HOW TO SUCCEED's Pulitzer Prize- Page 2

[jimnysf]

Posted: 9/28/06 at 5:48pm

I agree with you Best 12 Bars. If people think "How To Succeed" is flat today, wait until the "Rent" revival in 10 or 15 years.

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 9/28/06 at 6:20pm

I think there are many universal themes in ht$ and it is a finely written musical.

we have sexism and sexual harrassment and abuse of power and people trying to get ahead and coworkers dating and nepotism and powerplays and work jealousy, etc.

does The Office need to have an Enron meltdown to be relevent?

yes, some things have changed but some things have not.

[Roninjoey]

Posted: 9/28/06 at 6:56pm

I love How to Succeed. I think it's very funny. It's a wonderful, clever comedy, and the wit of the piece will ensure that it gets performed for a long time. It was always a parody rather than a statement anyway. An inability to enjoy such a fine show speaks more to the character of the person or audience than the show itself, I think.

Although I've always wondered how it won the Pulitzer. I suppose in its time it must have seemed rather daring. Or there wasn't much better that year.

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 9/28/06 at 7:03pm

Almost all themes are universal and timeless, but timeless themes doesn't necessarily make a show still relevant. I have no problem viewing something as a period piece, but it's just not mainsteam anymore, unless it's a stellar production.

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 9/28/06 at 7:29pm

I would argue that universal themes do keep a show relevant. and being a great production makes it entertaining.

romeo and juliet will always be relevant, but in poor hands, it's not always entertaining.

what can hold a show back are too many references that become eso teric. it's debatable--rent being la boheme is, of course, timeless but many of the references in 'la vie boheme' make many unsure of how it will last years from now.the question is whether or not these lyrics hold back the meaning of the piece. not everthing period holds a show back. sometimes we learn by what's foreign to us about a period.

also, I don't think the idea that they simply awarded ht$ the pulitzer by default holds true when the award is often not given instead of awarding something by default.

[elmore3003]

Posted: 9/29/06 at 8:55am

As a believer that period shows should not necessarily be updated, I don't believe everything needs to be relevant to contemporary time; I believe the secret of good theatre - drama, comedy, musical, opera - is not its need to be updated (such as setting THE TROJAN WOMEN at the gates of Baghdad, 2005) but how much it still pertains to human emotions, social intercourse, and the other motor and verbal skills we possess. Gilbert & Sullivan's PATIENCE to some people on this site may need updating, but I feel it, like its 1960s counterpart BYE BYE BIRDIE, say enough about the idiocies of hero worship and fickleness of human nature to keep them alive.

HOW TO SUCCEED captures brilliantly a corporate mentality and the state of American society caught up in that mentality, from yesmen to climbers - whether corporate or social - to Madeison Avenue and television; a lot of these values certainly still exist. I felt the last revival - in its attempts to be PC -lost some of the bite, especially the idiotic Rosemary and the other wannabe housewives/mistresses/social climbing women who value their titles and security more than their self-respect.

[best12bars]

Posted: 9/29/06 at 9:24am

"The Music Man" is dated? It was dated when it first ran in 1957! It was written as a satire of a bygone era. It was NEVER current, and never meant to be.

BUT... at the time of its original run, it was also spoofing an era (the 1910s) that "older" people actually REMEMBMERED. They "got" the in-jokes and the parodies a lot better than audiences would today, because some of the grandparents in the audience were there.

Sound familiar? This is the exact same fate that GREASE will meet in another 20-30 years. It won't be so "funny" anymore, when no one is around (and even no one's parents are around) to "get" the jokes and humor.

[SeanMartin]

Posted: 9/29/06 at 11:06am

I have to admit I find it understandable that folks here -- who I gather are mostly high school and early college students -- dont "get" HOW TO SUCCEED. Wait till you're in the corporate work force a few years, and you will indeed understand that sexism and greed and the importance of coffee have not changed since the 1960s one bit.

[best12bars]

Posted: 9/29/06 at 12:45pm

Good point, Sean.

[OxfordsLeadingMan]

Posted: 9/30/06 at 12:42am

All I Have To Say Is That Playing J.B. Biggley In That Show Was The Most Fun I Have Ever Had Playing A Character In Any Musical