Double Olivier Award winner and four-time Olivier Award nominee and Tony Award nominee Tracie Bennett is to star in How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying and she’s playing the boss J. B Biggley!
When this revival of How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying opens at Southwark Playhouse in May 2023, Tracie Bennett will take on the role of J B Biggley in the musical which took a satirical look at the world of male-dominated office politics in the 1960’s.
Currently working on a film in New York, Tracie recorded a video saying: “I’m excited to tell you that I’m coming back to London to start rehearsing the 1960s satirical musical, ‘How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying’. I’ll be playing a man. Yes, it was bound to happen some time, wasn’t it? With these very dulcet tones of mine! Looking forward to it very much. Lots of love for now and I’ll see you soon!”
BOOK TICKETS TO HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying is a comic gem that took Broadway by storm in 1961, winning both the Tony Award for Best Musical and a Pulitzer Prize. It was revived twice on Broadway in acclaimed productions starring Matthew Broderick and Daniel Radcliffe.
A satire of big business and all it holds sacred, it follows the rise of J. Pierrepont Finch, who uses a little handbook called How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying (voiced in the Southwark production by Michelle Visage of ‘Ru Paul’s Drag Race’ fame) to climb the corporate ladder from lowly window washer to high-powered executive, tackling such familiar but potent dangers as the aggressively compliant “company man”, the office party, backstabbing co-workers, caffeine addiction and, of course, true love.
Director Georgie Rankcom said: “Our approach to this wonderful show is to trust the brilliant original and let the satire shine. To find the best possible company to tell this story, we expanded our ideas of who can play and embody these roles. When you’re looking for someone with the charisma and power to be the high powered boss with a flare for the occasional musical number, Tracie Bennett quickly becomes the top choice. I’m honoured and excited to be working with her on bringing this new version of ‘How to Succeed’ to the stage.”
‘How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying’ boasts an exhilarating score by Frank Loesser – one of America’s great composer/lyricists, also responsible for ‘Guys & Dolls’ (currently a massive hit at the Bridge Theatre) – including ‘I Believe in You’, ‘Brotherhood of Man’ and ‘The Company Way’.
How To Succeed runs from 12 May to 17 June 2023 at Southwark Playhouse.
