The Pajama Game

The Pajama Game
Original Broadway Windowcard, illustrated by Peter Arno
Music	Richard Adler Jerry Ross
Lyrics	Richard Adler Jerry Ross
Book	George Abbott Richard Bissell
Basis	Novel 7½ Cents by Richard Bissell
Premiere	May 13, 1954: St. James Theatre
Productions	1954 Broadway 1957 film 1973 Broadway Revival 2006 Broadway Revival 2014 West End
Awards	Tony Award for Best Musical Tony Award for Best Revival

The Pajama Game is a musical based on the novel 7½ Cents by Richard Bissell. The book is by George Abbott and Richard Bissell; the music and lyrics are by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross. The story deals with labor troubles in a pajama factory, where workers demands for a seven-and-a-half cent raise are going unheeded. In the midst of this ordeal, love blossoms between Babe, the grievance committee head, and Sid, the new factory superintendent.

The original Broadway production opened on May 13, 1954, at the St. James Theatre, and ran for 1,063 performances, with a brief stop at the Shubert Theatre at the end of the run. It was revived in 1973, and again in 2006 by The Roundabout Theatre Company. The original production, produced by Frederick Brisson, Robert E. Griffith and Harold S. Prince, won a Tony Award for Best Musical. The 2006 Broadway revival won a Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical. The musical is a popular choice for community and school group productions.

The original West End production opened at the London Coliseum on October 13, 1955 where it ran for 588 performances.

Act I

A strike is imminent at the Sleep-Tite Pajama Factory, where the workers churn out pajamas at a backbreaking pace ("Racing with the Clock"). In the middle of this, a new superintendent, Sid Sorokin, has come from out of town to work in the factory ("A New Town Is a Blue Town"). The union, led by Prez, is seeking a wage raise of seven and a half cents an hour. Sid and Babe are in opposite camps, yet romantic interest is sparked at their first encounter. Despite cajoling from her fellow garment workers, Babe appears to reject Sid ("I'm Not At All in Love"). Meanwhile, Hines, the popular efficiency expert, is in love with Gladys, the company president's secretary, but is pushing her away with his jealous behavior. After witnessing a fight between the couple, Sid's secretary, Mabel, tries to help Hines break from his jealous ways ("I'll Never Be Jealous Again"). Meanwhile, Sid, rejected again by Babe, is forced to confide his feelings to a dictaphone ("Hey There").