THEATER : Troupe to start tour in Pajamas
Posted on Sunday, September 21, 2008
There are very few jobs in which you get to work in your pajamas. Of course, most of the time, the cast of The Pajama Game are in street clothes, or at least the costume equivalent. But “We’re all in pajamas in one scene,” says Crystal Kellogg, who plays Babe Williams, the feisty employee representative whose forceful contract negotiations with shop superintendent Sid Sorokin (Jason
1 Winfield ) over a 7 / 2-cent-an-hour raise result in a rare union-management love match. Kellogg describes Babe as “not your typical ingenue. She’s got spunk. She’s respected by her peers, and when management tries to put her down for being a woman, she stands her ground.” The 1954 Broadway hit, with music and lyrics by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross and book by George Abbott, based on Richard Bissell’s 1 novel 7 / 2 Cents, won three Tony Awards, for Best Musical, Best Choreography and Best Featured Actress in a Musical. It had two Broadway revivals, one in 1973 and one in 2006, which won two Tonys, for Best Revival of a Musical and Best Choreography. The first post-revival national tour opens with three performances this week at Little Rock’s Robinson Center Music Hall, under the auspices of Celebrity Attractions.
“Starting in the middle of the country makes sense, and this part of the country has always been good to our company,” says director Michael McFadden, who is also the artistic producer and co-founder of Phoenix Entertainment, which is mounting the tour in partnership with OD Musical Company of Korea.
The company is also launching a tour later this fall of The 25 th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, which Celebrity Attractions will bring to Robinson Center Music Hall on Jan. 20-22.
McFadden says the recent success of the show is partially due to its having been “on the shelf awhile.”
“It’s a classic book musical, and it’s a timely story line,” he says, with its focus on unions and the class differences.
McFadden and Kellogg note that although the current touring production has kept the feel of the 1950 s, there have been some adjustments to the script.
“We’ve updated the language so it’s not quite as dusty,” McFadden says.
McFadden also says the current production has all-new orchestrations, including underscoring in some scenes and transitional music.
Bob Fosse won one of those Tony Awards for his original choreography in the ’ 50 s, and McFadden says the current choreography for some numbers, particularly “Steam Heat,” is still in Fosse’s style.
“The choreography is a little more open,” he explains, but still employs the bowler hats. “It’s all about getting hot,” he adds.
The Pajama Game 7: 30 p. m. Tuesday-Thursday, Robinson Center Music Hall, West Markham Street and Broadway, Little Rock. National tour of the show, music and lyrics by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross, book by George Abbott, based on the novel by Richard Bissell, starts in Little Rock under the auspices of Celebrity Attractions Sponsor: Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau Tickets: $ 44, $ 34, $ 24, $ 17 plus service charges and facility fees; discounts for groups of 15 or more (501 ) 244-8800; (501 ) 975-7575; (501 ) 492-3314 (group sales ) www. celebrityattractions. com www. ticketmaster. com
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