How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying - BOA Musical Theatre

Image: BOA

Frank Loesser's How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying is brought to the Old Rep this week by Year 13 students at BOA. The musical theatre cohort have taken on this 1960s musical with an impressive ensemble of talent.

The story is simplistic, following the journey of the ambitious J. Pierrepont Finch and his rise from window washer to Chairman of the Board at World Wide Wicket Company.

From first glance the staging was striking (designed by Sam Oates) with some nice lighting touches throughout from Andrew Exeter.

There were many brilliant performances from the company. Jack Gardener led well as Finch, with a sweet and endearing turn from Pippa Ashworth as Rosemary. Great character performances came from Smitty (Sophie Robinson), Matt Evans as Gatch and Louis Hayward was laugh-out-loud funny as 'Mummy's boy' Bud Frump. Plus Matt Perry was particularly excellent as The Book and TV Announcer.

The two standout performances of the night came from Josh Edge as Biggley and Sam Simkin as Mr Twimble. Both excelled in their roles, capturing their respective characters exceptionally well and garnering many a laugh from the audience.

There's always a great camaraderie at BOA performances, both onstage and off. The audience were rooting for all of their performers and it's a pleasure to see that in the theatre.

There were a number of microphone glitches, which can be forgiven for the fact the performers ploughed through regardless.

Under the direction of Laura Johnson and musical direction of Alison Chapman with lovely choreography from Lee Crowley - the production was pacy (despite a long first act) and harmonies were tight.

Congratulations to all involved on a successful production.