Show guide
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying is a 1961 satirical musical that follows an ambitious window washer who claws his way to the top of a corporation using a self help manual as his guide.
- Broadway premiere
- 1961
- Music by
- Frank Loesser
- Genre
- Golden Age
- Setting
- 1960s
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying: quick answers
What is How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying about?
- J. Pierrepont Finch, a New York window washer, follows the advice of a self-help book to climb all the way to chairman of the World Wide Wicket Company.
When did How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying open on Broadway?
- The musical opened on Broadway on October 14, 1961, at the 46th Street Theatre and ran for 1,417 performances, closing in 1965. Notable revivals starred Matthew Broderick in 1995 and Daniel Radcliffe in 2011.
Is How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying a Golden Age musical?
- Yes. It opened in 1961, late in the Golden Age, and won both the Tony Award for Best Musical and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for its satire of corporate life.
Where and when is How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying set?
- The musical is set in the offices of the fictional World Wide Wicket Company in New York City in the early 1960s.
Has How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying played in London's West End?
- The musical opened at London's Shaftesbury Theatre on March 28, 1963, with Warren Berlinger as Finch, and ran for 520 performances.
Is there a How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying movie?
- The 1967 film, directed by David Swift, starred Robert Morse, Michele Lee, and Rudy Vallee reprising their Broadway roles. ABC also aired a television version in 1975.
The story of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
The show follows J. Pierrepont Finch, a window washer who uses a book called How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying to talk, flatter, and scheme his way up the corporate ladder at the World Wide Wicket Company. Along the way he clashes with the boss's lazy nephew Bud Frump and charms company president J.B. Biggley, all while the sensible secretary Rosemary Pilkington falls for him despite his obvious opportunism.
Set in a glossy corporate office, the musical satirizes the conformity and ambition of American business culture, poking fun at office politics, executive vanity, and the idea that charm and nerve can substitute for real work. Its tone stays light and comic even as it needles the era's obsession with climbing the ladder.
The music and the makers
Frank Loesser wrote both the music and lyrics, with a book by Abe Burrows, Jack Weinstock, and Willie Gilbert based on Shepherd Mead's satirical novel of the same name. Loesser's score is sharp, witty, and rhythmically playful, built to match the show's send up of corporate ambition with songs that function almost like comic monologues.
Signature numbers include I Believe in You, sung by Finch to his own reflection, the rousing office anthem Brotherhood of Man, and the tongue in cheek The Company Way, all of which use catchy, hummable melodies to deliver pointed satire about office life and self interest.
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying on Broadway
The musical opened on Broadway on October 14, 1961, at the 46th Street Theatre, starring Robert Morse as Finch and Rudy Vallee as Biggley, and ran for 1,417 performances. It won seven Tony Awards including Best Musical and also received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, a rare honor for a musical comedy.
A 1967 film brought Morse and Vallee back to their original roles, and the show has returned to Broadway twice, with Matthew Broderick starring in a 1995 revival and Daniel Radcliffe in a 2011 revival. Its sharp satire of corporate ambition has kept it relevant well beyond its early 1960s setting.
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying: frequently asked questions
When did How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying open on Broadway?
It opened on Broadway on October 14, 1961, at the 46th Street Theatre.
Who composed How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying?
Frank Loesser wrote the music and lyrics, with a book by Abe Burrows, Jack Weinstock, and Willie Gilbert.
What is How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying about?
It follows a window washer who uses a self help manual to scheme his way to the top of a corporation.
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