Originally produced in the same era in which the television series, Mad Men, is set, Frank Loesser, Abe Burrows, Jack Weinstock, and Willie Gilbert’s Pulitzer Prize-winning musical, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, anticipated the satire of sexism, nepotism, and cronyism that audiences enjoy about its contemporary counterpart.

Taking advantage of that interest, plus a current Broadway revival that until recently starred Daniel Radcliffe, the Welk Resorts Theatre has mounted an energetic and well-performed version of this Golden Age musical. A clever take on the go-go business climate of the 1950s, How to Succeed chronicles the meteoric rise of a young window washer named J. Pierrepont Finch.

Guided by a self-help book (whose instructions have been pre-recorded by impressionist Rich Little, using the voice of Walter Cronkite), Ponty dons a business suit and tricks his way into a job in the mailroom of the World Wide Wicket Company.

Networking from one position to another, Ponty is encouraged by a secretary named Rosemary Pilkington, who is using her position to search for a husband. Ponty’s nemesis is Bud Frump, nephew of the wife of J. B. Biggley, the company president.

Along the way, Ponty must avoid such landmines as Biggley’s mistress, Hedy LaRue, whom Biggley has hired for the steno pool, and being promoted to Vice President of Advertising, a position that has proven to be a revolving door.

It seems that no vice president has yet come up with an advertising campaign that Mr. Biggley actually likes. While the book’s take on office politics may have been outlandish (contemporary viewers have to keep remembering that the stereotypes being portrayed are satirical), Mr. Loesser’s score rivals the one he wrote for Guys and Dolls.

Mr. Loesser penned quite a few hit songs in his career, and the ones from this show, “I Believe in You,” and “Paris Original” are well complemented by big production numbers such as “Brotherhood of Man,” and satirical anthems such as “Happy to Keep His Dinner Warm,” “A Secretary is Not a Toy,” and “Grand Old Ivy.” Veteran Welk director Ray Limon has assembled an excellent cast that sells the show with as much verve as Ponty sells himself.

Allen Everman seems to have been born to play Ponty. His youthful looks, bright smile, and strong tenor voice give him a natural charisma that makes him entirely believable as a boy business tycoon. When he sings “I Believe in You,” Mr. Everman embodies the dialogue between masculine and feminine that makes the song sexy.

As Rosemary, Natalie Storrs projects innocent charm and sings like a young Doris Day. Scott Dreier doesn’t walk off with the show as Bud Frump, but he’s pretty funny all the same as the prissy nephew who is always thwarted in his scheming.

Lindsay Martin makes for a sexy Hedy, a woman who may seem dumb but who knows the score. Also landing positively in the large cast are Bethany Slomka as Rosemary’s girlfriend, Smitty, Walter Smith as J. B. Biggley, and Marie Kelly as Miss Jones, Biggley’s secretary and knower of all things.

Mike Buckley designed a simple but flexible set that managed to provide the maximum amount of room for Mr. Limon’s choreography. Justin Gray led a four piece band from a platform above the stage that supported the singers well, once the relative mix between singers and instrumentalists reached stasis in Patrick Hoyny’s sound design.

Upland’s The Theatre Company provided the costumes, and the utilitarian lighting design was uncredited (as were the show’s composer and book authors, in a major program gaffe). It’s the performances that make this show, and there wasn’t a sour note in the bunch of them.

How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying runs through February 26, when Mr. Little stops by for a long weekend of doing his impersonations live.

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