SUCCESS, SATIRE, and SCENERY

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A GLIMPSE INTO THE WORLD OF HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING

LIVE ON STAGE AT THE 5TH AVENUE THEATRE JANUARY 21 – FEBRUARY 28

2015/16 SEASON SPONSORS OFFICIAL AIRLINE PRODUCTION SPONSOR RESTAURANT SPONSOR

How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying is sponsored by

The musical How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, is a satire first performed in 1961. It is set in the urban offices of a fictional corporation called the World Wide Wicket Company and tells the story of J. Pierrepont Finch, a window washer who works his way up the corporate ladder with the help of a dastardly self-help book.

BUILDING A SET, CREATING A WORLDIn creating an original set for How to Succeed, designers Tom Sturge and David Sumner hoped to create a world that evoked the 1960s. In their designs, they’ve used elements from classic “International” style of architecture and elements from the art of Piet Mondrian. Buildings designed in the “International” style dominated new construction in the 1950s and 1960s and the art of Piet Mondrian found mainstream popularity during the same time period.

Like visual art, a set can be described in terms of colors, textures (soft, rough, smooth), space (open, closed, far, near), lines (straight, curved, broken), and shapes. How would you describe this set in regard to these elements?

If a part of your life story was turned into a play or musical, what would the set look like?

At The 5th Avenue Theatre, stagehands install a newly designed set for How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.

Newspapers in Education and The 5th Avenue Theatre Present

THE 5TH AVENUE THEATRE – RESOURCES FOR TEACHERS HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING

Musical theater, like so many other art forms, relies on symbolism to communicate ideas and to help tell a story. Every element of a musical has the potential to be symbolic: words that are spoken, colors, set elements, props, melodies, costumes, lighting, sound effects. Every aspect of a musical is designed to help tell the story and communicate specific ideas.

Theater artists strive to make every instance of symbolism intentional—regardless of whether or not every symbol will be consciously noticed by an audience. Often, symbols are layered on top of one another:

SYMBOLS OF SUCCESSIn the musical How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, the protagonist, Finch, is “anxious to rise quickly and easily to the top of the business world.” In some ways, he represents American ambition—a trait that many consider to have helped build our country. Many will say that the character of Finch (like many protagonists) is symbolic. But Finch is just one of many symbols that are carefully placed on stage.

SYMBOL – an object, animate or inanimate, that represents or stands for something else.

SYMBOLISM, SYMBOLIZE – the use of symbols to represent an idea or meaning.

PUTTING IT TOGETHERThroughout a play or musical, we frequently see an increase in what is at stake for a character. For Finch, it becomes more and more crucial that he succeeds as the story progresses.

How are symbols and symbolism used to reinforce what is at stake in Finch’s story? What dangers are associated with high-rises and elevators?

CONNECTION TO SOCIAL SCIENCE

“You’ve been an outstanding mailroom head and we want you to choose your successor. And we want you to choose him on merit. On merit alone.”

-Twimble, Act 1, Scene 4

When we analyze How to Succeed in Business, there are two key concepts from social science that we should also understand:

SOCIAL MOBILITY – The ability ofindividuals or groups to move upward or downward in status based on wealth, occupation, education, or some other social variable.

In American society, there is a prevailing belief in upward social mobility as a reward for one’s personal achievements. This belief is the basis for the concept of…

MERITOCRACY – A government orsociety in which citizens who display superior achievement are rewarded with positions of leadership. In a meritocracy, all citizens have the opportunity to succeed based on their abilities and accomplishments.

IN YOUR OWN WORDS...What are examples of social mobility and meritocracy that you see in the world?

Do you think that these concepts accurately describe the world we live in? Support your opinion with specific examples.

How do the authors of How to Succeed treat these concepts? Does Finch’s story support these two concepts? Support your answer with specific examples from the musical.

“social mobility” and “meritocracy.” The American Heritage®

New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2005.

We see Finch and other characters use elevators to move between floors. Describe how an elevator represents aspects of Finch’s story. What other things can an elevator represent?

The script for How to Succeed describes a high-rise office building as the story’s setting. List examples of things that a high-rise building can represent:

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How to Succeed In Business Without Really Trying is based on a 1952 book by Shepherd Mead. The book is written as a set of instructions to the reader and it is meant to satirize self-help books. The musical adaptation of How to Succeed in Business is also recognized as a satire.

DEFINING SATIRE• A satire is a work of art that exposes human shortcomings (e.g. vices,

abuses, injustices). • It usually makes extensive use of humor—including forms of ridicule,

irony, parody, and caricature. (Elliot, 2004)• Many satires are written as a way to inspire social reform or to change

society in a positive way.• To satirize something is to attack or ridicule it through satire.

SATIRE IN YOUR WORLDWhat are other examples of satire that you can recognize in popular culture (TV, blogs, movies, theater)?

What does How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying satirize? What changes do the authors hope to see in society? Support your answer with specific examples from the musical.

What kind of change do you want to see—in your community, society, or our country? If you were asked to create a satire, what issue would you want to satirize?

Elliott, Robert C (2004), “The nature of satire”, Encyclopædia Britannica.

