Customer Reviews

How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying!

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I love this show dearly, but if you could only own one recording of it, I would urge you to skip this version and pick up the original 1961 (?) Broadway cast album instead. I saw this production on B'way and thought it was spirited and fun (although that CGI scenery thing make it look at times like a giant game of "Half-Life.") When I finally listened to the cast album, something was missing for me. The air had gone out of the fun balloon. Megan Mullally seemed, I dunno, screechier than she had on stage. Broderick's performance which had been bizarrely effective in a theatre seemed flat and lifeless on the recording. Techincally he is a superior singer to Robert Morse, but the latter's perforance on the orginal cast album remains (for me at least) overwhelmingly definitive. I don't need Finch to sing all the notes well and cleanly, but I do need him to charm me, which unfortunately the recorded Broderick fails to do. For those into technical quality, the recording of the 1995 version boasts some snappy new arrangements and a excellent supporting cast (although the talented Ron Carroll fails to completely exorcise the ghost of Rudy Vallee). Note for purists: "Brotherhood of Man" has been mucked around with a bit. Beware. Hats off to Robert Morse for being brilliant and untouchable in a role, hats off to Broderick for causing the role to be once again performed (well) on Broadway and hats off to Frank Loesser, the most talented (and one of the only) triple-threat book/lyric/music writers America has produced.

Ms. Mullally is FABULOUS as Rosemary-- funny, vivacious, and what a voice! Sure it's very much a forward-placed, nasal character voice, but it's got character: strong, expressive, in tune, ballsy. Every note she sings is full of the delicious comic talent she brings to her character Karen on Will & Grace. Plus-- she's just playing up the ironic humor. How could anyone in the 90's sing "Happy to Keep his Dinner Warm" with a straight face. Would you want Sarah Brightman? Gasp! You will love Ms. Mullally, just as you will love every number in this fabulous show (it's truly superior)-- call me a fanboy if you want. I know a good voice when I hear one.

Frank Loesser's HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING (or `H2$' as it came to be known thanks to this revival), is one of the top Broadway musicals, winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 1961 with the original production, and immortalised on screen with its original star Robert Morse. In 1995, H2$ came back to Broadway in a snappy new revival, starring Matthew Broderck in a Tony-nominated turn as J. Pierrepont Finch, the window-washer with dreams of making it in the world of big business. Megan Mullally (pre-'Will and Grace') makes for a thrilling and endearing Rosemary Pilkington, while Victoria Clark (TITANIC) plays Smitty and Luba Mason is Hedy La Rue, the office bombshell. Matthew Broderick is a warm and winning `Ponty', and his performance alone is worth the investment of this cast album.

Megan Mullally can belt it with the best of them, as evidenced in her numbers "Happy to Keep His Dinner Warm" and "Paris Original". Victoria Clark is a lovely Smitty (too bad they dropped "Cinderella Darling" which Clark would have turned into a showstopper). Jeff Blumenkrantz is a campy and suitably-slimy Bud Frump, and Ronn Carroll is fantastic as the pompous J.B. Biggley. Lillias White makes the most out of the role of Miss Jones (commanding center-stage during her "Brotherhood of Man" solo). As an added delight for this revival, every time Ponty opened his `How to Succeed..' book, the voice of Walter Cronkite would be heard as the Narrator! Later on in the run, Matthew Broderick's wife Sarah Jessica Parker would replace Mullally as Rosemary. If you've already purchased the original cast album (w. Robert Morse) I would recommend you also buy this version.

This cast recording is one of the few recordings that can stand on its own. You don't have to have seen either the play or the movie to enjoy the music and the talent is top rate.

Matthew Broderick and Megan Mullally are truly remarkable and their voices and energy carry through each song. It is fun to listen to them and to hear the cast play off of their talents.

I would recommend this cast recording to anyone who truly loves the American Broadway Theatre.

How to Succeed in Business without Really trying is an excellent show. Megan Mullally is the BEST! Her voice is fantastic. I wouldn't have chose anybody else for the role of Rosemary. I recommend this CD to anyone who is broadway fan.

This is the greatest! The first time I listened to this soundtrack, I spent the entire time with an amazed smile on my face. Matthew Broderick proves that he is not only a great actor, but easily a better singer than Robert Morse. I never saw the show live, and listening to this CD makes me wish I had a time machine. And ignore what the others said about Megan Mullally; yes, her voice is nasal, but it FITS!

I am playing Scrubwoman 1 and am in the Chorus of a local production of this play. While the original may have a little more enthusiasm than the revival, the revival makes up for it in the WONDERFUL singing talents and Jazzy orchestracion. The one compliant I have is that they didn't include "Cinderella, Darling" in the revival. However, I loved the "How to Succeed-reprise." The song's about the office girls getting a How to Succeed" book that's a secritary's guide in "how to marry a tycoon and take him for all he's worth". Altogether, this is a wonderful CD and I suggest it to anyone who loves comedic musicals or just likes satires of the business world!

This recording of the new production (which I saw) is absolutely awesome. I also watched the original film with Robert Morse and I must say that all of the new orchestrations (especially "Brotherhood of Man") are better and more jazzy. I personally think that Broderick has taken over the role and triumfed. The show is great-- and the music is even better.

This soundtrack is very well put together. I enjoyed the small naration in between songs. Even if you never saw the show you can follow the storyline and the songs make sense. I purchased this CD because I am performing in it and I CAN NOT stop listening to it. With catchy tunes and funny business jokes it is the perfect soundtrack to add to any collection!

The transformation of HTSIBWRT (the acronym by which the original was known) to H2$ (the acronym for this major revival) was not a simple one, even though (surprisingly) the show proved so timely when revived its book didn't need to be greatly rewritten. Its orchestrations, however, were enormously revamped and expanded, sometimes to the show's detriment (the reworking of the big finale, "the Brotherhood of Man," doesn't have the same kind of impact the original did, for example). And despite the fineness of Matthew Broderick in the lead role, he doesn't project the kind of ingratiating sexiness that made such a star out of Robert Morse. But everyone else in this re-do is superb, from Ronn Carroll as Mr. Biggley to Megan Mullaly playing the ingenue very charmingly years before she would stumble across the TV studio set as Karen Walker. (She's very charming in the great "Paris Original" number.) Best of all is Victoria Clark as Smitty, the heroine's best friend: her singing and speaking voice are so perfectly clear and memorable that you may never be able to get her pronunciation of the name "Rosemary" in the beginning of the show's second act completely out of your head.