'HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING': NOTRE DAME MUSICAL OPENS TONIGHT (PLAY REVIEW)

If anyone is still wondering how that recent unsavory business between the president and the intern could have happened, a viewing of the musical "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" might be instructive.

In this 1961 confection about ambition and love in the corporate world, men -- and all the bosses are men -- treat secretaries like hostesses. You can tell which ones are bosses' girlfriends by their lack of secretarial skills. And every secretary's dream is to marry a boss, preferably one who isn't already married.

How close this picture was and in some quarters still is to the truth is a bit frightening to contemplate, but the pre-feminist "How to Succeed" is only concerned with entertaining an audience with jokes, songs and dances.

The Notre Dame High School musical opens at 8 tonight at the school cafeteria. It continues through Sunday. The production is directed by Cindy King, with Ellen Seyer in charge of music.

The musical follows the climb of one J. Pierpont Finch, former window washer, up the corporate ladder through the use of a book the musical is named for. In doing so it juggles dancing secretaries and pirates, womanizing bosses, and Cinderella-fantasizing secretaries, and somehow manages to keep them all in the air without the benefit of a memorable song save one -- "I Believe in You." "The tune "A Secretary is Not a Toy" sticks in the memory, too, but for other reasons.

Several characterizations sparkle, beginning with Janel Mason as the boss' Brooklyn bombshell Hedy. It would be easy to make Hedy a caricature, all swiveling hips and accent, but Mason gives her charm as well.

Michael Siramaturos is hilarious as Bud Frump, the boss' self-described "no good, back-biting fink" nephew. You've got to like a character you can dislike so much.

Jean Stoverink also shines as Smitty, the ugly duckling secretary, particularly on the beautifully sung "It's Been a Long Day."

Another standout is Chad Heuschober as Biggley, the big boss. He somehow combines the character's unfaithfulness to his wife, his lechery and his nepotism into someone who's still likable.

The scenes in which he and Finch cheer for his alma mater, Old Ivy, are some of the musical's funniest.

Leads Ryan Fenwick as Finch and Jill Eichhorn as Rosemary make an engaging couple. Fenwick portrays Finch's blind ambition so well that his transformation into a truth-teller and sensitive male is a bit abrupt.

Eichhorn lends Rosemary a feistiness you sometimes wish the writers of the musical had pursued.

Andrew Blattel is solid as Bratt, Mr. Biggley's right-hand man. Joe Essner as Twimble/Womper, Bark Buehrle as Gatch, Michael Ha as Jenkins and Ben Essner as Tackaberry are fine as the rest of the corporate hierarchy.

In smaller roles, Bethani Vandeven plays Mr. Biggley's secretary, Miss Jones, and Katherine Mayer is Miss Krumholtz. Also appearing in smaller roles are Phillip Davidson, Matt Long, Matt Frey, Rick Smith, Scott Enderle, Blake Heuring, Derek Welter, Matt Essner and Brad Bohannan.

The pirate dancing is a refreshing change of pace and well done. The pirate dancers are Tiffany Miller, Kim Crader, Katie Canfield, Bryanna Barrett, Jessica Morrow, Whitney McCann, Philip Davidson, Derek Welter and Mark Buehrle.

Micaela Shaffar and Rebecca Mattes appear both as scrubwomen and secretaries.

Appearing as secretaries are: Janel Welker, Sarah Vickery, Amanda Sharp, Gail Heuschober, Amy Essner, Caroline Mueller, Cara Tibbs, Charity Emmons, Susan Layton and Jennifer Stout.

The stage manager is Andrew Buchheit, Nathan Essner heads the lighting crew, Brian Ivers sound and Nikki Tanksley props.

The orchestra is conducted by Lenny Kuper. The musicians include Liesl Schoenberger, Kathy Swan, Nancy Moreton, John Quinn, Tonya Lynn, Tony Howell, Ann Welker, Narvol Randol, Shannon Randol, Erick Scott, Dr. Dan Cotner, Tim Cannon, Jeffrey Overbey, Mark Koehler and Jim Hindman.

With this production, Erik Stidham and Charity Emmons are completing three years as King's student assistant directors. Emmons is assistant to the assistant this year because she appears in the musical.

Stidham said neither of them knew anything about the job when King gave it to them. "She took both of us thinking two of us younger students were about the same as a junior who had done it before," he said.

This is the first production in the new Notre Dame Regional High School.