Newport County's Swanhurst Chorus, under the direction of Jonathan F.
Babbitt, presents its 15th Annual Tribute to Broadway with Richard Adler
and Jerry Ross' "The Pajama Game", based on the novel "7 1/2 Cents" by
Richard Bissell. Originally performed on Broadway in 1954,ran for 1063
performances, starring John Raitt and Janis Paige, this show is just the
ticket to raise spirits during the current economic crises, the story
centers on a Trade Union dispute concerning a 7 1/2 cent raise between
the workers and management at the Sleep Tite Pajama Factory in Iowa.
Predictably, love blossoms amidst the conflict with a happy ending
guaranteed. It is straight out of the 1950's in style and content, this
is a boy meets girl, boy fires girl, boy resolves labor problem, boy
gets girl back again storyline. The original show won 3 Tony Awards and
it contains several highly recognizable numbers including "I'm Not at
All in Love," "Hey There," "Once a Year Day," "There Once Was a Man,"
"Steam Heat," and "Hernando's Hideaway". (A Broadway revival was done in
2006 starring Harry Connick Jr. and Kelli O'Hara) This high energy show
is presented in a dinner style theatre setting with intimate staging
with the audience sitting on the factory floor. Jonathan not only
directs, musically directs, plays one of the minor roles, plays the
piano but also cooks the fabulous dinner, too. Andrew Gustafson
is the percussionist). The meal choices with as much salad and rolls you
can eat consists of a filet of sesame-crusted salmon finished with a
balsamic vinaigrette reduction or Chicken Vanderbilt, a boneless breast
of chicken finished with a spinach and sun-dried tomatoes, mozzarella
cheese and tomato basil cream sauce as well as fresh green string beans,
mashed potatoes and coffee with a dessert buffet. The 21 member cast do
topnotch work in this well known show earning them thunderous applause
as they enter the stage modeling their pajamas at the curtain call.
The stage is a black box set where the 20 scene changes can be
accomplished quickly with the cast moving set pieces on and off. The
action moves from different areas of the factory, the picnic grounds,
Babe's kitchen and the most elaborate set for "Hernando's Hideaway"
which is a show stopping number. The stage manager who keeps things
running smoothly is by Harry Gustafson who also plays the mean boss, Mr.
Hasler who insists he is a fighter and won't give in to the workers
demands until Sid finds that Hasler has been fixing the books for the
past six months. The more things change, the more they stay the same
with the crooked behavior in today's society, too.) The multitude of
1950's style outfits are by Caroline Plowright and Charlotte Solly. From
the opening note to the curtain call, this hard working cast never let
up for a moment capturing the hearts of the audience by taking them back
to enjoy the 1950's.The harmonies of the group numbers send chills up
your spin with their diction and clarity with lead soprano, Lisa Babbitt
who is Jonathan's wife. She also plays Mabel, the secretary with the cat
style glasses. She also choreographs the show with the tango and "Steam
Heat" dances as stand outs and gets to show off her lower register in
"I'll Never Be Jealous Again" with Hinesy and her upper one as one of
the dancers in "Steam Heat". Group numbers include "Racing with the
Clock", the title number, "Sleep Tite" and "Once a Year Day". Leading
the cast as the new foreman, Sid Sorokin is Bobby Sylvia with his well
seasoned theatre background, Clark Kent without the glasses look and a
fantastic strong baritone voice and as the girl who is head of the
Grievance Committee, Babe Williams is Sophie Plowright, a pretty
brunette with a strong alto voice. The girl workers swoon every time he
walks by but he feels unwanted upon his arrival in Iowa from Chicago in
"A New Town is a Blue Town", then after he meets Babe who denies being
interested in him to the other girls in "I'm Not at All in Love" while
she sings and dances with them. They sing the heartbreaking "Hey There"
separately while tugging at your heartstrings while their love duets
include the tender "Small Talk" and the exuberant "There Once Was a Man"
which sounds like a Slim Whitman type of song. Their acting chemistry
shines through in these roles as do their singing and dancing talents,
too. Sophie gives this ingénue a strong backbone when she stands up for
what she believes in even thought it gets her fired at the end of Act 1.
The secondary comic leads are played by Rob Bongiolatti as Vernon
Hines, the Time study expert and Charlotte Snowden as the sexy long
legged blonde secretary Gladys who is Hines' girlfriend. (The original
Gladys, Carol Haney won a Tony Award in this role and her understudy,
Shirley MacLaine was discovered by Hollywood while doing this role,
too.) He has many funny lines which he delivers to garner much laughter.
Hines explains to the audience that there is much symbolism in the play.
Rob sings the title number to open the show, then vowing to not be
jealous of Gladys, he does a soft shoe and duet with Lisa in "I'll Never
Be Jealous Again" which he contradicts very quickly by dreaming of all
the men Gladys is with during a nightmare sequence in the second act
after he drinks himself into a stupor. His manic movements as this
character are wonderful especially during the knife hurling scenes and
during "Think of the Time I Save". This song tells while done tongue in
cheek of how he wears his suit to bed, shaves in bed and mixes all his
breakfast ingredients together not to waste time in the morning. The
chorus girls make faces and react during it making it even
more hilarious. The sexy Gladys is wonderfully by Charlotte. Her first
number is with the womanizing Prez who is married but is putting the
moves on her in "Her Is". She opens the second act with the hot dance
number "Steam Heat" where she, Lisa and Mattie wear tuxedos, with red
bow ties. Charlotte's acting drunk in the nightclub scene is very
humorous and her tango with Bobby is fantastically done especially when
she dips him instead of vice versa. (Cigarette lighters are used in this
number in place of the matches that were used back in the 50's.) Skirt
chaser Prez is beautifully played by Jeremy Hansen who first chases
after Gladys, gets his comeuppance when he puts the moves on Mae. She
becomes the aggressor much to his surprise. Erin Toppa plays the strong
willed girl wonderfully. Jeremy not only sings "Her Is" with Charlotte
and Erin but does a duet with Sophie which rallies the union members
called "Seven-and-a-Half Cents" where they figure out what to do with
their money in five, ten and twenty years. Brandon Clark plays Max who
emcees the pajama fashion show at the curtain call. Although some of the
dialogue seems dated by today's standards, don't let that keep you away
because the show keeps you entertained all evening long with the talent
of the cast winning you over with their energetic portrayals. Kudos to
all the cast members in this show. So for a fun filled night of song and
dance with a trip back to the 1950's be sure to catch "The Pajama Game"
before time runs out. (I played Max the salesman back in 1980 in RI with
professional actor, Eric Lutes as Sid Sorokin which was his first
theatrical role.) A raffle is also held at every performance to keep the
Swanhurst Chorus is business during these tough economic times as are
the ticket sales for this well done show.
THE PAJAMA GAME ( 6 to 15 March, 2009)
Swanhurst Chorus, Fenner Hall, 15 Fenner
Avenue, Newport, RI
