Performed in the City of London’s magnificent ancient HQ, the Guildhall Great Hall, this will be a unique concert performance. A cast of West End performers will be joined by a chorus drawn from office choirs across the capital, including the choir of the event sponsor, Irwin Mitchell.
BBC One’s The Apprentice star Nick Hewer will take the role of the ‘Voice of the Book’ and West End star Scott Garnham (Les Misérables, Made in Dagenham) will play ‘Finch,’ the young window washer with big ambitions.
The musical, written in 1961, centres on the meteoric rise of a window cleaner who uses a simple guidebook, How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying, to scheme his way to the top of the World Wide Wicket Company. Songs include ‘A Secretary is not a Toy’ and ‘The Company Way’.
Some ‘lessons for success’ from the show include:
· Choose a big company. “It should be at least big enough so that nobody knows exactly what anyone else is doing.”
In the show, Finch moves from department to department quickly, playing off people’s ignorance of him. He also lets it be known he has been talking to the boss – even though his conversation was only a chance encounter. Others assume he has greater access to the CEO than he does.
· Be rewarded for rewarding others.
Finch’s first challenge is getting out of the ‘mail room’. He publicly turns down a promotion to lead that department, naming his rival as more worthy. His ‘generosity and thoughtfulness’ lead to his appointment to a better position in a different department.
· Learn what the loyalties and passions of the CEO are.
Finch connives a further moment in the same room as the CEO, and ‘absent-mindedly’ hums an old college anthem as they go their separate ways. He has carefully learnt the song of the boss’s old university, and the two men become firm friends. Finch uses the bond to get a rival sacked because he came from the ‘wrong’ college.
· Then learn how the Chairman started out.
Finch discovers that the Chair of the company also started as a window-washer, and has a bias against college education and towards self-starters. The moment he has access to him, Finch lets slip his own window-washer background, and it secures his rise.
· Once senior, proclaim team spirit and universal values
To secure respect from other leaders, Finch leads them in a rousing chorus of universal sentiments they can’t publicly deny, proclaiming ‘even though we are all part of this cold corporate setup, deep down under our skins there is flesh and blood. We’re all brothers.”
Written by Frank Loesser (1910-1969), the show’s most recent Broadway production with Daniel Radcliffe in the role of J. Pierrepont Finch won a host of Tony Awards, and it is a rare example of a musical winning the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
Frank Loesser was an American songwriter most recognised for writing the music and lyrics to Broadway hits such as Guys and Dolls and was nominated for five Academy Awards for best song, winning once with Baby It’s Cold Outside.
The City of London Festival’s performance of this 1960s-set musical will be directed by Susie Dumbreck, with Musical Director Bjorn Dobbelaere and choreographer Chris Stuart-Wilson, and features the Orchestra and Alumni of the Royal Academy of Music Musical Theatre Company.
Sponsored by Irwin Mitchell solicitors
Box office: 0845 120 7502
Twitter: @CoLFestival
