An NYC Night at the Theater: How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying

Never mind the flashing lights, the city that never sleeps, the busy streets and famous landmarks. 

I was here to see Daniel Radcliffe. Or at least, I thought I was. 

The musical How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying has been around since 1961. It was brought back to the Al Hirschfeld Theatre for the Broadway revival this year. Something was different, though, this time around--they had possibly the most famous young male celebrity in the world. 

I had only seen one musical on Broadway my whole life: Beauty and the Beast, and I was young. My musical knowledge has come from attending school productions or being in shows myself, or stumbling on a friend's Spring Awakening or Wicked piano book one day. But I had never seen anything like this. 

The musical was nominated for eight Tony Awards in June. Radcliffe & Co. had performed the number "Brotherhood of Man" at the ceremony.

However, that number comes close to the end, and a lot of laughs, intense choreography, and perfected facial expressions preceded that number. 

The show opened to the applause of Radcliffe hoisting himself up on a rope. Occupation: window-washer. He begins to read a book called "How to Succeed," narrated aloud to the audience by the voice of Anderson Cooper.

The show is about how J. Pierpont Finch (Radcliffe) makes his way to the top of the corporate world with the help of this book and his own enthusiasm. The opening scene prompts the opening number, "How to Succeed," a peppy song that introduces the rest of the company and makes way for the rest of the production. 

Yes, Radcliffe was phenomenal as Finch for having little stage experience. John Larroquette was hysterical as J.B. Bigley, albeit a little bit unchanging in his humor, and Rosemary was a true gem. I had never seen How to Succeed in Business, but I knew from my own experience that the quirks make the show special. 

Numbers like "Coffee Break" (the company shakes and agonizes over an empty coffee pot) "Cinderella, Darling" (the lovely secretaries convince Rosemary to stay with Finch, despite his obvious oblivion toward her) and "Brotherhood of Man" (a heart-warming vision of a warm-and-fuzzy corporate world) brought out the best dances moves of the night, "Coffee Break" being a choreographed madness with businessmen swinging their secretaries over their shoulders, and "Cinderella, Darling" being an unexpected tap gig. 

The best, however, was the dynamic duo of Radcliffe and Larroquette in "Grand Old Ivy," a sort of dream sequence about college life (in which Finch pretends to have taken part in-another one of his tricks). This was the highlight of the show, as Radcliffe threw on a football helmet with the rest of the male company and played choreographed football in the middle of his boss's office. This drew never-ending laughter and applause from the audience.

And it wasn't because of the Harry Potter kid. That kid never did appear on stage that night. Instead was a unfailingly energetic, ambitious young actor who spoke in a convincing American accent and made a big name for himself on Broadway in just a couple of shots. 

Even if he didn't make it there himself (just like Finch) he was clearly meant to be there.