The Pajama Game

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Musical dates
Title: The Pajama Game
Original language: English
Music: Richard Adler and Jerry Ross
Book: George Abbott and Richard Bissell
Lyrics: Richard Adler and Jerry Ross
Literary source: "7 ½ cents" by Richard Bissell
Premiere: May 13, 1954
Place of premiere: new York
Place and time of the action: Cedar Rapids, Iowa (USA), 1954
Roles / people
  • Babe Williams, Chairman of the Appeals Commission
  • Sid Sorokin, factory director
  • Gladys, chief secretary
  • Hines, production manager
  • Mabel, Sorokin's secretary
  • Prez, chairman of the works council
  • Hasler, factory owner
  • Works council members Mae, Brenda, Poopsie and Joe
  • Max, representative
  • Mr. Williams, Babe's father
  • Factory workers Charlie, Jade and Eddie
  • Two unskilled workers
  • Two young men
  • Workers (choir)

The Pajama Game is a musical in two acts (18 pictures) with music by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross . The libretto is by George Abbott and Richard Bissell , the lyrics by the two composers. The work is based on the novel 7 ½ Cents by Richard Bissell. It was premiered on May 13, 1954 at the St. James Theater in New York City , directed by George Abbott and Jerome Robbins . Bob Fosse created his first choreography with it. The piece came to 1063 performances. KG Neumann and H. Zander created the German version of the text. In Germany, the musical first took place on December 31, 1956 in Wiesbaden. The most famous song from it is the Tango Hernando's Hideaway , which has become a world hit.

orchestra

Flute , oboe , two clarinets , bassoon , two horns , three trumpets , three trombones , harp , guitar , small percussion and strings

Stage sets

First act: Image 1: In front of the curtain; Photo 2: factory hall; Image 3: Brochure “Walk in the factory”; Picture 4: office; Image 5: "Forest path" brochure; Image 6: picnic area; Fig. 7: “Forest path” brochure; Photo 8: Babes Kitchen; Fig. 9: Brochure “Walk in the factory”; Photo 10: Factory hall

Second act: Photo 11: Prospectus “Trade Union Hall”; Photo 12: Babes Kitchen; Image 13: Brochure “Walk in the factory”; Fig. 14: office; Photo 15: “Hernandos Hideaway” night club; Picture 16: office; Image 17: Brochure “Street with Park”; Photo 18: "Hernandos Hideaway" night club

action

Sid Sorikin, the new director of the pajama factory, has succumbed to the charms of his employee Babe Williams. The only bad luck is that she is the head of the union committee, which is currently trying to push through a wage increase of 7½ cents an hour. Hasler, the owner of the company, vigorously rejects the request. If he gives in to the demand, the company is no longer competitive and there is a risk of layoffs.

During a company outing, the working people are in a happy mood. It seems as if everything is in balance again; but it is fermenting beneath the surface. A strike is inevitable. Because Sid Sorikin has to represent the employer's interests, the relationship between him and Babe suffers.

Sid knows that the only way to restore peace is by miracle. He doesn't want to disregard anything in order to accomplish such a thing. He secretly meets Gladys, the secretary of the factory owner, in a remote bar. He hopes to get information from her that will help him. A couple of glasses of alcohol combined with a violent flirtation loosens Gladys' tongue.

The next day, Sid turned to his boss and told him that the union had information that the 7 ½ cents it had asked for had long been included in the calculation. Under these circumstances, Hasler can no longer maintain the labor dispute, otherwise he would lose face.

Sid and Babe are one heart and one soul again.

Songs

  • The Pajama Game
  • Racing with the clock
  • A New Town is a Blue Town
  • I'm not at all in love
  • I'll never be Jealous Again
  • Hey there
  • Once-a-year day
  • Small talk
  • There Once Was a Man
  • Steam heat
  • Hernando's hideaway
  • Seven and a Half Cents

filming

The musical was filmed in 1957 under the direction of Stanley Donen and George Abbott (see Picnic in Pajamas ). The main roles were played by Doris Day , John Raitt, Carol Haney, Eddie Foy Jr. and Reta Shaw .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ picnic in pajamas in the Internet Movie Database (English)

literature

  • Piper's Enzyklopädie des Musiktheater , Volume 1, Ed. Carl Dahlhaus and Research Institute for Music Theater of the University of Bayreuth under the direction of Sieghart Döhring, ISBN 3-492-02411-4
  • Siegfried Schmidt-Joos: The Musical . Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag (dtv), Munich 1965.
  • Hellmuth Steger, Karl Howe: Operetta Guide - From Offenbach to Musicals . Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1958.

Web links