Playwright: George Abbott, Richard Bissell, Richard Adler & Jerry Ross
At: Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire
Phone: (847) 634-0200; $40 (plus tax)
Runs through: July 3
The audience oohed and ahhed when they heard 'Hey, There,' 'Steam Heat' and 'Hernando's Hideaway.' People buzzed, 'I didn't know that was from The Pajama Game.' There are lesser-know gems, too, especially 'A New Town is a Blue Town,' a bluesy ballad cut from the film version of the show that has become a cabaret standard. Yes, it's a classic score from the Golden Era of Broadway and it's given the usual First Class treatment at the Marriott Theatre in a thoroughly engaging production with all musical values intact.
Told against the background of a labor action at the Sleep-Tite Pajama Factory in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, circa 1954, The Pajama Game is the romance of tough but beautiful union member Babe Williams and the new factory superintendent, handsome and manly Sid Sorokin. A comic side plot centers on efficiency expert Hines and his jealousy-fueled romance with Gladys, the boss' secretary. The show never has lost its popularity, and the lively book and score are the reasons why. Also, the stage original has some welcome sexual innuendo removed in the sanitized film.
That's not to say The Pajama Game isn't without dead wood. The forgettable character numbers 'Her Is' and 'Think of the Time I Save' were cut in the transition from Broadway to Hollywood, and wisely so. And the Hines-Gladys relationship is rather poorly developed. Since they never have a scene or song as a couple, it's a bit specious to establish Hines' jealous rage. But, hey there, that's musical comedy!
The charming cast features shapely Heidi Kettenring as Babe and tall/dark/handsome Brian Herriott as Sid. Both are popular Marriott veterans who have genuine chemistry and fine singing chops. Sprightly Evan Pappas is Hines to the bodacious Gladys of Rachel Rockwell (who struts her stuff nicely in 'Steam Heat'), but Marriott uber-favorite Alene Robertson steals the biggest comic moments in the smaller supporting role of Mabel. Robertson doesn't need lines; she extracts laughs from looks, shrugs and even pauses. As the factory owner, it's good to have rock-solid veteran Malcolm Rothman back on stage after a four-year hiatus.
Director Stafford Arima plays the 1950's one-liners and baggy-pants (literally) comedy as if they were brand new, and the rather geriatric Marriott audience eats it up. The leap-filled, athletic choreography by Patti Wilcox chiefly is wholesome and peppy, with an exception for 'Steam Heat,' which offers an appropriate homage to the pelvic style of Bob Fosse's original (the first time his signature bowler hats and clingy black outfits appeared). Musical director Lynne Shankel guides a tight band and a strong vocal ensemble. Indeed, the attractive cast and classic score will have you singing along if you're not careful.