‘How to Succeed’ in High-Tech : La Jolla Playhouse’s revival of the 1961 hit is a computerized techno wonder that’s heading for Broadway. The gizmos have provided the designers with the challenge of their careers.

Backstage, it’s a jungle of cable and wire, a profusion of panels and tracks, props and set-pieces. But the nerve center sits quietly in the corner: a bank of five computers that drives the nonstop, high-tech action of the Broadway-bound La Jolla Playhouse revival of “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.”

With music by Frank Loesser and book by Abe Burrows, Jack Weinstock and Willie Gilbert, the 1961 Broadway production of “How to Succeed” won seven Tonys and a Pulitzer and today is considered a classic. Robert Morse was catapulted to stardom in his portrayal of J. Pierrepont Finch, the conniving corporate climber, a role he re-created on film in 1967.

Director Des McAnuff, riding the crest of his enormous success with “The Who’s Tommy” (which garnered five Tony Awards), has reconvened his “Tommy” creative team to dazzle new audiences with their technical brilliance. By all accounts, this is a true collaboration of theater artists who genuinely respect each other and their chief, McAnuff.

It was McAnuff’s idea to have a “living cyclorama” (the curved blank wall at the back of the stage) that could “burst into life.” McAnuff wanted to re-create a 1961 glass-and-steel office skyscraper. “It struck me that this tower was a metaphor for upward mobility, the stratification of the corporate class system. . . . I wanted to be able to see the skyline of Manhattan beyond the tower, as a context for it, a world beyond the windows. What I got is beyond my wildest dreams. It’s magical,” he said.

What he got, courtesy of scenic designer John Arnone, video designers Batwin + Robin (Linda Batwin and Robin Silvestri) and lighting designer Howell Binkley, was a 26-foot-high video wall, comprising 32 custom-made projection cubes, each 30 inches high and 40 inches wide. Projected onto these are high-definition videos, film, computer graphics and 3-D animation. Special visual effects are recorded on eight laser disks, each 26 minutes long. There are 182 automation cues (which trigger 1,200 separate scenery moves), 600-700 lighting cues and about 40 people backstage engineering the activity.

“This is a lot larger and much more complex than ‘Tommy,’ ” says Linda Batwin. “In my 21 Broadway productions,” admits veteran stage manager Frank Hartenstein, “this show is the most difficult. Hands down.”

Moments after star Matthew Broderick’s opening number, the entire video wall comes to life: 65 cues for Hartenstein to call in three to four minutes, what McAnuff calls the “Through the Looking Glass moment.” We see clouds float by (later a blimp--from afar and close up) and, of course, the Manhattan skyline. Every time an office floor changes, or an elevator goes up or down, the scene outside moves accordingly.

In the most spectacular computer animation, as Megan Mullally gamely sings a decidedly retro, housewife-wanna-be number, “Happy to Keep His Dinner Warm,” we are whisked away, over the bridge and above the rooftops, ultimately swooping down on a little suburban dream-cottage. It’s breathtaking. But is it, as one critic lamented, upstaging the action?

On and off the record, everyone involved with the production concedes that overpowering the action was a major concern. “There’s a tendency,” says video designer Batwin, “whenever you do something that looks great, to do more of it. We really worked against that. . . . It’s a huge animation scene, but, from takeoff to house-landing, it’s only 19 seconds, and another 12 seconds around the house. We were careful that the big move happened at the very beginning of the song. We really feel we accomplished the feat of not overwhelming the song. It’s very important how you integrate and incorporate the different tools of our media.”

This concern is being closely examined as the production prepares to move East. The current $1.3-million price tag may balloon to $5 million by the time the show hits Broadway. But no one is talking about major changes. Mostly it’s, as McAnuff puts it, “taking the car back into the shop to tinker with it so you’ll get another 10 miles per hour out of it.” Some of the additional money will go into the pit; there were 11 musicians in La Jolla, but there will be 24 in New York. Also required: New York-scale union contracts, more “swings” to cover ensemble actors and a backup for every computer.

The cinematic techno-wizardry raises another question: Are the boundaries between television, video, film and theater being obliterated? “Fact is,” shrugs McAnuff, “the lines have already been blurred in our everyday lives.” McAnuff insists that every scene be storyboarded. Scenic designer Arnone employed many cinema effects: cross-cutting, fades, close-ups, foregrounding.

“Theater is so dynamic,” he says, “it encompasses a lot from its sister art. And it’s the same in film. We often see theatrical touches. . . . Most shows on Broadway are visually oriented; you’ve got to compete. What’s innovative here is the creative imagination beautifully integrated with the score. No one element stands out. Ultimately, we’re all serving the play and the music.”

Says costume designer Susan Hilferty, ‘In today’s world of MTV, a lot of people only listen to music in conjunction with video work. This is one of the tools we have at hand. Do we ignore it? . . . Theater can never compete with movies or TV. The real thrill of theater is live performers. But the technology is fascinating. It could overwhelm, but it can really enhance a live performance.”

Lighting designer Howell Binkley puts it more simply: “I’ve never seen anything like this in the theater before. It’s a groundbreaking event, and audiences love it.”

* The sellout production closes Dec . 4 at the La Jolla Playhouse, then moves on to a January-February run at the Kennedy Center in Washington. A March opening is set for New York’s Richard Rodgers Theatre, formerly the 46th Street Theatre, where the original musical opened in 1961.