“[FINCH] smiles out front. NOTE: This smile is the first of several that Finch uses throughout the show. These smiles are very important. They are communications between Finch and the audience. They tell the audience when Finch has successfully worked one of his ploys. The smile is a gentle, Mona Lisa smile. It should look like a cat that just swallowed a canary and is happy about it.” – Stage directions, Act 1, Scene 2

How to succeed in SATIRE ...

FRANKLOESSER by Albert Evans

It takes many kinds of people to create a musical, but a show’s composer and lyricist is especially responsible for its character and legacy. The man who is responsible for the music and songs of How to Succeed also takes credit for many beloved songs that are still performed around the world—including a holiday song that you may have heard before…

F rank Loesser was a short, pugnacious tough guy who peppered his speech with

New York street slang and carried himself like one of the lovable hoodlums from his own musical Guys and Dolls. Meeting him, you might assume he was a lower-class denizen of the outer boroughs, someone who had worked his way up the show-biz ladder driven by hunger and chutzpah.

But if Frank took you home to meet the folks, you would enter a cultured Manhattan residence and shake hands with his father, a well-known professor of music; his mother, who gave lectures on modern

literature; and his older stepbrother, a renowned concert pianist. Frank was the outlier of the family — not exactly a black sheep, but the son who chose a different path and created a persona to match.

Loesser joined the Air Force in World War II, and wrote morale-boosting songs like “Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition” — one of the first hits for which he wrote both words and music. Others would follow, including “Baby, It’s Cold Outside,” a song he had written to perform with his wife at Hollywood parties.

1950 saw the debut of the long-running Guys and Dolls, one of

Broadway’s undisputed classics. After a return to Hollywood to write the charming songs for the movie musical Hans Christian Andersen, Loesser wrote the score and the book for The Most Happy Fella, a deeply-felt drama of near-operatic scope, followed by a delicate and now nearly-forgotten fantasy, Greenwillow. In 1961 How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying would round out his Broadway career with another long-running smash. The show went on to win seven Tony® Awards and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

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March 3-5, following the professional production, nearly 100 local students (ages 14-19) will present an all-student production of How to Succeed in BusinessWithout Really Trying on the stage of The 5th Avenue Theatre.

The Rising Star Project production will be entirely performed by a student cast and student orchestra, and run by a student technical crew under the mentorship and guidance of theater professionals. The production will also be coordinated, marketed, developed and produced by a student administrative team under the coaching of 5th Avenue staff.

Rising Star Project is completely tuition-free and made possible by a generous grant from The Sheri and Les Biller Family Foundation and with additional support from The Herman and Faye Sarkowsky Charitable Foundation, The Boeing Company, Susie and Phil Stoller, Washington State Arts Commission, National Endowment for the Arts, GM Nameplate, The Jean K. Lafromboise Foundation, and The Nichols Foundation.

PROGRAM MISSIONThe Rising Star Project uses the resources and professional knowledge that exist at The 5th Avenue Theatre to help young people achieve a fulfilling career, a stronger sense of self, and confidence in their ability to inspire positive change in the world.

This mission includes taking a proactive role in creating a theater community which is inclusive and representative of our region; connecting students to American musicals; and supporting classroom learning by providing quality arts-based education experiences for students.

To learn more about this education initiative and read the complete mission, visit www.5thavenue.org.

THOUGHTS FOR EDUCATORS...COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS & MUSICAL THEATERWhether performed, read, or experienced live or on film, musical theater “texts” are inherently rich and interdisciplinary.

The Common Core Standards authors assert that curriculum should be comprised of a diverse array of classic and contemporary literature as well as challenging informational texts in a range of subjects.

To this end, interaction with musical theater performances and dramatic texts can serve a vital role in preparing K-12 students to reach core learning objectives while introducing students to an important aspect of America’s cultural heritage.

DRAMATIC TEXT - The words and dialogue that are used to tell the story. Students can be asked to analyze not only the literary aspects of a script and text, but the manner in which an actor delivers the text (analyzing communicative and public speaking skills). Song lyrics can be examined for rhyme scheme, structure, and imagery. The dramatic concepts of “character objective,” “dramatic action,” and “subtext” can serve as context for asking students to make inferences based on the text.

DANCE & MOVEMENT - Stage directions, “blocking” (the intentional positioning of actors on a stage), choreography, and fight sequences can be analyzed in terms of style, purpose, and storytelling.

How was the actor able to express sadness through movement? What relationship do you see between the two characters based on how they are standing?

MISE-EN-SCÈNE - The visual composition of a production involves light-ing, scenic design, costuming, hair, and makeup. Each visual aspect of a

musical production is carefully designed to serve the telling of a story. Students can be asked to interpret the choices of the designers.

How did this production use lighting to reflect the character’s emotion? How does this character’s costume reveal aspects of her personality and point-of-view?

MUSIC - A musical employs both songs and instrumental music to move a story forward. Students can be asked to explain the purpose

or effect of music in specific moments of the story. Students can analyze melody, style, mood, and rhythm. Students could also be asked

to consider sound effects or the use of “sound design.”

Why does this character begin singing? Would the play be different if she continued in spoken dialogue? Does this character change her mind during the song? How do you know?

How does this character change over the course of the play?

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