by dick kerekes dickkerekes@yahoo.com
Revisiting a show that you love is loaded with danger. Will it have changed? Will not have been changed? If Frank Loesser's Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize winning musical How to Succeed in Busies Without Really Trying is one of your favorites as it is mine, you won't be disappointed in The Foundation Academy's version that has two more performances. Catch it May l0th at 8 pm or Sunday May 11th at 2 pm at Atlantic Theatres, 751 Atlantic Blvd. in Atlantic Beach.
This is the delightful story of an ambitious window washer who charms his way to the top of a major company using his wits and a self help guide he purchases on his first day of work. The musical was a big hit on Broadway and made into a classic movie in l967 that still shows on cable.
Its big hit song was "I Believe in Love" but the other music is catchy and clever and includes "The Company Way", "Coffee Break", "The Brotherhood of Man", "A Secretary is not a Toy" and "Rosemary."
The twenty six actors in the show are Junior and senior high school students at Foundation Academy and though they were all playing roles of adults much older than their actual ages their characterizations were delightful and right on the mark.
I have seen this show a number of times in years gone by (last time at Theatre Jacksonville, several years ago), and I knew it had about 40 scene changes and I wondered how Foundation would handle them. The very inventive set design by Joe Harris made it look easy by using cartoon cardboard cutouts for the furniture and sinks in the bath room. These were zipped on and off the stage like magic by the very efficient tech crew headed by Greta Clark as Stage Manager, and Kristina Everidge as Backstage. Completing their super duper off stage crew were, Eli Retama, Patricia Joyce, Charlie Booth, Robbie Crane, Eric Myers and Ash Snodgrass.
Gemma Harris and Jessica Beaman created the hair and makeup of the l960s corporate world and coordinated this with the costumes recommendations of Director Madaline Hill to give us a wonderful picture of that age when men usually wore suits and ties and women skirts and dresses.
This may be a small school but they are up to date theatre technology and most actors wore mikes that Walter Hill did an excellent job of sound mixing as sound operator.
The FCCJ Band lead by Paul Weikle produced full and rich orchestration with only seven different instruments. Included among the musicians were Alex Pinnix, Edward Gedult, Bob Alder, Jordan Rigdon, Hector Colon, Misty Woodmansee, Reggie Bailey, and Jeremy Grey.
Madaline Hill teamed up with Todd Teears as musical director, and this was Mrs. Hill's first musical as Artistic Director of Foundation and I am looking forward to her future shows. She is a graduate of this school and has been away for several years getting a degree. This was also Kasey Weddington's first show as a Choreographer and she did a marvelous job filling the stage with excitement with interesting dances to the wonderful score.
One reason I like this show is the unique Abe Burrows characters in the script with parts that really stand out in this farce. There is of course the main leading role of J. Pierrepont Finch, a window washer extraordinaire. Foundation Senior, Christopher Medina is absolutely perfect in this role. A very charismatic actor, with a good voice, Medina could sell ice boxes to Eskimos. I have been pleased to observe him grow up on this stage in various plays over the years and he has developed into a very fine performer.
Kevin LaMoreaux is another actor I have seen many times in Foundation productions, and he too is a very skilled actor, who really brings the house down as two old men, Mr. Twimble and Mr. Womper. Tom Connor was hilarious as Bud Frump, Finch's rival in the company. Connor's performance reminded me of a young Jerry Lewis. Excellent in key roles were Chelsae Newberry as Rosemary, Jose Villalona as J. B. Biggley, Natalie Fernandez as Hedy LaRue, Rachel O'Rourke playng Smitty, Cassidy Butler as Ms. Jones, and Jonathan Roberson as Mr. Bratt.
Rounding out this cast were Jacob Watson, David Medina, Emily Butler, Chris Casaus, Richard Ivey, Derek Caywood, Alex Long, Jennifer Brady, Diana Braham, Mike Salmon, Tiffany Jordan, Angela Bonfiglio, Bianca Sanchez, Sahvannah Nargi, Karina LaMoureaux, and Allie Harwood.
This show has lots of comic lines with plenty of razzle dazzle numbers and in the capable hands of The Foundation Academy staff was an absolute joy to watch. This superb farce does have some sage advice when it comes to getting ahead in business. "Find a place to work where no one has any idea what anyone else is doing." I'm looking, I'm looking!
Article Published in the May 2008 Issue of EU Jacksonville
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