'How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying' at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre

This is the new show on the block, a revival of a show from the early '60s with Daniel Radcliffe in the lead role. Can Harry Potter sing and dance? Can he hold a show together? Is this going to be the show that helps him shake off Harry and become a legit stage actor? The answer is a resounding 'yes'.

I can't help but think that this is what a Broadway show is all about - nicely paced, singing and dancing, colour and spectacle, swiftly drawn characters we care about and, of course, a happy ending. This show has it all, with some of the most energetic and best dancing I've seen in ages. We were lucky enough to score tickets for the final preview show so had the tested and finished show in front of us to enjoy.

It revels in its early 60s clothes and colourful, stylish set, the jokes about big business work perfectly for a 2011 post-banking crisis audience and it never stands still, it's a sea of movement, keeping going and full of energy. Have I mentioned that I loved it yet?

It's the story of J Pierrepont Finch, a young window-cleaner who wants to succeed in business so he gets hold of a self-improvement book and follows it to the letter, joining the mail room of a big company and working his way to the top. Of course, the love interest is Rosemary, a friendly and helpful secretary who he can't go out with because the book says a boss should never date a secretary. Everything goes well until ... well, you just know there's a downfall but is it our hero or someone else? I'll leave you to see the show for yourself.

Daniel Radcliffe is great as our hero and has a nice singing voice (not a great voice, but he'll develop). Rose Hemingway as our heroine gets more songs and she has a lovely voice - this is her Broadway debut and if this doesn't make her star then nothing will. The other actors are all equally great, in-character and thoroughly believable. I particularly enjoyed Tammy Blanchard as the vamp and the boss's bit on the side that wants a proper career - I thought she was lovely.

The production is incredibly professional and slick, even for a Broadway show, and at the half-time me and Chris looked at each other and agreed that *this* is a proper Broadway show. If I'd needed any convincing (which I didn't) then the final dance number to 'Brotherhood Of Man' with all the office lads dancing together in their suits would've persuaded me of it's quality - it was faultless and left me breathless. I half expected Daniel to do a few steps and then retire to the back of the stage and let the 'real' dancers do their business but he didn't - he was there at the front of the stage leading the troupe all the way, an excellent performance that won him his dancer credentials. And meant I *had* to join in the standing ovation at the end of the show - they'd earned it.

I suspect this is the show that will free Daniel from the Harry legacy. Of course, he's got to handle the mania he obviously suffers, from the squeals of the girls (and women) sitting behind us at the show every time he appeared on stage to the crowds that mobbed the stage door, but I hope he has the right people around him to help him manage it. I'd love to see the show again with him in the lead so maybe this will be another example of transferring the Broadway show intact to the West End - that happened to 'Hair', another show I saw at the Al Hirschfeld a year ago, so who knows? If any show deserves the full five star review score it's this one. Well done to all!