Laurel Stroud Succeeds as Not “Just” a Secretary

Laurel Stroud plays "Peggy" -- one of the secretaries that make "How To" succeed!

While the Farmington Players production of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying just happens to open during Administrative Professionals Week, it’s not a coincidence that much of this show’s success rests on the secretaries in the chorus.  Laurel Stroud plays one of the office “girls” and she has named her character “Peggy.”  As Laurel says, “While Peggy is ‘just’ a secretary, she has a vital job at a big company in an exciting city, and for the 1960's, that's significant for a woman.”   In the song A Secretary Is Not a Toy, a secretary is described as “a highly specialized key component of operational unity.  A fine and sensitive mechanism to serve the office community.”  Just as Sixties’ secretaries supported their executives and helped them shine, Laurel loves being in the chorus “because it adds dimension to the show, and puts the leads in context.”

Given the show’s theme of accomplishment, I asked Laurel how she measures success, personally and professionally.  She answered, “I can relate to people getting ahead based on things other than what they do for a living. I can relate to people seeing women as extraneous. I think professional success is when you have reached the point where your job enables you to live your vocation, or ‘purpose.’ Personal success, for me, is becoming more and more the person God intended me to be.”  Laurel knows How to Succeed will be successful with Barn audiences because “this show is so relatable. Everyone knows a Finch, a Frump, a Biggley. Everyone has had a Coffee Break moment. Plus, there are amazing voices that are worth the price of admission all by themselves.”  Also, given that Laurel has shared the stage with so many of same Barn alumni before, she “knew it would be a fun show with fun people. There's nothing like putting on a great show for patrons with a bunch of great friends.”

Laurel grew up and still lives in Redford.  She lists cooking, baking and gardening among her hobbies.  She works for Lone Buffalo in Ann Arbor, but goes to Ford Motor Company every day to create the "clipsheet," a compilation of media mentions about Ford and the industry.  Laurel has been a Barn member for over 10 years and recently won the prestigious Torchbearer award.  She is currently on the Board as Director of Communications.  Some of her favorite roles include Becca in Rabbit Hole, Jennie in Chapter Two, Mom in Leaving Iowa, Essie in You Can't Take It With You and Laura in Whose Wives are they Anyway?

The Farmington Players production of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying is proudly sponsored by TruVista Wealth Advisors.  The show includes 13 performances from April 24 – May 16 and tickets are available online at farmingtonplayers.org or by emailing boxoffice@farmingtonplayers.org or calling the Barn box office at 248-553-2955.