana Moller Marino, The Hartt School put on a completely entrancing rendition of the Tony Award winning musical. Everything from the staging to the singing was just right. Will Sevedge who played J. Pierrepont Finch captured the audience from his very first number, ironically entitled “How To Succeed in Business.” As a very ambitious window washer at World Wide Wicket Inc. he sees great things for himself, and with help from his guidebook and compass, How to Succeed in Big Business, he is able to climb the corporate ladder with a complete lack of knowledge for what the company actually does. Along Finch’s journey to the top he is introduced to Rosemary Pilkington who becomes helplessly in love with him although he is helplessly in love with himself throughout the majority of the show. Rosemary is played by Jillian Soares who delivered one of the greatest numbers, “Happy To Keep His Dinner Warm” which was sung with such purity and delightfulness that you became infatuated with the thought of how wonderful it would be if they truly were happy together in the end. J.B. Biggley (Kyle Rudolph), Bud Frump (Kyle Brand) and Miss Jones (Sasha Pasternak) all stood out during the entire performance. Brand’s awkward absurdness portrayed Frump perfectly, making him the dynamically ill witted character that he is. Rudolph brought the innate idiocy above and beyond for Biggley, which I’m hoping is not how executives at fortune 500 companies act in the real world, excluding Kenneth Lay of Enron of course. Pasternak’s humble vibrancy brought the laughs throughout the entire show; it wouldn’t have been nearly the same without her. Choreographer Ralph Perkins did an outstanding job delivering high intensity and magnetic dance sequences. “Coffee Break” was almost reminiscent of Bob Fosse style choreography; the movements were very precise and melodic while “Yo-Ho-Ho” and “Brotherhood of Man” were also brilliantly choreographed and brought a new and exciting dimension to the show overall. There was an enormous amount of talent on display here, starting from the exciting overture until the transfixing “Brotherhood of Man” which closed the show with a powerful punch. This show was a nonstop delight and makes me extremely excited to see what’s in store when The Hartt Schools next musical, “Into the Woods” opens on April 21. If you would like ticket prices and up to date scheduling information contact the University Box Office at 800-768-4228 or 800-274-8587, or visit www.hartford.edu/hartt.