In this era of high unemployment, corporate executives aren’t the most sympathetic or popular figures.

But perhaps that’s all the more reason to revisit the classic musical comedy “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” — now being staged by Ann Arbor Civic Theatre —which sends up corporate culture while also telling the story of a man trying to climb its ladder.

Director Andy Ballnik’s reasons for putting on “Business,” though, are far more personal. “It was the first musical I ever did, when I was a freshman in high school, so it’s held a special place in my heart for 15 years,” said Ballnik. “And ever since I started directing shows 6 or 7 years ago, I’ve wanted to do it. So this is fulfilling a fantasy of mine.”

Ballnik’s love for the show — which won scads of awards following its 1961 Broadway opening (including seven Tony Awards and the Pulitzer Prize) — largely stems from the music, composed by Frank Loesser. (The show's book is by Abe Burrows, Jack Weinstock, and Willie Gilbert.)

“’Brotherhood of Man’ is one of the best 11 o’clock numbers in musical theater history,” said Ballnik. (An 11 o’clock number is a song performed at the show’s climax — so-called because Broadway shows used to start at 8:30 and would be close to wrapping up at 11 p.m.)

“And in the first act, there are a whole lot of songs that are real attention-grabbers. They’re catchy, they’re light — they’re not heavy songs — and they’re fun.”

The show follows the rise and fall of window-washer J. Pierrepont Finch, who, by using tips culled from a book called “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying,” quickly moves up from the mailroom to the executive offices of the World Wide Wicket Company. Yet because Finch uses trickery and deceit to achieve his ends, his position at the top is fragile.

Despite Ballnik’s great affection for the show, he confessed, “The script itself is a bit outdated. It was written in early ‘60s, when attitudes toward women were very different. So the challenge for me was, how do I do this without offending women?’”

Ballnik decided to lampoon corporate culture even more exaggeratedly (through staging and design choices) than the script does, while also highlighting the ways that women, behind closed doors, influenced the men they worked with.

“I took the idea from the show ‘Mad Men,’” said Ballnik. “The women know the power of their sexuality — that that has pull — but they’re also very sly, and know how to manipulate the men they work for. I’ve tried to play that up, especially in songs like, ‘A Secretary is Not a Toy.’”

The song is sung by a personnel manager Mr. Bratt, after several employees ogle a sexy secretary named Hedy. (Bratt has feelings for Hedy himself, so self-interest and jealousy drive the song.) But Ballnik has re-imagined the number as a fantasy sequence, wherein the secretaries take control of the office space.

And regarding design, Ballnik’s brother, a graphic artist, has created cartoonish, oversize, wooden-cutout props for the production, and the set consists of windows and elevators that “aren’t quite straight,” according to Ballnik. “Everything a bit skewed from the reality. There’s a lot of that motif running throughout the entire show.”

Jenn McKee is the entertainment digital journalist for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at jennmckee@annarbor.com or 734-623-2546, and follow her on Twitter @jennmckee.

The cast of "How to Succeed" performing "Brotherhood of Man" at Taste of Ann Arbor: