The Pajama Game

The original productions of this musical on Broadway and the West End were in 1953 and 1955 respectively. That makes the storyline seventy years old but into this plot of a group of factory workers wanting an pay increase, add the Dagenham car workers in an argument about equal pay in another currently popular musical and remembering rail workers and junior doctors recently it is a perfectly suitable subject for expanding into a production. The whole crux of this story however is in fact more about the relationships of the people involved in that situation.

The two, around whom the story enfolds are Sid Sorokin, the new factory superintendent (David Upcraft) and Katharine (Babe) Williams (Jasmine Wickens) who is the leader of the Union Grievance Committee. This couple - yes, they do end up together - are on stage for a large percentage of the evening and have plenty of songs to sing as both solos and duets. This was done with absolute confidence and credibility.  Another secondary hopeful relationship revealed is Prez (Simon Newman), a married man who has no qualms in chasing Mae (OJ O’Neill) and/or Gladys (Grace Upcraft).  Gladys is in fact the boss’s secretary and is dating Hines (Simon Jones) who is the factory time and motion man. He acts as a narrator for parts of the show and then spends the rest of his time convincingly keeping the employees working at capacity and doing as he is told by the boss.

The rest of the main characters, all very well cast, were the boss, Hasler (Oliver Shanks),  his secretary, Mabel (Gudrun Lehmann-Shanks), Babe’s father, Pop (Anthony Bedell) and a high-pitched and excitable girl Poopsie, (Cary Hilts).

Not having seen this show before, I was aware of and expecting to hear Hernando’s Hideaway as a well-known song from it but I was delighted to recognise another five songs and enjoy them together with the rest of the music scored by the composers.  

The ensemble singing in the concerted numbers was performed with expression and feeling. The choreography in these concerted numbers was also well planned and executed. The accompaniment was by a band of three musicians and they complemented the singers with the right volume. On the technical side, all the lighting, sound and scene changes went smoothly.

Congratulations to all involved with the production. A very enjoyable experience.

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