Swing all the way to stage success

11:16am Wednesday 6th June 2007

J PIERREPONT Finch may be a young man keen to climb the greasy pole of business - but he begins this satirical musical on a swing in his dungarees.

He is the picture of innocence, yet how innocent is a man who follows the creed of Shepherd Mead's How To Succeed In Business every step of this 1961 musical play?

The Apprentice-firing Sir Alan Sugar would see through his sweet talk, but that would spoil the fun of Finch's weaseling ways in less media-savvy times in the United States.

Finch relies on flattery and perfect timing in his rise up the World Wide Wicket Company: characteristics that are abundant in the outstanding performance of Alex Deadman, pictured, a leading man with almost ridiculous stage assurance for an actor not yet turned 20.

Director John Hall talent-spotted him, and his instincts have proven spot-on, just as they were in casting Luke Adamson for the instructive Book Voice.

Deadman's Finch is outwardly as straight as his parting, with his butter-wouldn't-melt charm, and yet the audience can see all the workings of his mind.

He sings with eyes on full beam, masters the American accent and sitcom drama and moves with a pleasing lightness - and this was only the dress rehearsal.

Frank Loesser and Abe Burrows' comedy has a potentially complex set, with lifts and ground-floor and upstairs offices and more besides, but Hall and co-designer Robert Readman's design enables swift scene changes.

Its muted, municipal tones allow the secretaries' burst of primary colours to stand out, almost as much as the Marilyn Monroe-figure of Jeanette Hunter's highly humorous, polka-dotty blonde bombshell, Hedy La Rue.

Marie-Louise Scott's love-struck Rosemary Pilkington is a romantic delight too, while Neil Foster's jealous, scheming Bud Frump is just the right side of caricature.

Hunter's Hedy and Ivan Chaplin's stentorian company boss show delightful timing in Love From A Heart Of Gold; the ensemble routine for A Secretary Is Not A Toy is the peak of Emma Bassett and Hall's choreography; and Mike Thompson's musical direction sure swings.

A couple of cuts have been implemented already: a sharp move that should help to make this thoroughly enjoyable show the business.

• How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying, York Stage Musicals, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, until Saturday. Box office: 01904 623568.