by Gina Greco
Rehearsals are under way for the Town of Webb Union Free School District’s Drama Department production of the broadway musical “The Pajama Game.”
The school’s music teacher, Valerie Gaudin, said she has high hopes for this play.
“We have the perfect amount of cast members for it,” she said.
Gaudin said that, of all the scripts she examined over the summer, The Pajama Game was one that hit home.
“A lot of the other scripts didn’t have much when it came to involving the entire cast. This one had the whole cast on stage throughout most of the play,” she said.
“I wanted it to be fair for everyone that is putting their time in on this production. I wanted to get them all on stage as much as possible; and ‘The Pajama Game’ will have the chorus kids singing a ton of songs,” she said.
The Pajama Game is based on the novel 7 1/2 Cents by Richard Bissell.
The show was first performed on Broadway in 1954 and was awarded the 1955 Tony for Best Musical.
In 1957, Hollywood produced a movie based the stage show.
“Doris Day starred in it. It is a real classic. Around 1996, they brought it back to Broadway with Harry Connick Jr. and Kelli O’Hara starring in it,” Gaudin said.
“It is about these folks in Iowa that work in a pajama factory called Sleep-Tite. They are fighting for a seven-and-a-half cent an hour raise,” she said.
“Of course there is a love story involved. It is between the superintendent of the factory, Sid Sorokin, and one of the employees and head of the grievance committee, Babe Williams.”
“We see what they have to go through in fighting against each other. It has a happy ending—no one will be disappointed in the end,” she said.
Gaudin said the musical is surprisingly humorous with a notably good score.
“There are a lot of familiar songs that people will say, ‘Oh, I didn’t know it was from that show.’ Songs such as ‘Steam Heat,’ ‘Hernando’s Hideaway’ and ‘There Once Was a Man,’” she said.
The lead roles of Sid and Babe will be played by Tyler Fenton and Olivia Phaneuf.
There are quite a few supporting leads as well, she said.
Ryan Johnston will be playing the role of Vernon Hines; Shawn Hansen will be playing Myron Hasler; and Carter Kelly will be playing Prez.
“We’ve got some new ninth graders that have joined us, and we actually moved up three eighth-grade boys to perform. It’s going to be fun,” Gaudin said.
There are a total of twenty-eight kids in the cast.
“Things move quicker with that size, and it would be harder to keep more students than that focused,” Gaudin said.
Gaudin said that this particular play does not happen to be performed all that much.
“I have a feeling that after we perform it, we will see other schools performing it as well. I think people have tended to forget about it, and just how good it is,” she said.
Jeff Evans will be returning as Set Director, Anne DeFilipps as the Stage Director, and Emily Herrmann will be Pit Band Director.
The play will be performed on March 11th and 12th, both nights at 7 p.m. Tickets will be available at $8 for adults, $7 for seniors 62 and older, and $6 for students.